2008 Chablis Vaudesir
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Tasting notes
The Michel 2008 Chablis Vaudesir offers another rather Riesling-like performance, with lime zest, petrol, grapefruit, and fresh quince in the nose spilling over onto a luscious yet penetratingly bright, citric palate suffused with alkaline minerality and leading to a gripping, rather firm, almost severely citrus zest-, alkali-, iodine- and kelp-tinged finish. This retains a lot of CO2, and seems to be a bit reduced and/or struck by its recent bottling, but is still highly impressive, strikingly buoyant, incipiently transparent, and should gain in stature short term and be worth following for at least a decade. Metaphorically cool and uncannily marine, it would make a remarkable accompaniment to oysters. Expect it to be worth following for at least a decade. Jean-Loup Michel and Guillaume Cicqueau-Michel have rendered an exemplary collection of 2008s, with their tank-elevage seemingly capturing the exuberance and refreshment of the vintage without paying any significant price in terms of depth and complexity. I suspect that the team’s reliance exclusively on spontaneous fermentation this year might well have contributed significantly to their success. Of course, I do not imagine based on ideology – much less insist – that spontaneous fermentation is always superior, just as I try to avoid any over-simplification of complex viticultural and vinificatory issues. In fact, I strongly suspect that it is the considerable extent of machine harvesting and exclusively tank upbringing of Louis Michel wines that leads many commentators to incompletely appreciate the consistently high level of quality that has since long before 2008 emanated from this address. Importer: Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL; tel. (205) 980-8802
Critic scores
Average Score
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Pale, bright yellow. Exotic fruit notes of pineapple and mango on the nose, plus a higher-pitched grapefruit element. Then sweet and dense but juicy and energetic in the mouth, with terrific lemony cut and spice character. This really spreads out to saturate the palate. Finishes long and aromatic, with a distinctly chewy impression of extract. Seriously young and dense Chablis in need of a minimum of four or five years of cellaring. This put on considerable weight during its final months of elevage and seems clearly superior to the 2009 today.
Mineral but also very lightly floral. Tight, linear, long and bright citrus on the finish. (JH)
Good pale yellow. Musky grapefruit, pineapple and high-toned violet on the nose. Then tight and unforthcoming on the palate; almost hard following the Michel premier crus. Pineapple and lemon flavors are given sharp definition by penetrating acidity. This austere wine, which seems more 2007 in style than 2008, is quite difficult to taste today.