2014 Chablis: perfect pickings
Benoît Droin, Christian Moreau
When Jim and Colin visited the Côte d'Or in October last year, they heard one name crop up again and again: Benoît Droin. Chablis might get forgotten about in the more salubrious Burgundian postcodes further south, but Benoît's peers have belatedly discovered how good a winemaker he is, and how great his wines are - a discovery we happily made some years ago. It's not as if Benoît should lack experience; the Droins have been making wine in Chablis for over five hundred years and fourteen generations. Though the domaine still foregrounds the name of his father Jean-Paul, Benoît has been chief winemaker since 1999, building on and refining the achievements of his father, who in turn had put the domaine on the map.
Mature grand cru Chablis is one of the great styles of the wine world, and belongs in every cellar. Benoît sees 2014 as a keeping vintage. In his own words: 'The wines have great freshness with notes of lemon and oyster shell. The palate is long, lively and has a saline and mineral finish. The wines should keep for at least ten years.'
The other star in our Chablis portfolio is Domaine Christian Moreau. The Moreaus might seem like relative newcomers, having been on the Chablis scene for merely six generations, but current winemaker Fabien Moreau brilliantly leverages terroir to produce intense, complex wines, while also managing the estate's transition towards full organic status (and embracing more biodynamic practices). /NT
Thursday 14 January, 5-8pm: 2014 Burgundy barrel sample tasting
Bishopsgate shop
Walkaround
£25 per person inc VAT (redeemable against 2014 Burgundy en primeur purchases over £200)
Offered subject to remaining unsold for shipment 2016
