Tasted in Chablis with Lucie de Wever, 23 January 2024.
Maison Régnard
28 Bd du Dr Tacussel
89800 Chablis
Tel: +33 3 86 18 95 08
www.regnard.com
Maison Régnard was founded in 1860. The maison was later bought by Albert Pic – a domaine that had existed since the 1750s – but in the 1980s the owners had no successors, so it was Baron Patrick de Ladoucette – known for his Loire wines and château, though there are many other wines, such as Champagne in the range too – who became the new owner of the business in 1984.
They have some domaine vines – including Grenouilles – but have mainly been a ‘Maison,’ buying grapes or must. The range here today is 7 grand crus, 5 1er crus plus their Petit Chablis and 3 different Chablis bottlings. They also have their Pic 1er Cru which is a blend of 1ers and produced ‘no more’ than 3 times per decade, the last of which was in 2020 which they consider to be a great vintage. Since 1992, they also have a ‘special cuvée‘ of Chablis called Grand Régnard which uses an ’18th century style’ bottle.
It’s a mix of yeasts that are used here – about 5 of them – which they blend to initiate the fermentations of their wines. About 50% of the Chablis produced here is exported.
This is an interesting producer – housed in one of the grandest looking buildings of Chablis – all the more interesting to me because I tried for a number of years to get an appointment to taste but the response was always ‘I’m sorry but there’s no one here who can accommodate you!‘ Persistence sometimes works out, and this year they relented, it was ‘only’ the tourist tour – I didn’t get to speak with the winemaker – but why not!
The wines…
A small window into the wines of this producer – 2022 and 2021. Good wines noted from my very first visit.
2022 Petit Chablis
Part purchases and part domaine.
Quite a pretty nose – airy and citrussy. Plenty of scale with modest generosity. In the mouth there’s quite forward citrus with growing intensity. This finishes rather well and holds a good, linear, finish – lovely wine.
2022 Chablis St.Pierre
Named after the church whose bells used to sound at 7am and 7pm to denote the start and finishing times for the workers in the vines – ‘and also to signal impending storms too!’
A little fuller and broader – a more complex mix of citrus and other fruits for this nose. The flavours are more concentrated and generous. Supple wine, but for the salinity I would say less overtly Chablis – but clearly delicious wine. This finish is a tasty, more mineral view.
2022 Chablis Grand Regnard
A different shape bottle used for this cuvée since 1992. It’s different ‘better’ selection of parcels for this wine.
A narrower nose but with riper citrus which has good vibrations of energy. A touch of barrel – rounder, faintly spiced, easy over the finish. Very nice wine though I personally prefer the St.Pierre cuvée. They recommend to wait 6-8 years for this – I would wait at least 2-3 for the (modest) oak to fade.
2021 Chablis 1er Mont de Milieu
The 2022 ‘is not yet commercial.’
A little firework reduction and a complex, almost granular, mix of aromas. It’s actually cool, fresh and open – of larger scale and with a beautiful mouth-watering style – a hint of mandarin complexity in the fruit too. That’s delicious!
2021 Chablis Les Clos
Like the previous, the 2022 of this not yet commercial or for tasting. They say that this is for keeping 15-20 years…
A floral nose – not just white flowers, I sense yellow too – with just a faint suggestion of oak. There’s more structure here but with fine, melting, structure – there are no hard edges here. The barrel notes of the nose are largely absent in the flavours. A wine of breadth and stable, indeed appreciable, intensity and then a lovely finish, vibrating with flavour energy. That’s already a super wine.