Domaine Vincent Dauvissat Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons 2022 750ml

Vincent Dauvissat took on these Vaillons vines in 1979 and admits he did not think the wine would age; he now says he was wrong.

The holding is small, 1.3 hectares according to Luc Corporation, the domaine's Japanese importer, and it sits in two pieces, Châtains and Beugnons, which Vincent has never vinified apart because each part is too little to compare. He told Bill Nanson in February 2024 that Vaillons is normally the first parcel he picks, though after the 2021 frost it came in last. Of 2022 he said he was very happy: the weather warmed directly after the spring frosts so the secondary buds were spared, three heatwaves followed, the year was dry without the vines suffering, and volumes ran high enough to set some aside as reserve. Acidity, in his words, sits somewhere between 2018 and 2020, with extra dry extract carrying the flavour. A soft, fast press dealt with the botrytis, leaving a little more colour and nothing else.

The importer's account of the cellar explains the texture. When Chablis moved to stainless steel in the 1970s, René Dauvissat kept his small barrels; fermentation still starts in tank because the cold cellar can be slow to get going, then the wine goes to casks that are almost all old, a mix of 228-litre pièces and the 132-litre feuillette that Chablis once used everywhere. Vincent, the importer notes, does not regard the barrel as the deciding factor; the vineyard is. Biodynamics began as a three-hectare trial in 1998 and covered the whole 12.35-hectare estate from 2002, bringing, he reports, better-balanced soils and fewer rotten grapes.

In the glass

William Kelley (Wine Advocate, September 2023, 92-94, as quoted by Farr Vintners) finds white flowers, orange zest, nutmeg and iodine, a medium to full body, ample and fleshy, with bright acids and a long perfumed finish, and calls it the alter ego of the more mineral Séchet. Allen Meadows (Burghound, October 2024, 92, same source) adds white pepper, tidal pool and citrus and reads it as textbook Vaillons built to age. Nanson's own note from the cellar is airy, mouth-filling, a touch tannic at the end, with haunting length.

When to open

The critics split: Charles Curtis MW (Decanter, October 2023, 93) gives 2025-2030, while Meadows advises waiting until 2032. We would open one now with air and keep the rest.

At the table

Our suggestion: grilled turbot with beurre blanc, or a plate of Chaource, the local cheese, served at cellar temperature.

Quick facts

Provenance

Sourced from the Japanese importer.

Sources: Label; Luc Corporation (Japanese importer); Burgundy-Report (B. Nanson); Wine Advocate (W. Kelley), Burghound (A. Meadows) and Decanter (C. Curtis MW) as quoted by Farr Vintners