The Chardonnay is the only grape variety of the Chablis and Petit Chablis wines.
- Pale golden color, limpid, and bright.
- To the nose, the wine shows elegant aromas of white flowers, such as acacia, mixed with notes of citrus (lemon, grapefruit) carried by a mineral (gun-flint) and fruity base (white fruits).
- In the mouth, it is vivid and light, with a well-balanced acidity. The enthusiastic attack is followed by a pleasant roundness. Its full body pairs perfectly with its freshness and offers a persistent sensation on the palate.
Serve with cured meats, oysters, a « Vol-au-vent » of lamb sweetbreads, a grilled chicken thigh or a Gruyère cheese.
Serve at a temperature of about 13-14°C. (55-57°F.).
This wine can be enjoyed now or kept in the cellar for the next 2 years.
Chablis, situated near Auxerre in the Yonne department, is among the northernmost vineyards of Burgundy. It is characterized by producing exclusively white Chardonnay wines and by its geology which is believed to date back to the Kimmeridgian period.
The Petit Chablis are implanted on both sides of the Valley of Serein, at the top of the hill or the start of the plateau.
- Middle and upper Kimmeridgian soil and sub-soil. Brown and hard limestone terrain, sometimes loamy and sandy.
- Variable slope depending on the parcels.
- Variable exposure depending on specific parcels.
- Altitude of 230 m to 280 m.
Grapes were pressed immediately after the picking, the juice was settled, the fermentation started with the addition of selected yeasts in stainless steel tanks under controlled temperatures (18°C) to preserve as much
fruit as possible. In order to get a suppler wine, we let the malolactic fermentation begin 10 days after the alcoholic fermentation; it ended in the end of November. The wine is then aged on partial lees for 4 to 5 months.
This 2022 vintage promises to be one of great quality.
We had a rather rainy November, December and January, and February and March were rather cool, which slowed down the emergence of the buds and in turn prevented the frost problems that we had last year.
May was very, very hot providing great flowering conditions. June was then a little chaotic weather wise, as we had some warm mornings and then with violent storms after midday, sometimes with hail. However, at least nothing really bad in our Burgundy.
The harvests started in Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits around 29 August, which is still relatively early and we had to deal with diverse levels of ripening. Some parcels really stood up to the heat and have given wonderfully ripe grapes. Of course, everything was conditioned by how the vineyard was managed and the amount of exposure. But overall, we had wonderful wines from these parcels, from other parcels which experienced more dehydration. The very high temperatures meant a greater halt in ripening, giving grapes a little less ripe, so we had to wait to harvest them.
By the end of August, we already had fabulous colour extraction and the acidity was very well balanced. All this allowed to be very confident, heading for a great vintage.
In the Chablis area, some winegrowers started harvesting as August was ending, but most of them started harvesting in the first days of September.
The harvesters were relatively unaffected by the rains, which fell either in the late afternoon or at night. The foliage, which was still in good health, benefited from it. Thanks to the rain, juice concentration was limited and the bunches of grapes were able to provide a good balance between sugar content and acidity.
The harvest concluded the third week of September with a smile: neither the frost nor the drought prevented the vineyards from producing close to normal yields. However, the volumes harvested varied from one domain to another, with some estates easily reaching full production while others were below the appellation's yield.
Wines in the making are expressing notes of ripe fruit, pear and peach, while keeping their freshness. They are generous and have a good balance. Quality is definitely there as well.
After a year 2021 disturbed by a poor harvest, this 2022 vintage is a real breath of fresh air.
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