Chablis 2012 – Premier Crus

27.4.2014billn

DSC03485-0022012 Chablis 1er Crus, all tasted in Chablis 17th March. The wines are listed in the order of tasting.

The overall quality is the best and most consistent that I’ve ever tasted. Many without my extra-special recommendation are also great wines. I like that the wines show an almost phenolic note in the aromas – it reminds me of tonic-water / quinine. Many also possess a brilliant intensity and the impression of dry-extract in the finish – normally that’s reserved for Grand Crus! One thing that I currently find missing is a whiff of the sea-shore. I discussed this with Hervé Tücki of the Chablisienne – he seems confident that this will soon develop in the bottle – noting that most of these have just been bottled in the last months/weeks/days…

William Fevre, Chablis 1er Vaillons (Domaine)
The nose has depth and some airy, higher tones. Good width and a growing intensity and acidity. This is very tasty in the finish.

Christian Moreau, Chablis 1er Vaillons
PLenty of phenols and green-skinned fruit on the nose. Good energy. I like the width on the palate. Nicely, faintly bitter. I like.

Tixier, Chablis 1er Montmains Vieilles-Vignes
High-tones, quite wide and pretty aromatic. A deep palate and ripe too. Slowly growing and intensifying flavour with good length. I like this a lot but it doesn’t seem as concentrated as many.

William Fevre, Chablis 1er Vaulorent (Domaine)
A modest nose, perhaps due to a hint of SO2. Very fresh yet a hint soft. Super intensity in the finish – which I like a lot.

Château de Fleys, Chablis 1er Fourneau
The nose is wide and fresh, but ripe too. A good, growing intensity – very nice flavours. Not the most concentrated but very tasty all the same.

Château de Fleys, Chablis 1er Mont de Milieu
Good depth here and plenty of aromatic heft. A fine width of fresh flavour that lasts very well in the finish. Very pretty flavours too – I like!

Yvon & Laurent Vorcoret, Chablis 1er Fourchaume
A lively nose with citrus skins and a suggestion of salt. Round and ripe with slowly building acidity. A nice wine, but one that seems shy of acidity to start with, but is really mineral and clearly balanced from the mid-palate onwards.

Yvon & Laurent Vorcoret, Chablis 1er Homme Mort
A fine, fresh nose with a little citrus detail. Lovely acidity and minerality. Really great dimension and complexity – simply super!

Château de Beru, Chablis 1er Vaucopin
The nose has high tones and plenty of agrume fruit. Nice in the mouth – a little grapefruit style bitterness – super-refreshing. Not the most concentrated, but full of fine flavour.

Montard-Diligent, Chablis 1er Vaillons
The nose is fresh, despite being rather shy. Full of energy and racy acidity. Medium concentration, off-ripe flavours, but moreish!

Montard-Diligent, Chablis 1er Beauroy
A depth of slightly phenolic aroma. Fresh, incisive, and with a fine line of flavour. Medium concentrated and quite tasty.

Mosnier, Chablis 1er Beauroy
High tones, with good aromatic depth and faint lime-skin fruit notes. Depth and ripeness with a good acid balance. Not the longest and medium concentrated, but tasty enough.

Mosnier, Chablis 1er Côte de Lechet
high-toned with a ripe depth of fruit. I find this just a little loose-knit. Good balance and decent intensity, though today, not the focus of many.

Louis Robin, Chablis 1er Vosgros
High tones, some ripeness and faint sherbet. Wide, with medium-plus concentration and a growing acidity. There’s nice detail and a good finish. Nice!

Louis Robin, Chablis 1er Vaucopin
Ripe yet fresh aromas. Growing intensity and again good concentration. Nice!

Bernard Defaix, Chablis 1er Vaillons
High tones and faint bread – fairly undemonstrative. The palate is full-flavoured with an ever-growing intensity. Excellent!

Bernard Defaix, Chablis 1er Côte de Lechet
There is some intensity of aroma here, to go with the high-toned impression. Full-flavoured with growing intensity. Super flavour though would be even better with a little more focus. Yet, yum!

Bernard Defaix, Chablis 1er Côte de Lechet Reserve (Vieilles-Vignes)
Here there’s more aromatic width and concentration. Full of flavour, faintly phenolic but barely astringent. Lovely flavour – this is very tasty…

Daniel Séguinot, Chablis 1er Fourchaume
The nose has high-tones and faint phenolics. Full, round, with ripe fruit and a growing intensity. Very good flavour. Concentrated, with an impression of dry-extract in the finish. Lovely.

Daniel Séguinot, Chablis 1er Homme Mort
A rarity – a wine with a faint seashore aroma! Full and round but more loose-knit flavours versus their excellent Fourchaume. Yet, super flavour. Yum!

Billaud-Simon, Chablis 1er Vaillons
The nose is shy but seems to have some ripe fruit in waiting. Nice in the mouth with good width and a growing, fresh flavour. Modest finish, but tasty wine.

Billaud-Simon, Chablis 1er Mont de Milieu
High tones and some phenolics – it’s rather pretty. Real dimension of flavour here – bravo – intense and focused. Simply lovely.

Billaud-Simon, Chablis 1er Montée de Tonnere
The nose is high-toned and rather pretty. Full flavour, the acidity grows from the core. Nice finish too – what’s not to like?

Billaud-Simon, Chablis 1er Mont de Milieu Vielles-Vignes
High tones and faint phenolics – very pretty. More depth and concentration, this time with a little padding to the texture. Super flavour with a suggestion of dry extract in the finish. Very nice!

Domaine du Chardonnay, Chablis 1er Montmains
High tones and a little aromatic ripeness. Full, round, ripe but beautifully balanced. Full-flavoured and very tasty – I like!

Domaine du Chardonnay, Chablis 1er Montée de Tonnere
Here is a little aromatic ripeness though it’s a relatively shy nose. Plenty of flavour here, some minerality too. Excellent intensity. Lovely wine.

Vincent Sauvestre, Chablis 1er Vaucopins
A fresh and seemingly silky high-toned nose. Full, nice sweetness and lovely acidity – a very pretty wine but the flavour doesn’t seem particularly long.

Eugenie Carrion, Chablis 1er Montmains
A smooth and soft nose. A little CO2 prickle, nicely growing intensity. Slowly lingering on a nice length.

Vincent Sauvestre, Chablis 1er Beauroy
The nose has some depth and has faint green herbs too. Good dimension of flavour backed by a growing intensity and acidity. Nice length of flavour here.

Jean Jacquin, Chablis 1er Vaillons
A few reductive notes so obviously seems quite deep. A little reductive flavour too. Nice intensity and modestly finishing.

Jean Jacquin, Chablis 1er Montée de Tonnere
The nose is fresh and wide, with more limited depth. Good attack, more CO2, slowly growing, but lovely mouth-watering flavours. Very tasty!

Domaine de la Motte, Chablis 1er Vau-Ligneau
The high-toned nose shows a hint of saltiness. The palate is round and reasonably full. There’s growing acidity and intensity. Nice flavour here.

Charly Nicolle, Chablis 1er Fourneau
High tones (like always!), a seemingly silky aromatic understatement. Full attack, good intensity – tasty wine!

Charly Nicolle, Chablis 1er Mont de Milieu
Lovely high tones. The palate is concentrated and ripe, but there’s a pause before the acidity exerts itself. Some impression of dry extract late in the mid-palate. THis wine would certainly be better with a twist more of acidity, but it’s anyway really tasty.

Drouhin-Vaudon, Chablis 1er Vaillons
The nose has good intensity, with a whiff of phenols. In the mouth there’s lovely intensity – a long finish too that follows a nice diminuendo. Tasty.

Drouhin-Vaudon, Chablis 1er Montmains
A fresh, flighty nose – yet still a little modest. A lovely attack of flavour that’s more persistent than their Vaillons. A nice burst of flavour in the finish too. Very nice.

J.Moreau et Fils, Chablis 1er Vaucopin
Nice high-toned nose, some phenolics, rather pretty. Wide, silky and quite mineral. There’s a growing intensity too. A really good Vaucopin!

J.Moreau et Fils, Chablis 1er Montmains
Lots of aromatic width and interest here. Full and ripe but with a lovely, growing acidity. mouth-watering flavour – yum!

Domaine d’Henri, Chablis 1er Fourchaume
The nose is modest yet pretty, with faint phenolics. Lots of sucrosité and full in the mouth. Concentrated, growing intensity – super wine.

Domaine d’Henri, Chablis 1er Fourchaume Vieilles-Vignes
The nose is even more modest than the ‘non-vv’ version, yet seems to have an extra silkiness. The palate has a faint, extra texture, underpinned by slowly growing intensity and a good finish.

Domaine d’Henri, Chablis 1er Fourchaume ‘Heritage’
The nose is more open and shows more depth and freshness. Full and round with some plushness to the texture. Rather intense but nice flavour. A little dry extract towards the finish too. Very nice!

JM Brocard, Chablis 1er Montmains
Green fruit and faint phenolics on the nose. Lovely sucrosité and a nicely growing intensity. A modest yet very tasty wine.

JM Brocard, Chablis 1er Vau de Vey
Lots of aromatic interest. The palate is well-concentrated, showing both lovely flavour and energy. Tasty!

JM Brocard, Chablis 1er Vaulorent
Some greens and quite some aromatic density. Explosive flavour and very good concentration – Very yum! Super finish – I like this a lot!

Chablisienne, Chablis 1er Côte de Lechet
The nose has both depth and detail though with a faint oak or reductive note. Full and round with growing intensity of flavour. Slowly lingering flavour – good wine!

Chablisienne, Chablis 1er Monte de Milieu
The nose starts with width, gradually adding some interesting depth. The flavour is wide and quite nice before a super mid-palate and tasty finish. But, I find myself preferring their Côte de Lechets…

Gérard Duplessis, Chablis 1er Fourchaume
Rather high-toned fruit – bordering on volatile – yet, quite pretty. Nice flavour and good intensity.

Gérard Duplessis, Chablis 1er Vaillons
There is both depth or aroma and intensity. Full concentration, lots and lots of ripe flavour without loss of balance and acid-intensity. Lovely wine.

Long-Depaquit, Chablis 1er Les Beugnons
A fresh nose with a few phenolic anecdotes. Full, round and ripe but with very nice flavour and a super mid-palate intensity. Very tasty.

JC Bessin, Chablis 1er Montmains
It’s a very modest yet very pretty nose. Lots of flavour; sweet fruits and very lovely freshness. There’s a faint extra dimension of flavour too. Very, very lovely.

JC Bessin, Chablis 1er Fourchaume
Very modest, but pretty nose. Full, ripe, sweet and flavourful. Lovely acidity and finely growing mid-palate intensity too. I like this very much.
JC Bessin, Chablis 1er La Fôret
Quite the loveliest nose of high-tones and flowers. Full and concentrated with a slowly growing intensity. There’s an equally slowly fading diminuendo too. Best nose of this tasting – the rest is rather good too!

Agree? Disagree? Anything you'd like to add?

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