Tasted in Milly with Fabien Dauvissat, 04 January 2021.
Domaine Jean Dauvissat Père & Fils
11 et 13 rue de Léchet
89800 Milly
Tel: +33 3 86 42 12 23
www.chablis-dauvissat.com
More reports for Domaine Jean Dauvissat
Fabien on 2019 and 2020:
“the volumes for 19 are pretty good – nearly 49/hl/ha – 2020 looked like it had a lot more but there was only 42 hl/ha – as the amount of juice was very low. The actual versus the expectation was a very big difference – but after seeing the quality of the juice the smiles returned. It’s long time since we had the level of acidity – still a bizarre year but… The alcohols can be high in 2019, our vines in Vaillons already had grapes that were rich and 13.5° but they were not ready. I ended up with 14° here but I was worried that I’d be waiting for nothing as the acidity might go to zero – it turns out not to have been so!”
The wines…
Long elevage here now – up to 2 years. The wines were in various stages of ‘open-ness’ but there are great wines here.
Elevage here – there’s nothing systematic – sometimes stainless, sometimes large-format barrels but usually it’s a blend:
A small parcel of 0.16 ha, making a little over 1,000 bottles from the plateau of Chapelle la Vaupelteigne – the domaine’s smallest cuvée. Only this wine is bottled – still with 1 year of elevage – done in October.
Starting serious and mineral. Mouth-filling and energetic, slowly melting over the palate and offer more layers of flavour. Serious but also seriously good – a wine that opens wider and wider in the finish. Such a great finish for the label. Bravo!
2019 Chablis
The first of 3 cuvées – this the assembly of most parcels but never quite the same each year. The largest art of this from La Chapelle Vaupelteigne, it will have 18 months of elevage
Again a slightly smaller nose, less serious but still with a mineral depth, here the floral accent rounding it out. Vibrant, lovely minerality and complexity almost a suggestion of salinity – but not in the aromas. Gorgeously mineral finishing.
1940-1950 vines from 3 parcels – this will have 24 months elevage
A deeper, slightly reductive mineral aroma. Wider, more insistent, more mouth-watering. Great, great length. Class – bravo!
2019 Chablis Cuvée Claire
Named for Fabien’s first daughter. Essentially the same as the Chablis, but with its 18 months of elevage in 500-litre barrels – it’s almost what he’s looking for, but he’s now transitioning to 600-litre barrels and thinks that this might be what he wants.
A little riper impression to the citrus fruit – no loss of fresh energy. Mouth-filling, energetic, a suggestion of sweetness to add to the suggestion of salinity. Another gorgeous finish.
2 ha, 1.5 really in the centre. Some court-noué so normally low yielding – ‘I’m always thinking about replanting!’ July-August bottling is the plan. There’s one large-format barrel but mainly it’s stainless-steel elevage.
Pure mineral energy not such a big nose but still an impressive one. Wider, more mouth-watering with melting mineral and citrus flavours. Almost a little zesty bitters in the finish. That’s a fantastic wine…
2019 Chablis 1er Vaillons
One 0.83 hectare parcel in Chatains.
A floral-fruit width of aroma – very inviting. Starting with a very open structure, slowly softening at the edges. Properly mineral finishing, some suggestion of sweetness but not of flowers. Long and contemplative here. Super starting more timid finishing – but the flavour not the actual length…
2019 Chablis 1er Montmains
One 0.75 hectare parcel in real Montmains. ‘Usually, our last parcel to be harvested – it’s the marnes, it’s a cold place.’
A slightly timid nose, accented with flowers. Nice attack and drive to this flavour – growing in intensity too. Vibrant width of finishing flavour – that’s really very good. Excellent wine.
A nice and open freshness of aroma but supported by a certain agrume-style reduction below. Wide, tactile wine – a little tannin in the texture here – grapefruit-style bitters as you head towards the finish. Really mouth-watering in the finish. This will be for keeping but it could be great!
