Joseph Drouhin Chablis Reserve de Vaudon

Country: France Region: Burgundy

Varietal: Chardonnay  Vintage: 2019

Colour: White  Style: Dry

Producer: Maison Joseph Drouhin 

Description:
Vineyard:
Site: Joseph Drouhin owns around 6 hectares of vines (15 acres) in the Valley of Vauvillien, nestled between the Mont de Milieu and Montée de Tonnerre Premier Cru vineyards. The name "Moulin de Vaudon" comes from the watermill nearby, owned by the Drouhin family and straddling the Serein River. 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. 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. Average age of the vines: 24 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.

Vinification:
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. 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.

Ageing Potential: 6 - 8 Years

Tasting note by Véronique Boss-Drouhin:
"An elegant wine. Brilliant colour, with hints of green. Typical Chablis nose, where aromas of citrus (lemon) fern and even salty sensations predominate.
On the palate: vigorous and lively, but in a soft mode. A lot of finesse and balance".
Vintage: The wines show great purity of taste and a pleasant floral style. Chablis is very mineral in character, almost briny.

Food Matches: Seafood / Fish / Chicken / Oysters