placeholder

2022 Vincent Dauvissat Chablis 1er Cru "Forets", Burgundy, France

The Chablis Forêts 1er Cru has one of the most marine-influenced aromatics from Dauvissat, well-defined sea spray and oyster shell notes emerging with time. The palate is beautifully focused and powerful. This one is capable and should be aged for at least 5+ years.

$190.00
$190.00

ABOUT THIS WINE

Vincent Dauvissat farms nearly 30 acres of meticulously kept vineyards, following sustainable, organic and biodynamic methods. These vines (4.5 acres of Vaillons, 2 of Séchets, and 9.4 of Fôrets among the Premiers Crus; 2.5 of Preuses and 4.5 of Les Clos among the Grands Crus) are splendidly situated on hillsides underlain by Jurassic limestone. Yields are limited to about 50 hectoliters per hectare (3.7 tons per acre), modest by the standards of the region.

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

Since 1931, Dauvissat has been selling wine under their own label and they remain one of Chablis’ great traditionalists. As the torch has been passed down from generation to generation, little has changed here—the practices are still classic and remarkably similar to those used chez Raveneau.

If anything, the wines have become increasingly profound since Vincent Dauvissat joined his father, René, in the 1970s. Vincent prefers natural farming, using vine treatments sparingly, if at all. The fruit is harvested by hand and not de-stemmed; fermentation is part in enameled steel vats and part in wood, and all aging is in six to eight-year-old barrels.

Dauvissat has always aged their wines in barrel, believing that this allows the wine to breathe during the élévage. As René Dauvissat said in 2002, “Oak is very important to Chablis. The synergy of air and wood adds character and also helps soften the wine. Without oak, Chablis is too hard, too austere.” Malolactic fermentation occurs spontaneously and only the winter cold is used to precipitate tartrates.

Burghound has quoted Vincent Dauvissat as saying that “terroir is everything,” explaining his desire to allow everything to happen as naturally as possible.