Joseph Drouhin Vaudesir Chablis Grand Cru
Country: France Region: Burgundy
Varietal: 100% Chardonnay
Vintage: 2018 Colour: White Style: Dry
Producer: Maison Joseph Drouhin
Description:
Starting with the vintage 2008, the name “Vaudon” will be associated with Joseph Drouhin for all its Chablis wines as a sign of the firm's allegiance to this historical terroir www.drouhin-vaudon.com
Grape Variety : Chardonnay.
Vineyard
Site: a famous vineyard whose relief has no equivalent in Burgundy. Its round shape and steep slope evoke an ancient amphitheater. There are two major exposures: one is due south in the northern section and the other south west in the southern section. It is one of the largest among the seven Grand Crus of Chablis.
History & tradition: the name comes the French "chemin des vaudésirs" (path of the vaudésirs) cutting the vineyard down the middle. In the sixties, when the Chablis vineyards were all but abandoned, Robert Drouhin recognized the potential of this region which had been ravaged by the phylloxera disease a century before. He was one of the first Burgundy propriétaires who set about revitalizing the area.
Soil: the Kimmeridgian limestone contains millions of tiny marine fossils embedded in a kind of whitish mortar which may have been once the bottom of the sea...hundreds of million years ago. This marine origin gives the wines of Chablis their unique flavour.
Drouhin estate: 1.4 ha. (3.5 acres)
Average age of the vines: 30 years
Viticulture
Biological cultivation since 1990 and biodynamic cultivation since 1999.
Soil maintenance: age-old methods. Ploughing: "buttage" (hilling up around the vine-stocks) in autumn; "débuttage" (ploughing back in spring);
work between the rows and the vine stocks done with manual tools only.
Treatment: only authorized products for biological cultivation are used - infusions and macerations of plant materials, sulfur and copper, powdered rock. Natural predators are not eliminated.
Plantation density: 8,000 to 10,000 stocks/ha.
Pruning: double Guyot "Vallée de la Marne" (for its resistance to frost).
Yield: we aim for a lower yield, such as it existed before the new law. This yield is therefore the present maximum yield minus 20%.
Average yield at the Domaine: 46.62hl/ha (the yield currently authorized for the appellation is now 54hl/ha).
Vinification
Harvesting: by hand.
Pressing: very slow so as to respect the fruit. Juices from the last pressings are not retained.
Ageing
Type: in oak barrel (0% new wood).
Length: 12 months.
Origin of the wood: French oak forests.
Weathering of the wood: Joseph Drouhin insists on total control of the weathering for a period of 3 years, one of the contributing elements to the elegance of the wine.
Follow-up: barrel by barrel.
Throughout the ageing process, decisions are taken only after careful tasting evaluation. The data obtained is completed through technical analysis. As with every other Joseph Drouhin wine, absolute priority is given to the true expression of terroir and character of the vintage.
Tasting note by Véronique Boss-Drouhin
"An exquisite wine often drunk on its own as an aperitif. Pure and limpid colour, with a faint greenish hint. On the nose, fresh aromas of flower and fruit (lemony flavours) and, at times, spicy notes of coriander. On the palate: harmonious aromas bringing character and elegance. The magnitude of its Grand Cru origin and the light salty notes from the Kimmeridgian soil are in evidence. Remarkably long and complex persistence in the aftertaste".
Vintage
The wines show great purity of taste and a pleasant floral style. Chablis is very mineral in character, almost briny.
