2006 Chablis Les Clos
Estimated value
Buying options
Tasting notes
Bright, pale yellow. Candied lemon peel and menthol on the nose, plus a honeyed element; perhaps the least minerally on the nose of these wines to this point in the tasting. Quite fat and even a bit soft in the mouth; showing substantial alcoholic volume that's reasonably well buffered on the finish by dusty-stone minerality. (Dauvissat finds a stronger mineral element here than I do but still described this wine as "the most unbalanced vintage of the tasting," noting that at harvest time, both potential alcohol levels and rot were "rising quickly.") Ultimately finishes quite classically dry, with an element of alcoholic warmth building with aeration. This wine will always show its vintage more than its vineyard. (14% alcohol; harvested on September 18; a bit under 4 g/l acidity)
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Very much in the savory zone with white mushrooms and a super chalky mouthfeel. This has roundness with almond pastry and light silky elements on offer. Dried flowers, too. The palate has a super round, long and juicy feel with a very concentrated peach and lightly spiced bread finish. Super deep, very even and long.
I have been fortunate to enjoy several bottles of Dauvissat’s 2006 Chablis Les Clos and they have all been gorgeous. This firm, taut Chablis was packed with perfumed, mineral-laced fruit. Although the wine will be even better with a few more years in the cellar it is pretty impressive even at this early stage.
From cask, the 2006 Chablis Les Clos represents another striking contrast within this year’s R.& V. Dauvissat collection. After the welcoming richness and savory expressions of Chablis character in the Preuses, this wine displays a cool restraint and stony minerality. A fascinating wealth of floral and herbal nuances on the nose similarly infuse a mouth-filling, satiny, yet firm palate, accompanied by grapefruit, orange, gooseberry, white peach, cyanic hints of fruit pit, and chalk, and leading to a finish of extraordinary, subtle persistence. This formidably dense Chablis should be permitted several years of bottle evolution, and should then drink well for more than a decade. The 2005 is creamy, honeyed, malted, and amazingly concentrated, with hints of exotic fruits and bitter cyanic notes – an extravagantly, colorfully impressive Les Clos, if not quite at the quality level of the 2006. Vincent Dauvissat’s 2006s were finished with both alcoholic fermentation and malolactic transformation by January. Overall – and particularly in the Grand Cru range – Dauvissat’s 2005s are marginally less exciting than his 2006s, and in certain instances, surprisingly, more opulent and exotically ripe. In both recent vintages, Dauvissat’s wines (even the generics) are pushing 14% alcohol, although in tasting the 2006s in particular, you’d never guess this. Importer: Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL; tel. (205) 980-8802. (Under the “Dauvissat-Camus” label, certain of these wines are also imported by Classic Wine Imports, Boston, MA; tel. (781) 352-1100.)