Tasted with Karine Roy in Fontenay-Près-Chablis, 01 February 2024.
Domaine Roy
71 Grand Rue
89800 Fontenay-près-Chablis
Tel: +33 3 86 42 10 36
www.domaine-roy.com
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More reports with Domaine Roy
Karine on 2023:
“Yes it was a nice volume but it means that after two consecutive vintages of higher volumes that the pruning is harder now. The commerce is always slow at this time of year but all is fine – the volumes are anyway reassuring.”
Karine on 2022:
“We started harvesting the 5th of September, it’s not a vintage where we needed to chaptalise – we harvest nearly a week later than some of the earlier pickers – there’s there’s acidity and freshness and we didn’t shorten our elevage. A couple of tanks had slower fermentations bit in general, all was fine. The volume was good and we had a little VCI too which we have just bottled.”
The wines…
I always find the wines delicious at this address – this year I couldn’t control myself – I bought some!
This domaine has flirted with the use of DIAM seals but didn’t like the results. Now they are all cork again:
2022 Petit Chablis
Kimmerigian. This opposite Bougros on the ‘wrong’ side of the road – the lieu-dit is called Petite Preuses – but it’s not allowed on the label!
A good, large scale of aroma – here is energy too – lot’s of inviting citrus energy. Good volume in the mouth too – this is quite a zesty wine. Subtly reductive but with fine citrus bitters – decant today – it’s a super PC!!
2022 Chablis
This the Chablis of Maligny
A little less aromatic volume but there’s a more perfumed component of florals in here too. Like the PC a little zesty citrus skin – in this case the flavours more melting and delicious – not the tiny reductive note of the PC – a wine that’s already far too drinkable – Simply excellent!
From Côte de Fontenay on the road to Fontenay – ‘My grandfather had vines concentrated in this area – so he could be there and back each day on his horse!’ There’s no aspersion in this area – the vines are not protected.
Hmm – a larger width of aroma – that’s lovely – almost a fizzy energy to this yellow fruit. Deep flavour, ooh that’s good. Complex, also modestly zesty – I find the depth of this flavour so engrossing. That could be a great Fourchaume – so long too!
There was no cuvée in 2017 as it was completely frosted. A little over half a hectare here.
Less width but what a compelling depth of aroma. Cooler, more clarity to the baseline of minerality. There’s extra fluidity to this flavour energy – a certain structure behind but it’s never hard or heavy. I would drink this with absolute pleasure today and certainly even more pleasure 10 more years. Bravo – I bought some!
2022 Chablis Bougros
3.5 hectares under Preuses – great grandfather and father bought in multiple parcels and planted in the 1960s – €70k just for the candles for 5 nights in 2021. ‘2022 was generous but here a little less – the grapes were lovely.’
Here is an energetic width of more complex aroma – a little more yellow-fruit, similar to Fourchaume – but more of everything! Supple and generous – but the texture and freshness are both good. Here is a really concentrated – and delicious – width of flavour. Despite how delicious, it’s clearly a wine to wait at least 5-6 years. But clean and lovely – you are not waiting for any oak!
2022 Chablis Preuses
‘Only 0.5 ha’ – a long parcel that joins with the first vines of their Bougros. This and the last with a sommelier-style bottle. Replanted 17 years ago. Just one owner’s vines separate the domaine’s two grand cru parcels – indeed also the domaine’s Vaulorent and their small parcel of Petit Chablis too.
Here is more aromatic scale – more floral notes but they are taking your attention away from some obvious structure and scale too. Really broad, growing more intense – the finish really persistent but less expressive today than the Bougros – That will be a super wine – but in the years to come – I might not drink this one at the weekend 😊