Tasted in Maligny with Jean-Paul Durup, 05 November 2022.

Domaine Jean Durup et fils
4 Grande Rue
89800 Maligny
Tel: +33 3 86 47 44 49
www.domainesdurup.com
More reports with Domaine Jean Durup

Jean-Paul Durup on 2020:
“In 2020 our life didn’t change in the vines – we were occasionally wearing masks of course – but generally, there wasn’t much difference. Living in the countryside we were privileged compared to people living in Paris – I think that will have been harder. A warm year with a fine flowering – but a summer that was very warm – fortunately, we’d had plenty of rain in the Springtime which I think got us through the dry period because we lost some of the Chablis-ness in 18 and 19 but we still kept that in 2020. We lost between 20 and 30% because of the dryness – though not a bad return compared to 2021 when we were 60% down. Probably the biggest problem that we have is the lack of stock – many customers ‘over-ordered’ having seen the frost in 2021 and are stocking themselves – but here we have very little…”

The wines…

I had a real problem with four of the 5 (villages) Chablis cuvées – but the rest were very good to even great wines – I found some lack of consistency last year too!

All these wines see only tank elevage – and all the wines are bottled:

2020 Petit Chablis
Seven different communes combined from 30 hectares!
Hmm – that’s quite an attractive, sweeter, rounder nose. Round, melting, fine-flavoured. That’s a very tasty wine and quite floral accented in the mineral finish. Completely delicious.

2020 Chablis
A wide area covered, but less from the south of Chablis.
This is a very forward nose – vertical – high tones and low tones – a sort of onion-skin impression in the aromas. What a wine – I’m not a big fan of the flavours – which reflect the nose – but the concentration, texture and vibrancy of flavour is really excellent – long but not my style. Definitely the Curate’s Egg…

2020 Chablis La Vigne de la Reine
From a valley in Maligny called Mignotte
Hmm – this is the same – I’m not sure what to say. Wide, silky, good concentration. And actually a super finish – but the aroma and first wave of flavour are very onion-skin in style…

2020 Chablis Marche du Roi
A south-east-facing quite steep hillside. This separated since 2003 here the old frontier between Champagne and Burgundy.
A similar nose. Lovely in the mouth again – structurally these are great wines but the flavour’s not for me – the finishing flavour remains pretty good…

2020 Chablis Carré de Cesar
A deeper nose – similar onions but a little less intense and tending more to mineral. A subtle tannin and really a fine fluidity to the flavour over the palate – this would be my favourite so far and again has a super finish – but still not my style…

2020 Chablis Vieilles-Vignes
Vines from 1920 – in Villy mainly but 4 other villages too. The youngest vines are from 1942. There’s about 6 hectares in this cuvée
That’s the first wine since the PC that has no onions – but it does have a subtle pyrazine! Wide, cool fruit, melting over the palate. This is mobile, and tasty – this is close to an excellent wine and one with a great finish.

2020 Chablis 1er Fourchaume
From Homme Mort in Maligny – 4 different parcels
Ripe, golden fruited freshness – a slight accent of honey. Round, supple – layered. Here is weight but a certain elegance – a growing acid-led intensity too. This is palate-staining in the finish – that’s a really excellent wine.

2020 Chablis 1er Homme Mort
There’s 9 metres between this and the last
There are more white flowers to this nose – it’s very attractive. This plays beautifully over the palate – mineral wide a little growing intensity yet wrapped with a couple of millimetres of cushion too. The finish is redolent of the nose – white flowers and a base of minerality. A slightly more elegant version of the last – texturally, a bit more sophisticated – today I would take the Fourchaume but in another 3-5 years I’d be interested to see if that was still the same…

Have to leave Maligny for the other 1ers:

2020 Chablis 1er Vau de Vey
Was abandoned for generations after phylloxera due to the difficulty of cultivating. Father in 78 was first to replant. Have 8 hectares here.
That’s a very pretty and very fine nose – a certain airy elegance. Rounder, lots of energy, properly mineral – mouth-watering. This is practically juicy in the middle flavours finish with a mix of citrus agrume and minerality – slightly more austere finishing – zesty – than the Fourchaume. I think this very good…

2020 Chablis 1er Montée de Tonnere
2 ha of this. In Chapelots
An airy width becomes more floral and grows in weight, eventually showing a saline aspect too. Mouth-filling. A flavour that melts over the palate, floral-infused. Delicious and mineral in the finish. That’s excellent!

2020 Chablis 1er Montmains
0.54 ha in two parcels – small for here – at the entrance of the valley – ‘It’s less mineral here than in the middle of the valley.’
That’s got a nice open nose – forward and energetic. So juicy – that’s lovely – I’m enjoying this so much – complex – broad. And juicy, juicy. A faint tannin of the last on the tip of the tongue.