Tasted in Beaune (en-route to Chablis!) with Frederic Drouhin, 22 January 2024.
Domaine Drouhin Vaudon
Moulin de Vaudon
Chemin du Moulin
89800 Chichée
Tel: +33 3 80 24 68 88
www.drouhin-vaudon.com
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Frederic on 2023:
“We are happy because we made wine – but these warmer years we have to harvest fast – grapes go from ripe to over-ripe much faster than was once the case. You lose both volume and quality. A cold room is becoming a necessity – but also we want to reduce our impact on the environment – so we have to think about this. I think for the vintage – overall – it will be wines with a wide spectrum of quality – stunning to average. For us it’s more normal than large for the white crop – we had more volume in red.”
Frederic on 2022:
“We are lowering our prices for 2022 – we are not many but it was important to send a signal to the market. I think across the whole of Burgundy I think it’s a good vintage – I don’t make a separate case for Chablis. June was key with good rainfall. The end of the ripening season was good after the rain too – warm – picking 09-13 September for 40 hectares here. Our villages is picked by machine but the vast majority of the rest is by hand. No real frost or hail in the year, nor significant pressure from disease – like 18 and 19 we changed our process – to give more time to the wine – longer elevage that was a little on the reductive side, keeping the wine on their good lees – with a mix of casks and cement eggs. I think it’s a vintage that will please most people – the fruitiness is there for those that drink quickly – but the grand crus will offer a lot for those with a cellar and who want to wait – it’s already a seductive vintage – but with ageing capacity.”
The wines…
That’s a really outstanding range of wines chez Drouhin in 2022 – knocking on the door of my best domaines list for this vintage…
Bottlings were done by the phases of the descending moon. All apart from the Preuses was already done:
27 ha represented here including a single parcel of 15 ha – all stainless elevage
A width of freshness – almost suggesting a floral addition to airy yellow citrus. Hmm, this has width and a silky texture but the intensity and base of minerality mark this clearly as Chablis. Fine finishing with the appropriate salinity – that’s a great villages!
2022 Chablis Premier Cru
A wine that’s not shown (to me) very often. It’s a blend of estate wines and purchases of must; Roncières and Mont de Milieu amongst them – so there’s right and left bank in here. ‘It’s not a large cuvée so not sold in all markets’
A more generous fruit with a hint of spice. Wide like the villages but much more overtly mineral – super silky – today, a suggestion of oak. The salinity is more overt in the finish too. I love that – wait two years for the oak to disappear if you can wait!
2.2 hectares. One part of this is a contract wine. Some Sechets in this wine – it was sold apart for a while – ‘but we preferred this blend.’
Hmm, I like the white flower ‘extra’ that this wine has – airy and delicious – mandarin too? More volume and airy – I don’t see the oak in this, just a juicy and beautifully delicious wine. With a beautiful, ultra-delicious finish – bravo!
2022 Chablis 1er Montmains
Mainly Montmains with a small part of Forêts. Vines in the mid-20s-year-old. A little more than 1.8 hectares. Risky for frost here at the bottom of the hill as there’s not much air circulation.
More focused, a little more direct – great nose! Complex, more herbed than I’m expecting but this is a great, saline, almost savoury wine when I was expecting some sweetness. The finish broadens out impressively – such a super wine.
2022 Chablis 1er Mont de Milieu
Always some of the earliest vines to grow and harvest. Two parcels, one very old that was pulled out in 2017. Also, a part that is a contract. 2 vineyards contributing – an older and a younger. ‘Bought in 2013 – at that time we could afford it and we were actually allowed to buy it!’
A more profound nose with complex notes. Hmm, just a mm of cushion, direct and mineral – this is a serious Chablis. Not a wide finish but super long and super interesting. A beauty.
2022 Chablis Preuses
Not yet bottled. 0.24 hectares, replanted in the last 10 years. Large, older, casks for elevage – mostly 500-litres. Have used this approach since 2003.
Ooh – depth! Some generosity too – but for young vines this is a very impressive fruit. There is oak flavour here but the type that will quickly fade. What a delicious wine – keep your patience for at least 3 years!
2022 Chablis Vaudesir
Two parcels – one at the top with very old vines, vinified separately and then assembled. 1.4 ha in total. Elevage uses 300 and 500-litre barrels – none new. The soil is light and mobile but it’s steep too – ‘so we use a horse to plough.’
Broader, more presence from the oak. Hmm – but here is a seamless width of flavour – harmony. Some richness and, of course, the oak but a width of flavour in the finish that fades so very slowly – wait 4-5 years.
0.33 ha – Frederic’s own vineyard – ‘It’s steep – from the road to the top of the parcel in one block. I’ve also a little Chambolle 1er though! Often wines with strength and austerity at the start.’
Here is a core of concentration but this wine needs air to let the aromas open out. Ooh – I love this structure – it’s a more incisive wine too. Direct, intense – gloriously finishing! Bravo – despite the shy nose.
2022 Chablis Les Clos
Old vines no question about quality but they struggle on quantity so a small parcel has been pulled out for replanting. ‘Always a particular character – a sunny disposition – no surprise as direct south-facing.’ Two parcels in the middle of Clos but separated by other vines – 1.3 hectares. Usually, the first-picked grand cru to avoid over-ripe or exotic fruit.
Not the largest nose – but much more open than Bougros. The fruit here has a stony character and gives me the impression of Clos – orange-peel too perhaps. Hmm, structure but it melts over the palate – not constraining – only in the finish does the oak make its presence felt – but here is a super wine. Give it 3-4 years again and be rewarded.