Tasted with Camille Schaller in Prehy, 17 Januray 2023.
Domaine Camille & Laurent Schaller
20 Grande Rue de Chablis
89800 Préhy
Tel: +33 3 86 41 41 88
www.chablis-schaller.com
More reports with Domaine Camille et Laurent Schaller
Camille on 2022:
“Yes, I’m very happy with 2022 – of course, we had some worry about the frost but it worked out very well. I plan to make some first bottlings around April…”
Camille on 2021:
“We had the frost but Prehy is the highest of the Chablis villages and the top was frosted one night and the bottom another but the middle survived so we ended up with 2/3rds of a normal vintage. It was also a rainy year – lots of triage as there was a lot of rot – the juice of lower quality than we have become used to so I need to work the lees more – but the base of the problem was a large rainfall over the weekend before we planned to harvest on the Monday – this launched the botrytis. We had to harvest quickly, and just a little earlier than would have been ideal. It’s a cooler year with more tension – we thought a little meagre to start so worked on that during the vinification.”
The wines…
Always a good address – in 2021, wines with nicely classic style – and the Vau de Vey is a great one!
These wines were bottled at the end of July:
2021 Petit Chablis
From Prehy, 3 ha – these are lower vines towards Chablis near the cereal plantations. They have some in another village too but they are never blended.
Narrow aromas but they are fresh and pure. Broad, growing in intensity – ooh, that’s a very citrus intensity too – but not hard. Moreish and will just keep improving over the next few years – very nice!
2021 Chablis
A blend of Prehy and Courgis vines with similar exposures. The largest cuvée of the domaine.
Fine, clean, a pretty noble reduction. More incisive but also more mineral – the citrus intensity of the last but here with a bit more structure – I’d certainly wait for this but would be happy to have it in the cellar too – it’s really very good. Keep it 3 years-plus…
The 5th vintage since it was acquired in 2017. Like the previous wines, mechanical harvest but here with about 20% barrel elevage and keeping a little more of the lees.
An extra depth to this nose – fuller yellow citrus aromas. Extra width and ‘incisiveness’ – incision? 😊 Clean, pure, complex, actually more approachable than the Chablis, finishing beautifully – that’s a great wine!
2021 Chablis 1er Vaucoupin
South-facing. Very steep here so it’s a manual harvest – made here since 2016 as they are young vines planted in 2013 and with a sunnier exposure than the last. Because of the young vines Laurent is still looking for the right approach with his barrels…
More discrete aromas but also more mineral. Not quite as wide but certainly there’s plenty of citric intensity to this. Modestly saline and very faintly tannic – zesty – in the finishing flavour. Very good!
2021 Chablis Vieilles-Vignes
Here all barrel elevage – the vines planted in 78 – the oldest of the domaine.
A rounder but still fresh nose – not expressly marked by the barrels. In the mouth too – sweeping flavour but also rounded a little – warmer flavours, faintly spiced but this has width and a hint more generosity.