Winemaker Notes
Montmains, the iconic 1er cru climat that also covers the historic lieux-dits of Fôrets and Butteaux, is situated directly southwest of the Grand Cru amphitheater on the left bank of the Serein. Towards the tip of the valley the slopes face east and offer an exposure to the cool winds of the Serein as well as the bright morning sun. The two act as a foil for one another, producing wines of richness and depth that also maintain vivacity. Once again, as with the other premier crus, the wine is aged in a combination of stainless steel and used barrels for 15-18 months on the lees.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Hints of orange blossom and crushed stone are subtle on the nose but extend to the palate of this medium-bodied, salt-struck expression of Chablis. Briskly composed but intensely mineral in focus, it lingers on streaks of fresh white grapefruit and an oyster-shell 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.