Tasted in Chablis with Camille Besson, 14 January 2021.
Domaine Besson
8 chemin de Valvan
89800 Chablis
Tel: +33 3 86 42 40 88
www.domaine-besson.com
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Camille on 2019:
“2019 – It’s not 2018, volume-wise, but there’s a lovely quality with tension in the wines. It was a nice year with magnificent weather – a hot summer. Quite an early vintage – though not compared to 2020 now, but we thought we were early in 2019! Early September is the new normal now. The volume was a little low but for no single reason. We had practically no frost for instance.
Round wines, warm but with a nice tension.”
The wines…
Elegant but pure wines with energy – there is much to recommend here in 2019…
From vines on the hill behind the grand crus – 2.73 ha mainly above Les Clos but also another parcel too, behind Montmains too.
That’s got a lovely freshness and clarity of lemon citrus – very attractive. Vibrant, with a very faint cushion to the texture – comfortable but still of fresh energy and so delicious – bravo!
2019 Chablis
Wider, less intense but still a nice clarity of aroma. A little grain of tannin and wide, easy almost layered fresh flavour – a little floral perfumed in the middle. That’s really excellent in a package of finesse.
The following tasted from tank samples:
2019 Chablis 1er Vaillons
Mainly Beugnons but also Chatains and Sechets, 2.45 hectares. not particularly high, more mid-slope – the vines don’t suffer so much here as there’s a ‘source.’ Have another 0.3 ha of Chatains that has been planted – should be arriving the first time with grapes in 2020
Beautiful clarity of citrus again – so lovely. Again a little grain of tannin in this texture but wide and mouth-watering, here an extra saline complexity too – very long, slowly mouth-watering to the end. Really excellent wine.
2019 Chablis 1er Montmains
Mainly from Butteaux plus a little Forêt, about 5.25 hectares worth. ‘For us it the more mineral and typical Chablis style.’ One 600l new barrel included in the vinification here – there’s still no more than 8% wood in the total. This will have 18 months elevage and is still in tank.
A little more compact aroma, still a purity but much less forward. Silky and structural at the same time. That’s a super finish, very long, plenty of delicious energy too – excellent wine again from a more compact start.
0.99 ha – but never with much of a harvest as there’s some virus in the vines – mid-slope, plain south orientation, close to the forest at the top and next to Montée de Tonnerre – always very small grapes here and it’s difficult to vinify – also a riper style – I still have work to do here. First vines harvested in 2017.
Deeper and quite higher-toned – really vibrant in higher tones. Very fresh, lovely attack, floral and fruit together. A little saline in the finish. That’d really excellent – indeed bravo!
2019 Chablis Vaudèsir
1.4 hectares, in the domaine over 25 years. Both exposures, looking towards La Moutonne. Have about 10 vines in this parcel that are actually in Grenouilles – just the way the borders were drawn – producing less than 20 litres of juice so included in this cuvée – but here’s a rare holding!
Wide and mineral – a super depth and clarity of the minerals. Oh, a little depth to this texture, lots more complexity – super balance and energy but still the extra comfort of grand cru concentration. I find this excellent and already far too delicious!
0.15 ha – ‘5 rows and we’ve never make the rendement, since 2008, until 2018! Quite high on the hill about 50m below the viewing table. Roughly 40-year-old vines – same as the Vaudesir. All tank elevage. 132 litres only in 2019.
The nose is fine, a little small but nicely clean. That’s direct, that’s got great energy too – that’s a proper Les Clos! This needs plenty of time to come together but it could be a great one – of-course with only 132 litres you’ll be hard-pressed to find one.