Tasted in Milly with Fabien Dauvissat, 07 March 2023.
Domaine Jean Dauvissat Père & Fils
11 et 13 rue de Léchet
89800 Milly
Tel: +33 3 86 42 12 23
www.chablis-dauvissat.com
More reports with Domaine Jean Dauvissat
Fabien on 2022:
“I’m very happy – eventually – oof – though it still wasn’t an easy year – I nearly cried when I saw the frost again. All our vines on the plateau were frosted – I thought catastrophically – but the opposing buds hadn’t started to grow and they came through and were fertile so I still made 40 hl/ha! We started badly but in the end I think I can say superb – and in the old vines of my 1ers I target 40 hl/ha and I made it! I target 50 hl/ha in villages and ended up with 60! The fermentations were not so easy – despite starting very quickly.”
Fabien on 2021:
“The result here was 30 hl/ha so around half a harvest – but that was thanks to the vines in la Chapelle de Vaupelteine – and we have 10 hectares there – which produced a normal amount. The date of the harvest was hard to choose – we harvested in 5 days vs the normal 12 – we had to get the grapes in…”
The wines…
The marker of most of Fabien’s wines in 2021 are the complex citrus bitters – almost towards grapefruit – I find these to be great flavours – but he wants them to be finer before he sells the wines. A treasure here in 2021!
I visited the day before the bottlings (for many) were planned – the wines had been recently been filtered. There are now lots of parcel selections – 6 different villages are being produced:
2021 Chablis
This the blend of different parcels.
A nice airy nose, slowly becoming more aromatically vibrant. Hmm – fruity, beautifully shaped, with a hint of sweetness.
From the plateau – lots of limestone – and some west-facing hillside vines, plus vines at the bottom of the hill in deeper soils.
A more mineral width – fresh and attractive – of course! Broader – a little extra intensity – pure and completely delicious – more overt salinity here – less sweetness. Top!
2021 Chablis Les Terroirs de Milly
Mainly the bottom of the slopes – it’s just Côte de Lechets that’s higher!
The citrus is more forward and bubbly here. Direct, super mineral, intense – lots of salinity here – almost a hint of (attractive!) austerity – better said, strict! Super wine again…
Near the road so not in 1er aoc – it’s just the first few rows that are Chablis then all are 1er…
Broad and attractive agrume complexity. In the mouth too. That’s a super agrume complexity with a little citrus skin complexity too – I think this will be great in this style – bravo! It’s more about the grapefruit style than Chablis today but what a wine.
2021 Chablis Mont-main Saurdelles
A parcel in Beine – largest parcel of the domaine 2.4 ha facing Vau de Vey
More compact nose, faintly complex. Riper – more generous – growing in intensity – hyper-impressive middle flavours before fading in a pure mineral line. So good!
The following wines not bottling for a few months so the gas hasn’t been adjusted::
‘The traditional 4 parcels for this cuvée’ – 80 year old vines in La Chapelle.
More open again – mineral and agrume, faintly reductive – a great nose. In the mouth complex and super-attractive – slightly rounder but also with fine clarity and great energy. The salinity is more visible in this finish, slightly creamy too. A top wine!
The Chablis Cuvée Claire is no-more:
2 ha, 1.5 really in the centre. Still one parcel is missing – they are waiting for 8-years before they replant.
Medium breadth of aroma but this has a width of ripe yellow citrus in the depth. I know there’s a bit of gas here but the vibrant energy of this wine is just so infectious – completely great middle and finishing flavours – a grapefruit-style reduction in this long flavour. There’s only a couple of wines per year that I don’t spit – and this is one! Bravo!
One 0.83 hectare parcel in Chatains.
Almost a smoky, flinty depth. Extra gas – exacerbating the citrus bitters but again a great wine here – so complex and so absorbing – and like the last so not quite ready. Still, a wine for the big time
2021 Chablis 1er Montmains
One 0.75 hectare parcel in real Montmains. ‘Usually, our last parcel to be harvested – it’s the marnes, it’s a cold place.’
A large-scale, really pure and clean nose. Not the same scale as the last two but still a great vibration of intense flavour, saline and again agrume. Another super wine.
A little extra floral note in this airy impression. But the attack is there – no discretion – growing wider from the incisive start. Just a wine of immense energy – a box of bouncing frogs – that’s so good again – maybe a great one!
2021 Chablis 1er Homme Mort
This nose is very creamy – this is the only wine that’s mostly barrel – 500-litre barrels. Broad, a little sweet – nice intensity – but not the definition of the other wines today. Very round compared to the others – I would wait 4-5 years for the creamy barrel to fade – but I’m sure it will be, as a minimum, excellent.