2012 Chablis Valmur

The 2012 Chablis 1er Cru Valmur has a captivating bouquet with scents of lemon zest, licorice and fennel soaring from the glass. The palate is very well-balanced with fine acidity (understated at first, before the spices enliven the mouth) and hints of mandarin in the background. There is good volume here and certainly fine persistency in the mouth. This appears to be more powerful than the Vaudesir, yet without quite the same level of grace. Drink now-2025. It was a pleasure to meet Benoit Drouin at his family’s tasting room close to the center of Chablis town (the winery, located on the outskirts was built in 1999.) This might be considered the Chablis equivalent of J.L. Chave in terms of intergenerational proprietorship. “The estate has been passed from father to son over 14 generations since 1620,” Drouin informed me as we descended the stairs to the tasting room. Indeed, the family have been deeply intertwined with the history of the region, Marcel Drouin having created the Fete des Vins de Chablis in the 1950s. The domaine presently encompasses 26 hectares of vines spread over 16 appellations, which includes a parcel in Vauleront that has just been bought and will debut in 2013. Benoit explained how he has a traditional approach in the vineyard. “We have an intelligent approach in the vineyard – nothing extreme,” explained Benoit, “and 80% of our time is spent working the soil. We commenced the harvest in 2012 on 19 September and the yields came in at around 40 hectoliters per hectare.” He is not convinced by biodynamic techniques. Rather, he is focused on enhancing the life in the soil and has seen a great difference since they began ploughing the soils in 1999. One other change is the pruning. Since 2002, they have lateral vines trained either side of the trunk that he says decreases vigor and enhances aeration, thereby reducing disease. Benoit’s policy is to pick early in order to capture the acidity and he chaptalizes a little to increase alcohol. He prefers this to picking later and then potentially having to acidify. The wines are matured in stainless steel with a maximum of around 15% barrel aging, using a mixture of around 5-year-old barrels. He is positive about the 2012 vintage that he found regular across the vineyards, unlike the 2013s. Importers: European Cellars, Charlotte, NC; tel. (704) 358-1665; and Fields, Morris & Verdin and Domaine Direct both in the UK.

Voluptuous, intense and powerful, the 2012 Chablis Valmur blossoms in all directions with deeply expressive layers of fruit. This is a decidedly masculine, virile Chablis. Imposing and deep, the 2012 is going to require a bit of patience. Because of slightly lower yields, 40% of the juice was vinified in oak, a little more than normal. I can't wait to see how the 2012 develops over the coming year. Today, it is super-impressive.