Chablis
Appellation VillageGrape Variety :
Chardonnay.Vineyard
Site: near the hill of the Grands Crus of Chablis is the Valley of Vauvillien, partly owned by Maison Joseph Drouhin. This valley looks like a corridor of vines planted on an exceptional terroir: the slopes are steep and the soil is made up of the famous Kimmeridge limestone with its fossilized oyster shells.History & tradition: in the sixties, when the Chablis vineyards were all but abandoned, Robert Drouhin recognized the potential of this region which had been ravaged by the phylloxera disease a century before. He was one of the first Burgundy propriétaires who set about revitalizing the area.
Soil: the Kimmeridgian limestone contains millions of tiny marine fossils embedded in a kind of whitish mortar which may have been once the bottom of the sea...hundreds of million years ago. This marine origin gives the wines of Chablis their unique flavour.
Domaine total area: 21 ha. (52.5 acres).
Average Age of the Vines: 29 years
Viticulture
Biological cultivation since 1990 and biodynamic cultivation since 1999 Soil Maintenance: age-old methods. Ploughing: "buttage" (hilling up around the vine-stocks) in autumn; "débuttage" (ploughing back in spring); work between the rows and the vine stocks done with manual tools only.
Treatment: only authorized products for biological cultivation are used - infusions and macerations of plant materials, sulfur and copper, powdered rock. Natural predators are not eliminated.
Plantation density: 6250 stocks/ha.
Pruning: double Guyot "Vallée de la Marne" (for its resistance to frost).
Yield: we aim for a lower yield, such as it existed before the new law. This yield is therefore the present maximum yield minus 20%.
Average yield at the Domaine: 53,79hl/ha (the yield currently authorized for the Chablis appellation is now 60 hl/ha).
Vinification
Harvesting: by hand.Pressing: very slow so as to respect the fruit. Juices from the last pressings are not retained.
Ageing
Type: in vats.Length: 7 to 8 months.
Throughout the ageing process, decisions are taken only after careful tasting evaluation. The data obtained is completed through technical analysis. As with every other Joseph Drouhin wine, absolute priority is given to the true expression of terroir and character of the vintage.
Tasting note by Véronique Boss-Drouhin
"A dry and fruity wine, easy to drink. Its colour is pale gold with greenish hues. Very fresh aromas reminiscent of citrus (lemon or grapefruit); small pleasant touches of fern or coriander are found as well. On the palate, dry and fruity, with mineral notes. Pleasant and long aftertaste".Serving
Temperature: 12/13°C (53-54°F).Cellaring: 1 to 5 years.
