2018 Chablis
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Jean-Paul & Benoit Droin,
For laying down,
This is only the second vintage for this cuvée, of which around 1,200 bottles are made per year. Benoît describes this as possessing the finesse of Vaudésir and the minerality of Les Clos. The nose offers elegant, smoky minerals and some cool oyster-shell notes while the palate’s intense minerality is clothed in the richness of the vintage to give a lasting feeling of finesse. Drink 2022-2030.
Domaine Louis Michel,
Ready, but will keep,
This is a large cuvée for Guillaume, made from 3.7 hectares in the lieu-dit of Chapelot, southeast-facing and with classic Kimmeridgian soils. There’s spicy, mineral reduction on the nose, while the palate is open and layered. At once weighty and fresh, the textural elements are impressive, with real dry extract prolonging the lengthy finish. Drink 2022-2028.
Samuel Billaud,
Ready, but will improve,
This wine undergoes 20% barrel fermentation and ageing, adding a little texture and breadth without oaking the wine. This is generous, with a ripe and powerful nose which offers white fruit and spice. The palate opens with citrus and minerals, offering real power and a fine thread of acidity, with a touch of white pepper adding complexity. Drink 2021-2027.
Domaine Louis Michel,
Ready, but will keep,
Guillaume’s two parcels total a little under two hectares and are well-located in the middle of Forêts, the rows running from bottom to top. The nose is more open than in cooler years, with ripe lemon and floral notes. The palate has a pleasing citrus freshness and tingling minerals which prolong the finish. Drink 2021-2026.
Samuel Billaud,
For laying down,
This is a blend of two parcels; one facing east, one facing west. The former brings freshness, the latter maturity. It’s raised in two-year-old oak for a year, before moving to tank for the second winter. The nose offers oak spice and floral notes, while the palate is rich and exotic with a cashmere texture, generous peach and apricot fruit, and a powerful but elegant warmth. Drink 2022-2028.
Jean-Paul & Benoit Droin,
For laying down,
Just over a third of the wine has seen oak, marrying harmoniously to the exuberant and perfumed character of the site – a warm valley which gives an exotic and spicy edge. The palate is packed with stone-fruit and smoke. While there is refreshing, tangy acidity to the finish, this is the least mineral, but most hedonistic wine in the cellar. Drink 2022-2028.
Jean-Paul & Benoit Droin,
For laying down,
For the first time in many years, Benoît is happy with how much Les Clos he has made. The nose is tightly closed, giving only a subtle scent of spice and crushed oyster shell. The palate is equally reserved, with noble reduction before the middle expands slightly, tightening up again on the finish with sizzling mineral freshness. Outstanding potential. Drink 2023-2033.
Jean-Paul & Benoit Droin,
Ready, but will keep,
This was bottled in the spring to capture its freshness and energy. The fruit is a touch riper and sunnier than in 2017, but this just adds further charm to what is an excellent village-level wine. There is still plenty of freshness and the hallmark oyster-shell minerals. Classically styled, but friendly and approachable. Drink now to 2024.
Domaine Louis Michel,
Ready, but will keep,
This sheltered parcel enjoys a warm microclimate and is therefore always one of the first to be picked. The nose is open and attractive with ripe stone and orchard fruit to the fore, while the palate is similarly succulent with purity, freshness and a chalky grip to the finish. It’s elegant and approachable, but yet to express its full potential. Drink now to 2025.
Domaine Louis Michel,
For laying down,
From half a hectare of vines situated in the mid-slope at the heart of Les Clos, the southerly aspect is in evidence in the powerful, smoky and spicy aromas. The palate is weighty with citrus purity, a laser focus and chalky, chewy finish. Despite the complexity and layered feel of this wine, it still gives the impression of enormous further potential. Drink 2023-2033.
Samuel Billaud,
Ready, but will improve,
From two parcels – one at the top of Chapelot and one in the triangle of Montée de Tonnerre, this is an intense and powerful wine which needs time to achieve its potential. The nose is complex, with smoke, spice and subtle fruit. The palate is tightly wound, with huge concentration and power bubbling under the surface. Despite this, it remains fine and reserved, with a cool character that defies the warm vintage. Drink 2022-2028.
Samuel Billaud,
Ready, but will improve,
Samuel’s Séchet is made from 70-year-old vines, an important factor in moderating the yield to a modest 45hl/ha. Raised exclusively in stainless steel, this is the quintessence of Chablis purity. It’s an intensely mineral and restrained wine with sizzling, precise focus and an iodine finish. Severe and strict within the context of the vintage, this is excellent. Drink 2021-2027.
Samuel Billaud,
Ready, but will keep,
The 2018 vintage sees a return to the classic blend of Bas de Chapelot, Pargues and Cartes, the latter being over 80 years old, and all three being very well-sited next to Premier Cru vineyards. The nose is classically Chablis, with citrus and oyster-shell notes, and a complexity that is a cut above most village Chablis. The palate is juicy with good generosity underpinned by a steely, mineral core and surprising structure. Drink now to 2026.
Domaine Louis Michel,
Ready, but will keep,
Guillaume has three hectares in total in Butteaux, and this is made from around 0.75 hectares of 65-year-old vines in a small area with white clay soil. A wine for those with patience, this is brooding and tightly wound on the nose. The palate is slightly more giving, with an initial ball of ripe citrus fruit followed by a piercing, tight mineral finish, as though giving just the briefest of glimpses before snapping shut. Drink 2022-2028.
Jean-Paul & Benoit Droin,
For laying down,
Valmur’s position, with its sheltered valley, makes this a less explosive wine than Vaudésir. There is, however, a brooding power and richness, with a minerality that is initially more flint and hot stone in profile before finishing on a chalky limestone note. The lingering impression is of crisp elegance with a touch of wood spice. Drink 2022-2030.
Jean-Paul & Benoit Droin,
Ready, but will improve,
With the volume returning to normal in 2017, this wine was once again partially aged and fermented in oak, a technique which Benoît feels softens its power. The nose has touches of gunflint and rich spice, while the palate builds from a discreet base to offer plenty of power. It’s rich and supple with chewy, warming minerals on the long finish. Drink 2021-2027.
Domaine Louis Michel,
For laying down,
Guillaume’s largest Grand Cru holding, at one hectare, this parcel lies on the north-facing slope of the vineyard, so tends to ripen late and retain high acidity, but its clay soils contribute weight and texture. The palate is more open than the nose at present, with a slight viscosity and textural feel, rather than any overt fruit character. It is somewhat shy and reserved now, but there is undoubted potential. Drink 2022-2030.
Domaine Sebastien Dampt,
Ready, but will improve,
There is a lovely classic Chablis nose of crushed oyster shell, salty minerals and lemon. The palate has an initial generosity, but the fruit remains decidedly citrus and while there is a sucrosity to the mouth-feel, there is also a feeling of lightness. The old vines suffer from court-noué (fanleaf virus), giving lots of very small grapes, which in 2018 resulted in a modest crop with plenty of concentration and chewy grip. Lemony and saline, this is textbook Chablis with a punch. Drink now to 2026.
Domaine Louis Michel,
Ready, but will keep,
This 0.5-hectare parcel is situated at the top of the hill, with a southerly aspect. The nose is open and giving, with melon, spice and cream notes. As Guillaume points out, this is the wine that tasters always believe – wrongly – has oak. It’s rich and buttery but carried on a firm, flinty bed of minerals with iodine touches to the finish. Drink 2022-2030.
Domaine Pinson,
Ready, but will keep,
These vines were planted in 1956, so are slightly younger than those in La Forêt. There is a good amount of clay in the soil here, and consequently the nose has a more expansive, earthy feel. The palate is intense, with ripe yet bitter confit-lemon flavours and a salivating finish. A real success this year. Drink 2021-2028.
Domaine Pinson,
Ready, but will keep,
This is a blend of five different parcels, split 50-50 between the left and right banks of the river Serein. Raised entirely in stainless steel to preserve freshness, the nose is unmistakably Chablis, with fine oyster-shell reduction and citrus fruit. The palate has real purity and focus, crisp apple fruit and a salty, salivating finish. Drink now to 2024.
Domaine Pinson,
Ready, but will improve,
From 0.2 hectares of vines in the climat of Châtains, this wine is fermented in tank and raised in used barrels. The nose displays classic smoky reduction combined with both floral and spicy notes. The palate is compact and steely, with a wet-stone feel, and a grilled almond and sea salt finish. Drink now to 2026
Domaine Eleni et Edouard Vocoret,
Ready, but will improve,
This parcel is located between the Premiers Crus of Montmains and Vaillons, with a band of clay running through the vineyard. A challenge in cooler years, the clay soil was a real benefit in 2018, allowing the vines to access water through the dry summer. The nose offers charming orchard fruit, while the palate is crisp, open and giving, with green apple, flowers and a precise finish. Drink now to 2025.
Domaine Pinson,
Ready, but will keep,
From a 0.3-hectare parcel of old vines which are wellsited at the top of the slope behind Mont de Milieu, this undergoes 18 hours of skin contact as well as fermentation in older barrels, giving spicy notes and some grip to the finish. The oak notes add breadth, charm and complexity to what is a concentrated and intense Chablis. Drink now to 2025.
Le Domaine d'Henri,
Ready, but will improve,
This is the classic Héritage plot of now 80-year-old vines in L’Ardillier. Unusually this year, the whole cuvée was fermented and raised in two used, 600-litre Austrian oak barrels for the first year, before being transferred to amphorae ahead of bottling. As a result it is a little more marked by its élevage than usual, but also has Grand Cru texture and ageing potential. The nose offers notes of fresh cèpe mushrooms, while the palate is rich, powerful and concentrated, with plenty of spice on the saline finish. Drink 2022-2030.
Domaine Pinson,
Ready, but will improve,
Planted in 1955, these are the oldest vines of the domaine, used for massal selection to plant new parcels as they never suffer from disease. The restrained nose has sea breeze and lemon notes, while the palate is initially dominated by generous lemon fruit, with a spicy reduction underneath, before tapering to a firm, saline finish. Drink now to 2026.
Domaine Pinson,
Ready, but will improve,
The Pinson family has almost five hectares here and consequently this is something of a flagship wine. With 10% of the cuvée fermented in new oak, there is more spice here, but the class of the wine ensures it is not dominant. There is a ball of rich, ripe fruit on the front of the palate, with some spicy reduction too. Thick and layered, this has Grand Cru density and concentration, with intensity, warmth and a cleansing, chewy, stony finish. Drink 2022-2030.