Tasted in Fleys with Eve and Jean-Pierre Grossot, 17 January 2019.

Corinne et Jean-Pierre Grossot
4 route de Mont de Milieu
89800 Fleys
Tel: +33 3 86 42 44 64
www.chablis-grossot.com

More reports for Domaine Corine et Jean-Pierre Grossot

Eve on 2019:
“The year was relatively easy – without maladies or much frost – we lit some candles but there wasn’t a lot of damage. The flowering could have been a little better, but with the heat and dryness, there are some similarities to 2018 but with a bit more alcohol and more acidity too. The 1ers brought only half a harvest, Chablis was better, saved by a few parcels here and there, such as in Fontenay but still not much more than about 37 hl/ha. Some fermentations were a little slow, but all are done now the malos too.”

Eve on 2018:
“Of-course it was an easier vintage than 2019, high maturity with a little lower acidities. No hail, no frost and a good flowering. There was the dryness of August that caused some blocking of the maturity, but older vines didn’t have a problem as they could reach enough water. We had no idea of the volume that we would have, particularly when combined with the maturity and completely clean grapes!”

The wines…

Here’s a domaine that usually makes more classic than ripe wines, though some of the 2018 fruit turned out to be unavoidable – these are flamboyantly finishing wines though – just so delicious!

The last of the 2018s, practically, were being bottled when I visited – another bottling of the Chablis remained. DIAM 5 remains the closure of choice here, some 10s now being used for the 1er Crus, though the team seem unsure if that may be overkill:

2018 Chablis
Usually from 13 hectares of vines.
That’s not a big nose but it’s perfumed. Round, a richness, but beautifully mouth-watering. There is a minerality and an energy, though the texture is super smooth, the wine has no overt salinity. A surprise with a burst of nice mineral favour to finish – and long too.

2018 Chablis ‘Part des Anges’
Wasn’t enough volume to make this in 2016. A parcel selection – always the same when made – opposite the domaine right next to the 1er cru. Bottled just a couple of hours.
A fresher and more mineral nose. More attack here, mineral, nicely incisive – this is an excellent wine a good 2018 Chablis! The finish is very expressive, indeed delicious – excellent!

2018 Chablis 1er Troëmes
Not many who bottle with this label. Mainly sold in France. Botted in July.
More depth of aroma, yellow fruited. Rounder, waxy, silky texture – a wine of concentration, again it’s the finish where the wine bursts into life. That’s a super finish once more – complex, floral, mineral and energetic – yes!

2018 Chablis 1er Vaucoupins
For us, we find that this place always puts the terroir before the vintage.
This with a little more mineral slightly reductive interest on the nose. In the mouth too, this is mineral, wide, slightly reductive and the first with an obvious salinity – a wine that you should have a little patience for – but you will be rewarded. Excellent wine.

2018 Chablis 1er Fourchaume
Here’s a compact nose – the impression of purity but it’s not showing much. That’s rather good in the mouth though, with a little touch of salinity and a lot of mineral width. Bursting with extravagance and life in the finish again – so good here!

2018 Chablis 1er Les Fourneaux
Some oak elevage partly in demi-muids, all old. Bottled yesterday.
Ooh – a more open, complex and really attractive nose – a little floral in the mix too, perhaps a suggestion of oak too. Rounder, layered, yes some oak here, but a wine of delicious flavour that radiates out from the core. Long, long and tasty – not the burst of finishing flavour of the previous wines though.

2018 Chablis 1er Mont de Milieu
Was being bottled in the courtyard as we tasted. This has a mix of tank and oak elevage but in 2016 and 2017 it was only wood as there was so little.
A smaller nose again, a little granular style of complexity. Compact in the mouth but with great texture again and flavour that slowly expands to encompass the palate. Really a growing delicious finish – fine persistence. Again not the burst of finishing flavour of the not-oaked wines but it’s anyway delicious!