CHABLIS

2017 Grand Cru Les Preuses Domaine Vincent Dauvissat

EN PRIMEUR

The vines here are nearly 50 years old. This is super lithe. High-toned and has beautiful tension. Clean as a whistle. Pure, long and with rising minerality. There is a deep and intense fruit core of zinging citrus flesh. A scintillating, totally delicious intensity. An incredible wine for its energy, concentration and lift. Seriously impressive. Drinking range: 2019 - 2040L&S (Oct 2018)

* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.

The 2017 Chablis Les Preuses Grand Cru is a stunning wine that embodies all of the best qualities of Chablis today. A grand, sweeping wine, the Preuses possesses dramatic concentration and richness. And yet it remains so Chablis, so Dauvissat and so Preuses. All of the classic Preuses signatures of citrus, slate, sage, crushed rocks and mint literally explode into a finish of palate-staining weight and intensity. Vincent Dauvissat adds that this was the last fruit he picked in 2017. "I waited until the very end,'" he told me. "The fruit just wasn't ready before." The 2017 Preuses is a magical wine that will thrill those lucky enough to own it. In a word: heroic. Drinking range: 2025 - 2037 Rating: 100 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2020)

The Dauvissat holdings touch La Moutonne but make a very different style to the Long-Depaquit wine. Fine, delicate and subtle, this lightly wooded grand cru takes your breath away with its focus, poise, and its thrilling length. Drinking range: 2024 - 2035 Rating: 98 Tim Atkin MW - Decanter (Dec 2018)

(from a 1 ha parcel planted in 1970). The barest hint of the exotic can be found on the citrusy pear and green apple aromas that display an abundance of classic Chablis characters. Once again the mouth feel of the medium weight plus flavors is strikingly pure and refined with outstanding intensity while the copious dry extract does an impeccable job of buffering the firm acid spine shaping the gorgeously long finish. This is, in a word, terrific. 2029+ Rating: 92-95 Allen Meadows, www.Burghound.com (Oct 2018)

The 2017 Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses promises to be one of the wines of the vintage, unfurling in the glass with notes of wet stones, oystershell, peach pit, honeycomb and white flowers. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, ample and multidimensional, with a satiny attack and a deep, concentrated core, concluding with a long and searingly mineral finish. Tasting like the essence of rocks, it already stands out for its completeness and elegance. Rating: 95-97 William Kelley, The Wine Advocate (Aug 2018)

The 2017 Chablis Les Preuses Grand Cru, of which there are 13 barrels this year, has a very pure and refined bouquet that offers gunflint, and steely scents that are almost Zen-like for this particular Grand Cru. The palate is beautifully balanced with a fine line of acidity, subtle notes of nutmeg and brown spices underneath a carapace of mineral-rich citrus fruit that fan out in sophisticated fashion on the finish. Brilliant. Drinking range: 2027 - 2050 Rating: 95-97 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Aug 2018)

A domaine of 12.7 hectares, comprising a hectare each of the Grands Crus Clos and Preuses, 3.7ha of Premier Cru Forest, 1.3ha of Vaillons, 0.4ha of Séchet, .3ha of Montée de Tonnerre, 3.3ha of Chablis, 1.1ha of Petit Chablis, and .6ha of Irancy (red).

Vincent Dauvissat remains one of the (if not the) leading lights of Chablis, and his wines are always in high demand and limited volume.

Vincent's grandfather Robert was the first to start bottling under the family name in 1931 and Vincent uses the same cellar today - but the family have been growing grapes here since the 18th century. Today his single-minded determination in the vineyard, where he follows biodynamic principles (without certification) followed by very subtle use of old oak barrels as part of a long élevage, produce some of Chablis' most age-worthy and fascinating wines.

Vincent advises drinking the Grands Crus either young, (within the first three years) or after 10 years when they are becoming fully evolved. Serve at 13C, so that the wine will warm up to about 15C before tasting - any colder masks the subtleties. He prefers to serve the wine directly in glasses rather than decanting it, so as not to miss the first nose and its evolution - with an old wine he advises simply smelling this evolution over the first half an hour before tasting.

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STORAGE OPTIONS:

Wines bought en primeur are scheduled to arrive in the UK over the course of the next eighteen months. If you do not wish to take home delivery, you may wish to consider where you would like the wines shipped on arrival in the UK. Lea & Sandeman offers duty paid and in bond storage through a dedicated storage company called Elephant Storage. For more details on the terms and fees associated with storage please go to our Storage Homepage or contact our primeurs team for more information.

While helpful, we do not require a firm commitment on delivery destination to process your primeur order at this stage. Our team will be in contact with you when your wines arrive in the UK to confirm the necessary delivery details.

BURGUNDY EN PRIMEUR FAQ

OFFER: All wines are offered subject to availability and final confirmation.

PRICING: All prices are quoted IN BOND ex-VAT, by the case size stated. Please double check that the desired case size does match what is being offered as wines are variously listed in threes, sixes, dozens, halves and larger formats.

DELIVERY - TIMING: This is a primeur offer so the wines are not yet physically available for delivery. They will be shipped to the UK over the next eighteen months. Generally, wines are shipped to your nominated location once the whole order has landed in our London City Bond account. If you require wines to be delivered by a certain date, please advise us at the time of ordering.

DELIVERY - FEES: In bond delivery to an Elephant Storage account (for more information see 'Storage Options' opposite) is free of charge. Transfer of wines to any third-party bond (i.e. not Elephant Storage) will incur an administration charge of £16.50 + VAT for all orders under £1,000. Please indicate if you would like the wine duty paid and a duty & VAT invoice will be raised once all the wines on your order are available for shipment. Once the relevant duty & VAT has been settled, we will ship the wines to your nominated address as per our normal duty paid Delivery Terms.

PAYMENT: All orders will be invoiced for immediate payment by cheque, cash, debit card or cleared funds to our account. We regret that we cannot accept credit cards for primeur orders. We reserve the right to apply a dunning charge of 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.