Winemaker Notes
A very pure nose reveals notes of rose, white pepper, and lychee. These aromas are also found on the palate, along with a touch of mint.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Michel notes that his plot of Vaulorent lies on relatively thick clay soils; certainly plenty of force and substance is in evidence. A very complete example of this top premier cru, with excellent acidity, crispness and tension. Plenty of concentration and ageing potential. A marked flinty edge to finish.
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Jasper Morris
Mid lemon yellow. The bouquet has a soft allure, flowers and ripe white apples, the aromatics of spring giving way to early summer. A fine rich juicy white fruit, with a long aftertaste. Still mostly on the apples. Barrel Sample: (91-93)
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Vinous
The 2022 Chablis Vaulorent 1er Cru has a perfumed bouquet of yellow flowers intermixed with crushed limestone and light flinty scents. This is very well-defined and focused. The palate is well-balanced with a fine bead of acidity, harmonious and elegant, with a dab of lemongrass towards the lightly pithy, persistent finish. Surprisingly classic in style, given the warmth of the growing season. Excellent.
Barrel Sample: 91-93 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Michel's 2022 Chablis 1er Cru Vaulorent (still labelled as Fourchaume for Belgium and Hong Kong markets), derives from a south-facing site next to Les Preuses, based on clay-rich soil. Open-knit and charming, it soars from the glass with a bouquet of pear, pastries and honeysuckle mingling with beeswax and stone fruit. On the palate, it’s medium to full-bodied, ample, fleshy and layered, underpinned by bright acidity and concluding with a long, mineral 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.