Chablis

Domaine Adhémar et Francis Boudin

Adhémar, now 90, is a known 'personnage', never short of a story. He was in the leading group of the pioneering growers who cleared scrub and planted some of the original Chablis vineyards. It was hard, and he only stopped keeping cows alongside ('if you didn't have a cow or two you died of hunger') in the mid 1950s. It is astonishing to think that the Premiers Crus were only defined in 1975. Francis Boudin continues to make wines that are, for Chablis, rich and yellow gold, fatly concentrated, unoaked and pure, with a mildly buttery edge rounding out that minerally, stony ethereal Chablis character. These are wines which can be consumed with enormous pleasure in their first year after the harvest, or kept (even the simple Chablis) for several years. The 2010s are still on the opulent house style, but as always there's a streak of stony mineral that is so Chablis, creamy yet pure, with an extra energy and minerality in the 'Homme Mort'. Adhémar was the first to bottle this macabrely-named Premier Cru separately, (it is usually sold as part of la Fourchaume) after a geologist confirmed his belief that it closely resembled the soil structure and exposition of the Grands Crus. The name is as a result of the discovery, when the vines were originally planted, of the body thought to be that of an English soldier from the hundred years’ war.

Full nose, open and with a creamy suppleness, then the mineral kicks in. Mildly saline feel, fresh and expressive.

Very full, as well as bright and mineral. Sappy and long with real weight and compact texture.

Class will out: This floats effortlessly on the airy, yet rocky mineral core. All the weight and power of the Fourchaumes, but with an extra sense of weightlessness.

Domaine Moreau-Naudet

Stéphane Moreau, when asked if he is related to other Chablis Moreaus, explained that his father was from Britanny, and that it is from his mother's Naudet side of the family that he has inherited his sizeable domaine of very well-placed vines. He is obviously influenced by Vincent Dauvissat, who recommended him to us. Superhuman work has been done in the vineyards to bring yields under control, pressing technology has been brought up to date, and harvesting is by hand (sadly rare in Chablis, if not amongst the growers we work with). In the cellar he uses barrel-élevage, but not in such a way that oakiness could be detected in the wines (all his barrels are steamed rather than charred and he uses now new oak except for in the straight Chablis, and then only one barrel per 100hl in order to age it prior to using for the Premiers Crus). He also keeps the wines for a much longer period on the lees than most in order for them to gain more complexity and flesh.

Stephane Moreau proves himself again with this excellent 'basic' wine, a really terrific value buy, full, quite opulent even, but still tense and mineral - classic village Chablis in any other cellar.

Textbook classic Chablis, firm and bracing.

Stéphane's 'les Pargues' is a single vineyard wine of old vines and has always been a class above. Very citrus - a streak of fresh lemon which really seizes the senses, long and pure.

Broad buttery and intense, the most mouthfilling and richly textured at the January tasting.

Both fat and very mineral. Of the premiers crus this, perhaps, had the least in the way of distictive personality at our early tastings, but previous vintages have shown how well it can develop.

Very expressive, maybe a touch lighter-bodied than the Forêts, but supple, floral, almost spicy, zippy and brightly open.

Really this wine is consistently Grand Cru quality. At the January tasting, however, it was remarkably restrained, lightly lemony and immensely delicate and detailed on the long finish. With six months more élevage to go, the future is looking as bright as ever.

Smokey, complex, dusty and dense with flavour and minerals. A wine with a long way to go but all the elements are here. Ultimately fresh and pure, crystalline definition.

Domaine Laurent Tribut

Laurent is Vincent Dauvissat's brother-in-law. When he started he made his wines in the Dauvissat cellar in Chablis, but for many years now he has been in his own cellar in Poinchy. The Dauvissat influence on the winemaking is very strong, and the philosophy similar. These are wines of crystalline minerality, incredibly subtle use of oak to bring complexity and development - like the Dauvissat wines, in fact, though they perhaps have a friendlier style about them when younger.

Domaine Drouhin Vaudon

The Beaune-based merchant Joseph Drouhin has restyled its Chablis Domaine 'Domaine Drouhin-Vaudon' to emphasise its ties with and holdings in (38 hectares) the Chablis Vineyard. The Moulin de Vaudon, an 18th Century watermill straddling the Serein River, close to the Grand Cru vineyards of Chablis, is the headquarters of the Drouhin Domaine in Chablis. The Drouhin Grands Crus in 2010 are remarkably mineral and intense as well as delicately pure.

Light, firm nose, a whiff of the sea, salty oyster-shell stones. Enough volume to give a full, soft mouth feel and to partly cover the rapier-like acidity and mineral drive. Very pure. Minerals still popping away on the finish. Lovely pure length.

From two parcels, one at the top and one at the bottom of the slope. 2nd and 3rd year barrels. Fuller than the Vaudésir, with a mossier, struck flint stoniness. Super-pure again, acidity slightly more 'covered' by the weight. Lots of power and energy. Impressive. A sense of being barely contained, ready to explode.