(2016) A year older than the Montagny 1er Cru also tasted, but a different style too, this richer and more buttery, with a sheen of creamy oak over riper fruit. In the mouth that nuttiness and Cox's pippin character give more weight and there is more texture, the extra ounce of ripeness nicely offset by some grip and keen acid in the finish. Delicious.
(2016) Aged around 22 months on the Lees, all in tank. Very fresh and citrussy with a sour orange tang. Delightful bright acidity and lemony, fast flowing freshness.
(2016) Aged 18 months on the lees in tank. Delicious juiciness, a touch of herbs and a touch of spangle brightness, but plenty of fresh zest acidity and cool apple. A lovely drinkable wine with real salty lick not often found in Petit Chablis.
(2016) The second left bank Cru, again showing some of that mineral reduction, not so pronounced perhaps, with a juicy and bold apple fruitiness too, a touch of nuttiness. The palate has a sweet lemon juice freshness, the clean salty minerals lingering on the finish. A fine pithy dryness.
(2016) Organic certified, 30% aged in old and new barrels for six months. Not quite so aromatic, but has an attractive nuttiness, and a palate that is less fruity too, with a dry lick of salt and apple core dry acidity, in a savoury style. It is dry, with a little layered quality, but does not have the decisive bite of the regular Chablis.
(2016) From a hard limestone sub soil, this is loaded with minerals and earthiness, a dry apple fruit, plenty of juiciness and lemon. Very good acidity, a lovely freshness and bite with a true expression of minerality salts.
(2016) Same winemaking as the 2013, except the oaked proportion was in small Burgundy barriques. Not the most aromatic of wines, the nose subdued, no real sign of the flinty qualities here, the still gentle oak influence over taut apple fruit. The palate dry, strict and more classic Chablis. It is clear, clean and aesthetically pleasing stuff, lovely rigour, but perhaps just falling between two stools slightly: not expressing the minerality clearly enough, and not quite enough fruity charm. A very good wine in its own right.
(2016) All parcels have old vines with a minimum of 50 years. A bit of gold to the colour, and flinty complex sulphides appearing for the first time here, replacing the pretty purity with a more intriguing complexity. On the palate a racy core of lemon fresh fruit, and that lovely salty and citrus length and freshness.
(2016) From a half hectare parcel and vinified in stainless steel. Delicacy and freshness again, more in line with the straight Chablis, that lovely sense of freshness and pretty, pure apple and juicy pear fruit, finishing with that delicate salts and citrus acidity. Very pretty, a touch more structure than the 2014 Chablis.
(2016) Comes from a parcel just south of 1er Cru Fourneaux. The name transalates as essential or unmissable. 30% vinified in oak. A lovely toasty development on the nose, some soft truffle notes and taut, fresh apple and apple core character, there’s a touch of almond too and quite complex. The palate is sweet at the core, with the wood giving a touch of creamy density, though I do miss a bit of the sheer vivacious freshness of the new 2014 Chablis.
