2011 Daniel-Etienne Defaix Chablis 1er Cru Les Lys

Daniel-Etienne Defaix owns one of the oldest estates in Chablis. The Defaix family has been winemakers from father to son for 4 centuries. The family estate is located on the oldest terroirs of Chablis, where monks on Pontigny made a selection a thousand years ago. The privileged exposition of the monks of Pontigny was and still is a hill with a high slope facing southeast. An advantage for Chablis, which often suffers from frost in the spring and this privileged spot is the first to receive the sun's rays and therefore much less harvest losses. Daniel-Etienne Defaix is the undisputed master in 'long-aged-chablis'. There is no rush and they firmly believe that the wines must mature and this is also evident from the fact that they only release their Premier Crus after around 8 years, but we have I personally drank performances from 30 years and older and these were even more than fantastic. These long-aged chablis from old years can also be ordered by us on request and of course we also have some of ours in our range. However, what makes this domain so unique is not only the fact that no wood is used during the production process. The unique fruit of the old vines of the vineyards and time do their work and make all the execution gems.

The Daniel-Etienne Defaix Chablis 1er Cru Les Lys has only become available piecemeal after more than 10 years. The soil of the old Chardonnay Premier Cru vineyard is very old and lies on a limestone and marl soil with an exposure to the southeast. As 'Master of the Long Elevage', Daniel-Etienne Defaix gives everything time and that especially applies to his Premier Crus, which are often only released after an average of 8-12 years and then the wines are often still a baby. The alcoholic fermentation with natural yeast at 18 °C takes approximately 3 weeks. The wine then matures for at least 18 months with monthly stirring of fine lees and then remains in tanks for at least 10 years before being bottled.

The Daniel-Etienne Defaix Chablis 1er Cru Les Lys has aromas of candied citrus fruits, roasted nuts, beeswax, hay and dried fruit. On the palate it is medium to full bodied, very delicate, fruity, mineral-rich and with fantastic freshness with a satiny but spicy aftertaste. A classic premier Crus Chablis which has had approximately 10 years of maturation on the lees before it was released and even then it is actually still a baby.

ABOUT CHABLIS

Millions of years ago, the area around the current town of Chablis was covered by the sea. In the Jurassic period, the sediment-enriched clay of the Chablis region began to form, and it is this clay that gives Chablis wine its unique elegance, freshness and complexity. Until the nineteenth century, the vineyards occupied a larger area around the town of Chablis, on the River Serein, about halfway between Dijon and Paris. But the region fell victim to a phylloxera epidemic that damaged most of the vineyards. However, terroir in Chablis did not change. The cultivated hectares decreased significantly (from about 100,000 hectares in the entire department at the end of the 19th century to 10,000 hectares today in the Chablis region), but the soil, climate and expertise of the winemakers did not.

Wines from Chablis are classified as follows:

- Grand Cru , the cream of the crop. These come from vineyards north of the city of Chablis, on a steep south-facing slope. On the Route de Tonnere, from the junction with the D91 to the junction with Rue Blanchot, it is approximately one mile (less than two kilometers). Here, ranging in altitude from 135 to 220 meters, you will find the best vineyards of Chablis: Bougros, Les Preuses, Vaudésir, Grenquilles, Valmur, Les Clos and Blanchot.

- Premier Cru , excellent wines from vineyards grown on favorably located slopes throughout the area. Vau Ligneau, Vau de Vey and Côte de Léchet are narrow strips of land on steep, east-facing slopes west of the village of Milly; Vosgros is a comma-shaped, west-facing vineyard on the northern part of a hill called Paradis, at an elevation of 590 to 689 feet (180 to 210 meters).

- Chablis, the name given to good but not great wines that still benefit from the terroir of Chablis. The vineyards involved are often less steep or not as well oriented compared to the vineyards that produce better appreciated wines.

- Petit Chablis , wines that deserve the name Chablis but lag behind others from the region because they are made from grapes grown in less than ideal soil or on north-facing slopes. (The word "petit," meaning "small," is a kind of quality marker, as if "Petit Chablis" were the little brother of larger Chablis wines.)