| Producer | Domaine Jean-Paul & Benoit Droin |
 | |
| Country | France |
| |
| Region | Burgundy |
| |
| Subregion | Chablis |
| |
| Varietal | Chardonnay |
| |
| Vintage | 2023 |
| |
| Sku | 210000031650 |
| |
| Size | 750ml |
| |
|
This exquisite wine enchants with a complex nose of lime peel, gooseberry and pear with hints of smoky reduction and a salty mineral edge. The wine is dense and compact, and its weight is perfectly balanced by racy acidity. The grapes are from 1.76ha in the blue clay soils of the Côte de Bréchain. They are crushed and fermented in tank and cask (25%). In the view of Benoît Droin, this is a 'super premier cru' – grand cru-adjacent, like Chambolle Amoureuses and Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Saint-Jacques.
Aromas of citrus blossom, orange oil, white flowers, iodine and honey introduce the 2023 Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre, a medium to full-bodied, satiny and layered wine that's rich and dense. It's a strong effort with good cellaring potential. Benoît Droin's immensely dependable wines are among the most consistent in the region, and to my palate, the combination of Diam closures and élevages employing recently used and, indeed, occasionally new wood (though only up to 10%) means that these wines need a few years in bottle to show their best. But everything invariably comes together to impressive effect, and the wines age very gracefully indeed. Farming is conventional at this 26-hectare domaine; but the soils are cultivated mechanically, and synthetic treatments are kept to a minimum. Harvest is early and is partially mechanized, followed by fermentation and élevage in stainless steel and wood, with the proportions varying according to the cuvée.(
This too possesses enough wood to merit pointing out on the smoky nose of white flowers, wet stone and soft quinine whiffs. The elegant, intense and focused medium-bodied flavors exude evident minerality on the unusually powerful, balanced and precise finale. This is lovely though with the proviso that it too definitely needs to develop better overall depth.
|
Copyright © 2025 All rights reserved
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service
Return Policy
Powered by WineFetch
|
|
