Tasted in Chemilly with Marianne and Marie-France Vilain, 17 January 2019.
Domaine de Chaude Ecuelle
35 Grande rue
89800 Chemilly-sur-Serein
Tel: +33 3 86 42 40 44
www.chaudeecuelle.com
Marianne and Marie-France on 2018:
“Unexpected! Because of the dryness we didn’t expect this result – the dryness seemed to leave the sugars quite low but in the last days it turned around and we have a vintage that seems exceptional. We had no frost, just one night of worry – there were many storms of course and lots of rain at the start of the season but the summer was really a joy for working in the vines – and in the end – happy!”
Marianne and Marie-France on 2017:
“2017 for us was a good harvest – after making only 25% in 2016 it was a pleasure to see some grapes on the vines. We battled the frost like everyone – candles on Montmains for instance with as much as a week of heating in the vines but we’re sure that we saved the crop there. In the end it was a normal vintage – so we had a little frost but no hail.
“We always start our harvest fairly early because we have a lot of hectares – but we also really like to have the freshness and minerality in our wines. So for 2017 we like its freshness and it has vivacity too – it’s a lovely vintage:”
The wines…
A fine result at this address – some classic wines, not round or fat wines – some great classic wines!
2017 Petit Chablis
There was no 2016 Petit Chablis. Vines in Pouilly on the plateau, Chemilly, Fyé – everywhere!
A nice freshness here – cushioned lemon fruit. Nicely round with more than a touch of salinity – melting, a hint of rigour, great line – excellent PC!
Normally worth about 30 hectares. Vines planted by grandfather, mainly from the village of Chemilly, but there are vines in Chablis and Béru too.
More vibrant, a resonance of minerality and citrus here – lovely. More drive and line – a step up in intensity – the Petit Chablis is the easier for the first wine of the day! Intense, concentrated and with a floral touch in the finish – a little serious if not rigorous – wait a while but this is great wine!
2017 Chablis Vieilles-Vignes
3 hectares, roughly. About 2 ha with more than 60 years, some have been replanted. Grandfather’s vines again – planted in the 1950s, usually smaller grapes in this parcel too. Small, sweet grapes. Actually fill some holes with provignage here!
More elegant, a touch floral. More saline and composed in the mouth – lovely, alive but not too incisive. Layered and delicious – really excellent wine. I like the floral finish here.
2016 Chablis 1er Montmains
Tank sample. Relatively flat here. 0.85 ha. This a tank sample – normally has about 18 months of elevage.
A lovely width of vibrant but not aggressive minerality – touched by flowers. Here is still some gas. Incisive, a wine of clarity and fine energy – pure and intense – it’s a baby but it’s also deliciously mouth-watering. Excellent wine again.
2017 Chablis 1er Vaillons
Tank sample. Sechets – 2 parcels, bought in 2007 – vines from the 1950s – also with very small grapes – hand harvested – the vines are too old for machines!
Here is a faint reduction to what is otherwise a super width of minerality. Plenty of CO2 today – waiting… The texture has depth and a wiry muscularity. Growing wider over the palate – deliciously so. A wine to have a little patience for.
O.75 ha. Planted 1947… on the hillside. it’s the last wine to have been bottled about 2 months ago. Have brought forward the bottling as had so little wine in 2016 – though not specially here. Here it doesn’t frost so often as the vines are quite high. All hand harvested – ‘It’s not easy as it’s steep here – but it’s good for the muscles of the harvesters!’
A nose that starts tight but slowly opens – quite a floral register from these aromas. Supple, layered, nice freshness and no lack of salinity. The texture is super and there is more depth of flavour on show here than for the other wines. Classic, complex with a little burst of fine finishing intensity. A great finish – perhaps a great wine too! Bravo!