Les Clos

As befits the well-exposed Grand Cru site, the fruit profile here is towards the stone fruit end of the spectrum. Spicy, rich, and with a hint of oak, there is outstanding concentration, a chalky minerality and a satisfying, long finish of pain d’épices. Drink 2021-2030.
Adam Bruntlett, Burgundy Buyer

The legendary Louis Pinson himself retired in 1983, having made some fabulous oldstyle Chablis. His great-grand-daughter, Charlène, along with her father Laurent and her uncle Christophe are now in charge. There is a Rue Pinson in Chablis, dating back to an earlier generation when three Pinson brothers lived in identical houses on the street. Everything is hand-harvested, with sorting of the grapes both in the vineyard and at the winery. The wines are wild-fermented, mostly in stainless steel tanks, before barrel ageing, with the proportion of oak depending on the cuvée. Despite describing 2016 as a testing year, Laurent Pinson and his daughter Charlène are upbeat, declaring themselves very happy with the quality of the grapes and resultant wines. Volumes are down in many cases, and the limited-production Cuvée Mademoiselle has not been made this year.

Fifty percent barrel-fermented, this is – as ever – incredibly complex and tightly wound. Packed with vibrant fruit on the entry, it tightens up with a core of citrus, finishing on notes of hot, flinty stones. Sublime. Drink 2022-2032.
Adam Bruntlett, Burgundy Buyer

The Droins have been producing wines in Chablis for nearly 400 years (their history as vignerons goes back at least to 1620). Benoît represents the 14th generation, having taken over from his father Jean-Paul. The domaine owns 13 hectares of vineyards and produces 14 different wines, including seven Premiers Crus and five Grands Crus. Benoît runs a sophisticated operation from a large modern winery almost in the shadow of the Grands Crus. He has revised his pruning system and significantly reduced yields; while in the cellar the principal change has been away from new oak. Visiting Benoît Droin in spring 2017 was a sobering affair; row upon row of stainless steel tanks stood empty, their doors hanging open as a stark reminder of the damage caused by the frost and twin hailstorms of the nightmarish 2016 vintage. Despite making just half his normal crop, Benoît remained philosophical and announced himself delighted with the vintage, explaining that he feels there is greater concentration and better balance than the sunnier 2015s. Unfortunately, there is no Fourchaume this year.

Every year we like these wines, and every year when we try the wines that we bought the year before, we like them even more. Laurent Pinson and his daughter Charlène are doing a wonderful job and producing outstanding Chablis for very reasonable prices. All of the wines are hand harvested and the 1ers Crus are matured in barrel, though without the influence of new wood.

---

Part vinified in new wood and all aged in barrel before bottling after 15 months, this wine is up to the same standard of their great 2010. It has a fabulous nose, the wood perfectly integrated with a fine depth of powerful white fruit, excellent acidity and exceptional long term potential.
Jasper Morris MW, Berrys' Burgundy Director

Picking started as early as 31st August at Domaine William Fèvre, which is extraordinarily early for Chablis, but a good decision seeing as it preserved the essential acidity in grapes which were ripe in their low-yielding vineyards. The crop was reduced on the right bank after a touch of frost slightly disturbed flowering and hail which arrived on 28th June. Didier Séguier, the talented winemaker, draws some parallels with 2000 and, in terms of the moderate but balanced acidity, 2002 – both of which are fine vintages indeed for Chablis. All of the wines listed below were farmed organically in 2011.

---

The bouquet here is not yet ready to speak but it suggests great density and poise. There are powerful shoulders to the wine and while it has not yet had time for the finesse to show, it is certainly present and waiting. Wave after wave of flavour covers the palate, with spicy notes attached to the flesh and deep fruit, before an utterly explosive finish.
Jasper Morris MW, Berrys' Burgundy Director

The 2011 vintage has turned out very well here, better than Benoît initially expected. It was a normal sized crop, picked early (from 31st August) in order to maintain acidity in a vintage which otherwise has the weight of 2005 or 2009. We were very impressed by the whole range, with each vineyard offering a different set of flavours. As usual, Benoît employs a different oak regime for each wine according to the needs of its terroir.

---

The flagship wine is fermented and aged half in wood and half in tank. Overall this is a full, complete, beautiful wine- a great expression of Chablis. Tight, powerful and concentrated, each component is there but it's hardly showing the detail yet. The very lively but caressing mid palate leads to an amazing aftertaste.
Jasper Morris MW, Berrys' Burgundy Director

Where the Mont de Milieu is about power, Pinson’s Les Clos is the epitome of finesse, albeit every bit as intense. The fruit has a serene quality to it, fills out the middle palate, then continues to an immensely long finish. This is a fabulously complete wine and a bargain at that!
(Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Director)

Laurent Pinson thinks 2010 will be the longest lasting in the recent succession of successful vintages in Chablis, combining the intensity of 2009 with the invigorating acidity of the previous year. Though volume is down as for everybody, prices remain stable – meaning that this excellent address offers superb value. The Premier and Grand Cru wines are a blend of barrel and stainless steel maturation, though the wood component never dominates the wine.

Pale but intense and ultra-concentrated, this displays very dense white fruit and an edge of smokiness. Highly impressive, there is weight and fruit richness, with lovely lemon-scented notes,  brilliant intensity and a fine suave finish. Another great example of Les Clos magic. 
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer

Benoît began harvesting on 26th September so almost everything was picked before the rain. Supply is down 30 percent because of the flowering but there was very little rot. It all passed off without problem during vinification and in the cellar.

Some lemon-scented notes freshen up the scintillating bouquet, while the core of steel which threads through the palate fully demonstrates its Grand Cru status.

Fine pure pale colour. It takes time for the nose to emerge. One can sense plenty of detail but it is not all ready to show yet. The fruit on the palate feels like a block of marble, clearly needing a lot longer élévage. It really is the most complete of them all, with greater concentration of fruit, and a fabulous sense of underlying minerality. This is surely going to be a great wine.
Jasper Morris MW - Burgundy Wine Director

The domaine is now organic, though without certification, while biodynamic practices have been introduced to the vineyards on the right bank. There were two main choices in 2012 – pick early and make just a small amount of hugely concentrated wine with bracing acidity, or else wait for the rain which increased volumes but significantly decreased the acidity which Chablis ought to have. Didier Séguier chose the former option and the wines are brilliant in 2012.

There is real density on the nose here, with white fruit, flintiness and immense power. This is classically top Chablis for its intensity and superbly integrated acidity.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Director

While Benoît Droin bemoans the reduced crop in 2010, albeit not as savage a deficit as in the Côte d’Or, he is thrilled with the quality. 2010 Chablis unites ripe flavours with excellent acidity. As usual Benoît has managed his different terroirs with masterly precision, varying the amount of oak to suit each cuvée. Therefore, there is no wood for the Grand Cru Blanchots, but 50% for Les Grenouilles. This is a domaine that lets you choose wine that suits your palate.

A combination of all the above Grands Crus, only more so: Les Clos manages to be the most powerful wine, with the greatest concentration of fruit, yet retaining a driving elegance throughout. Minerals abound, and the finish shows extraordinary persistence.

The grapes were picked by hand between 15th and 22nd September in good weather conditions. The Premiers Crus will be bottled in December or January, the Grands Crus a little later. The fresh style of the wines is dictated by the summer temperatures, both July and August being cooler than average. The different terroirs are beautifully delineated this year and the range offers some fascinating contrasting pairings: Vaillons/Mont de Milieu; Montée de Tonnerre/Vauloren and Les Preuses/ Côte Bouguerots for example.

A beautiful, very pale primrose, the nose is classy, showing the oak a bit at first, but then the noble fruit emerges. There is huge volume here, ultra-concentrated white fruit (maybe white-fleshed peaches), a touch of wood and then the spice of ripeness without undue weight. This is very impressive but Bougerots maybe wins this year. Drink 2022-2032.
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer

In common with most of his colleagues, Didier Séguier was ready to harvest in early September; starting on Thursday 3^rd with the vineyards which had been hit by the hail storm earlier in the week. The damage was to volume rather than quality and certainly just from tasting it was not possible to see where the hail had fallen. These are powerful wines which have nonetheless retained the qualities of classic Chablis.

From first sniff, this is a fabulous wine. Tasting it, even in its youth, brings a smile to the face. There is a brilliant rich white fruit bouquet and a great density of flavour on the palate. This wine displays a serene quality, with tremendous intensity of fruit, yet light on its feet. Terrific!
Jasper Morris MW - Burgundy Wine Director

This long-established family domaine impresses us more and more with every vintage. The Pinsons have always picked by hand and they are now using natural yeasts for the vinification process. Most wines are vinified in stainless steel, with a small percentage in barrel for the top wines, then matured in barrel for up to a year. The only bad news in 2012 is the quantity: 20% down for straight Chablis, 25-30% less across the Premier Cru vineyards and minus 50% on the Grand Cru which was affected by frost.