Chablis 2022

Benoît’s village Chablis is one of the best (the best?) out there, and is always a fast seller. It has a strong following of fans who return to it year after year for its great value and high quality. It’s packed with fruit, and has an energy and persistence that propels it across the palate. There’s a nice chalky freshness and zingy lift.

Droin’s Vosgros is always one of the most striking and characterful wines at the domaine. It is vinified and raised exclusively in stainless steel: Benoît wants to preserve the energy and Chablisienne nature of the wine. It has a notable drive, but also an ample volume, twinned with delicious purity. It has wonderful intensity on the palate, with lemon verbena and orange pith notes.

Samuel’s Chablis is an absolute go-to. It’s a blend of three parcels, picked and vinified separately. Together they contribute complexity, richness, and minerality: that’s a pretty good combination for a Chablis, with impressive depth of fruit and a satisfying, fleshy weight,and its persistent length is clean-cut and refreshing. It’s one of our fastest sellers each year, and invariably sells out en primeur, so you need to buy early (well worth having).

This cuvée was new to us in 2021, although Samuel has been making it since 2016. It sees Samuel with his négociant hat on, sourcing some excellent grapes from Mâcon and making a citrus fresh and zingy Chardonnay.

Samuel jokes that this is ‘Petit Chablis deluxe’. It comes from a parcel just above Grand Cru Les Clos, and is a rare example of Petit Chablis grown on a high proportion of Kimmeridgian, rather than purely Portlandian, limestone. Although Samuel does not distinguish within his range, all the fruit here comes from his own vines, ie ‘domaine’. Indeed, it’s one of the parcels he was most determined to hang onto after splitting from his family estate in 2009. It was so badly frosted in 2021 that none was produced, so we are thrilled to have it back in 2022. It is focused and precise, with lemon zest and salty minerality running through it, and a peachy, smooth as silk length.

This comes from three parcels, which are spread across the top, middle, and bottom sections of the premier cru. It is straight and incisive, with a concentrated, saline flicker on the finish. There’s a nice balance between fruit and minerality in this premier cru.

The Fèvre Chablis comes from 40 parcels scattered across four hectares, from vines with an average age of 50 years. Much of these are grown around Chichée, near Vosgros, and give the quality you might expect in a premier cru. The result is a village Chablis of brilliant precision, with a long voluminous finish.

Vaillons is a warm, sunny premier cru, much admired in the region. Fèvre has a substantial 3.5 hectares right in the middle of the slope. Their 55-year-old vines produce concentration and ripeness in the wine. This 2022 is bursting with floral aromatics: white blossom and jasmine spice. It is delicious already, but will age brilliantly too.

Preuses tends to be the most mineral and chalky or the grand cru lieux-dits, and the Fèvre example is quintessential. It is tight and powerful, with wonderful depth on the nose. The palate has pronounced energy and precision, and there is a long, tingling line of mineral freshness that stretches right down the finish. It encapsulates the purity and finesse of the 2022 vintage.

Beauroy is located within Troesmes, and the Fevre parcel is home to old vines, all around 55 to 60 years old. It shows mineral structure and fruit density, but its overall frame is lighter on its feet than some others in the lineup, and it will be one of the more forward drinking of the premiers crus.

William Fèvre owns half of the Bougros lieu-dit, so it’s no wonder theirs is the best example you will find. Its clay soils make a flattering, comparatively early-drinking grand cru, which will show well from early on. The nose is brimming with the scent of freshly cut grass and the palate has an open, peachy texture. Every year we remark what good value this is, and 2022 is no different.

Vaulorent is technically part of Fourchaume, the largest premier cru in Chablis, and is the only premier cru to share the same slope as the grand cru. It has very chalky soil and produces a wine of power and silky tension. The 2022 has a delicious nutty reduction, leading to a palate with a powerful drive. It is a highlight in an already stellar line-up.

This is back after not being made in 2021, and it’s a brilliant return to form. The parcel sits right next to their Montmains parcel, separated by just a dirt track. It is incisive and pure, with a zippy intensity. Nervous and savoury.

This old vine cuvée takes the prize for ‘hidden gem’ of our Chablis range. It comes from 40- to almost 70-year-old vines scattered across seven parcels, with a variety of soil structures and exposures. It is mineral, zingy, citrus and intense, with great drive and depth. Plenty of dry extract gives the palate a serious weight and mineral poise. This may be a wine of humble communal classification, but it has a profound character, and deserves special attention. Under Diam closure for the first time in 2022.