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.

Mont de Milieu, the mountain in the middle, historically marked the frontier between Burgundy and Champagne. It has a south-facing aspect - rare in Chablis - and this wine expresses the flamboyant side of Chardonnay grown in a sunny spot in a cool climate. The old vines have produced a wine bursting with apricots and peaches; it’s like the fruit has been supercharged here. On the palate there is a pronounced chalky freshness which wraps around the gourmand fruit. Intense, salty, and voluminous.

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.

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 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’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 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.

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.