Winemaker Notes
With perhaps one of the most evocative names of all the Grand Crus, Vaudésir has the reputation of being the fleshiest of his grand cru sites. But banish any thought of fat for this is still Chablis from one of the top sites in the appellation, which means power, tension, and poise. Benoîts farms 1 hectare of vines in Vaudésir that benefit from being planted at the crest of the hill, so his vines enjoy either full southern or northern exposure. This results in a wine that is both rich and ethereal, perfumed and elegant. It is aged, part in tank and part in barrel with a small proportion of new wood.
Professional Ratings
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Jasper Morris
40% oak. A clear pale lemon colour with a light green tint. There is an attractive smoky touch adding to the mineral freshness of the bouquet. Then the additional richness of fruit on the palate which this vintage gives. Even so, the fruit profile is the usual concentrated white fruit I expect from Vaudésir. A fine long finish. Barrel Sample:(93-95)
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Chablis Grand Cru Vaudésir is lovely, bursting with aromas of vine blossom, peach and pear. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and layered, it's suave and seamless, with a pretty, expressive profile that makes it one of the most charming wines in the range.
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.