Chablis 1e cru ’Montmains’ - Chardonnay (18) D

Chardonnay | twee percelen met clay en limestone | vergist op staaltank | rijping voor 6 maanden op oude barriques | de krachtigste van de 1e cru serie van Lilian | qua niveau richting de top wijn les Clos

Gerrard Duplessis

 De zoon van Gerrard, Lilian, heeft zijn vader overtuigd om in 2009, 8 hectare volledig om te bouwen naar biodynamisch werken. De stokken in de wijngaarden zijn allemaal mooi op leeftijd en liggen op top percelen Les Clos, Montmain en Vaillons, wat helpt in het proces met het maken van een Chablis op hoog niveau. Een wijnhuis die de afgelopen tijd topscores heeft gehad, net zoals Thomas Pico en de legendarische Vincent Dauvissat en waar we in de toekomst veel van gaan horen.

Review

The 2016 Chablis 1er Cru Montmains has a complex bouquet with scents of orange pith, yellow plum and light resinous scents that surface with time. The palate is fresh and tangy on the entry with a touch of marmalade here and a little more sourness that counters the richness of this Montmains and leaves the finish feeling very balanced and focused. This is one to watch out for once in bottle. 91-93/100 Neal Martin 

“The 2015 vintage started well,” winemaker Lilian Duplessis explained when I visited the family domain on the serene banks of the River Serein in the heart of Chablis, adjacent to Domaine Billaud-Simon. Lilian's a very likable fella, enunciating in quick-fire French and always with plenty to say about his wines, which are cultivated biodynamically and with low intervention in the winery. “It was quite a warm season with a bad finish because of the hail that came from the direction of Courgis, passed Montmains and finished in Les Clos and Blanchots," he explained. "The hailstones were not large, but rather small and sharp, which damaged the leaves so that there were some vines without leaves even though they still had bunches! I lost 70% in Les Clos and Montée de Tonnerre. In Montmains, where my parcels are larger, the hail only touched the lower slopes. On average we lost around 20% of the crop. I was thinking of starting the harvest early anyway on 4 or 5 September and in the end we started on 3 September. I started picking by hand and then by machine to harvest quickly. The 2016 vintage was affected by the frost but at the moment it is difficult to say exactly how much the vineyards have been affected.” Duplessis undertakes a slightly unorthodox approach to aging, with the premier and grand crus aged in vat for six months for the malolactic fermentation, followed by six months in oak barrels (up to 10% new) and then six months back in stainless steel. In this way he ensures that the barrels are always full, as the previous vintage is always racked and transferred into vat just before the next harvest. Duplessis' 2015s showed very well and in fact this is one of the few growers who might even surpass what is considered the benchmark vintage of 2014. In particular, the Montmains seems to be enjoying a fine run of form in both the 2015 and 2016 vintages, even measuring up to Les Clos. I would advise grabbing as much 2015 as you can since crops were reduced by the miasma of meteorological woes in 2016, reducing, for example, Duplessis' Fourchaume to just two demi-muids.