2012 Chablis Vieilles Vignes

According to the fiche technique, the 2012 Chablis Vieilles Vignes comes from 50-year-old vines and 20% of the crop is fermented and aged in used oak barrels for 18 months, the rest in stainless steel vats. Perhaps for that reason I noticed an almost Chassagne-like bouquet: well-defined with plenty of citrus fruit, though decidedly more Cote d’Or than Chablis. The palate is clean and fresh with grapefruit and apricot notes. It is well-balanced and rounded in the mouth, showing a little fatness on the finish – atypical of the vintage. Very fine. Drink 2015-2022. The Defaix family is one of the stalwarts of the village of Milly, although it was not until the 1960s that Bernard, together with his wife Monique, began bottling his own wine. The vineyard holdings were expanded over the years and it is presently Didier and Sylvain who run the domaine, the former generally out among the vines, the latter in the winery. (Incidentally, it is Didier’s wife, Helene, who runs Domaine Jaeger-Defaix in Rully.) There are 26 hectares of vine that were officially certified organic in 2009. Grapes are harvested mechanically, gently pressed, and then fermented and matured in either stainless steel or wooden oak barrels depending upon the wine. During those 8 to 12 months there is regular batonnage. There are both domaine and negociant bottlings, the latter including the premier cru of Fourchaume and the two grand crus. Theirs was a very commendable range of 2012s that displayed impressive consistency from the village cru upwards. They might be described as traditional Chablis in the best sense of the word and all-in-all, represent excellent value-for-money compared to other growers. Importer: Winebow (Illinois), Vin de Garde (Oregon and Washington State) and Vigneron Imports (California)