2013 Daniel-Etienne Defaix Chablis 1er Cru Vaillon

Daniel-Etienne Defaix is the owner of one of the oldest estates in Chablis. For 4 centuries, the Defaix family has been winemakers from father to son. The family estate is located on the oldest terroirs of Chablis, where monks at Pontigny made a selection a thousand years ago. The privileged exposure of the monks of Pontigny was and still is a hill with a high slope facing south-east. An advantage for Chablis which often struggles with frost in the spring and this privileged spot catches the sun's rays first 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 evidenced by the fact that they only release their Premier Crus after around 8-12 years but we have drunk versions of 30 years and older and they 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 our own in our range. What makes this domain so unique, however, 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 Vaillon only became available after 12 years and will not be bottled until 2024. The soil of the old Chardonnay Premier Cru vineyard is very old and lies on very poor soils of limestone and marl and some iron ore and has an exposure to the southeast. As 'Master of the Long Elevage', Daniel-Etienne Defaix gives everything its time and that certainly applies to his Premier Crus, which are often only released after an average of 8-12 years, and then the wine is often still a baby. The alcoholic fermentation with natural yeast at 18 ° C takes about 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 fruit and spice of the Vaillon Premier Cru vineyard terroir slowly emerges with a swirl in the glass, but then the power of the wine awakens with buttered brioche, mirabelle plum accents and candied apple. The Daniel-Etienne Defaix Chablis 1er Cru Vaillon has further aromas of citrus, beeswax, fresh peach and dried white flowers on the nose, followed by a medium to full-bodied mouthfeel with an abundant and satiny palate with lively acidity and a broad, extended finish.

ABOUT CHABLIS

Millions of years ago, the area around the present-day 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 Serein River, about halfway between Dijon and Paris. But the region fell victim to a phylloxera epidemic that damaged most of the vineyards. However, the terroir in Chablis did not change. The hectares cultivated decreased significantly (from around 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, the climate and the expertise of the winemakers did not.

Chablis wines are classified as follows:

- Grand Cru , the cream of the crop. These come from vineyards north of the town of Chablis, on a steep south-facing slope. On the Route de Tonnere, from the intersection with the D91 to the intersection with the Rue Blanchot, it is about a mile (less than two kilometers). Here, varying 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 favourably situated slopes, spread 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 metres).

- Chablis, the designation 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-valued wines.

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