Winemaker Notes
Clear, bright hue with light green tinges. This 1er Cru reveals a remarkably rich aromatic profile with ripe citrus fruits and white flowers. The palate is rich and round with exceptional length.
Pair with Qquail terrine, sea bream with confit lemons, or king prawns in ginger and lime.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Very elegant, cool and driven on both nose and palate. Fine citrus acidity, a thoroughbred with finesse and focus. Lots of potential. Produced from four parcels of varying ages (on average 40 years) ranging from the top of the hill to the bottom.
Barrel Sample: 94 -
Jasper Morris
Made from four plots from top to bottom of Mont de Milieu, all at the Chablis end, using a mix of some demi-muid barrels and stainless steel. Some ripe plums are evident on the nose but all has been well harnessed so nothing is too exotic. Racy acidity behind, a fruit which develops well right through to the back of the palate and an excellent acid balance. Very persistent.
Barrel Sample: 93-95 -
James Suckling
This is exactly what we expect a Chablis 1er Cru to be. It’s chalky and well structured, but bright and refreshing, the winemaking taking a back seat to the oyster-shell and fresh lemon-peel character. Delightful balance and purity at the finish.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
The source of the most racy, light and tactile, yet uniquely complex Chardonnay, Chablis, while considered part of Burgundy, actually reaches far past the most northern stretch of the Côte d’Or proper. Its vineyards cover hillsides surrounding the small village of Chablis about 100 miles north of Dijon, making it actually closer to Champagne than to Burgundy. Champagne and Chablis have a unique soil type in common called Kimmeridgian, which isn’t found anywhere else in the world except southern England. A 180 million year-old geologic formation of decomposed clay and limestone, containing tiny fossilized oyster shells, spans from the Dorset village of Kimmeridge in southern England all the way down through Champagne, and to the soils of Chablis. This soil type produces wines full of structure, austerity, minerality, salinity and finesse.
Chablis Grands Crus vineyards are all located at ideal elevations and exposition on the acclaimed Kimmeridgian soil, an ancient clay-limestone soil that lends intensity and finesse to its wines. The vineyards outside of Grands Crus are Premiers Crus, and outlying from those is Petit Chablis. Chablis Grand Cru, as well as most Premier Cru Chablis, can age for many years.