2014 Jean-Paul & Benoit Droin - Grenouille Chablis Grand Cru
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Tasting notes
Tasted blind at the Burgfest annual tasting, Jean Paul Droin's 2014 Chablis Grand Cru Grenouilles was one of the standouts of the Chablis flights. It has compelling scents of gunflint and slate, very detailed and articulating its terroir with immense clarity. With time there is a hint of blood orange that surfaces. The palate is very well balanced with a vibrant thread of acidity, extremely well poised with clever and subtle use of oak. It seems to just shimmer with nervous energy and it will be giving immense pleasure to Chablis lovers for many years to come. Bravo Benoît!
Critic scores
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Pale, green-tinged yellow. Musky ripe stone fruits show a pineappley ripeness but also superb vivacity. Fat, sweet and oily on the palate; a very sensual wine with a slight suggestion of surmaturité but with enough acidity to energize the middle palate and carry the finish. This very deep, layered wine is a bit closed today but looks to be a major success.
(from 60-year-old vines, the estate's oldest; began in 50% oak): Distinctly more exotic on the nose than the Valmur but still fresh, offering sweet scents of pineapple and apricot. Large-scaled, rich and sweet in the mouth, but still with lovely inner-mouth tension and lift for all its opulence. Strong orchard fruit flavors more than minerality here. It's hard to imagine that this wine will ever go through a sullen stage.