Daniel-Etienne Defaix 2018 Chablis Vieilles Vignes AOC

Daniel-Etienne Defaix 2018 Chablis Vieilles Vignes AOC

Item Number: 16198

UPC: None

Country: France
Region: Burgundy
Sub Region: Chablis
Appellation/AVA: Chablis AOC
Estate Grown Wine: Yes
Vintage: 2018
Grape(s): 100% Chardonnay
Type: Wine - White
Bottle Size: 750 ml
Pack: 12
Closure: Cork
Viticulture: Practicing Organic
Soil Type: Kimmeridgian

Vineyard Notes: The vineyards are fertilized, when necessary, with a natural compost of cow and horse manure. Treatments in the vineyards are severely limited and never done within two months of the harvest. The parcels for this wine is a blend of 45-70 years old.

Winemaking Notes: All the wines at this estate are vinified in a similar fashion. At harvest a strict triage is done to eliminate unripe and unhealthy grapes. The grapes are pressed slowly for three hours, separated parcel by parcel, with only the finest juice maintained for bottling at the domaine. This Chablis normally ferments for three weeks (sometimes as long as a month) using only indigenous yeast and at a temperature of 18 degrees Celsius. Malolactic fermentation occurs naturally (on rare occasion, the ML has taken two years to finish). The Chablis rests on its fine lees in stainless steel for several years, undergoing a type of batonnage without exposure to air (utilizing the CO2 created by the malolactic fermentation to conserve the freshness of the wines). The wine is not fined or filtered.

Aging Notes: The Domaine Daniel-Etienne Defaix releases its wine to the market only after obtaining several years of bottle age at which point the market has the pleasure of having access to wines that more fully express the remarkable and unique terroir that is Chablis.

Tasting Notes: This is a wine of exceptional concentration for a village level appellation. It is a true expression of the Kimmeridgian soils that make Chablis so distinctive, richly dense with a classic "pierre a fusil" (gun flint) bouquet and long mineral-infused finish.

Wine Advocate 8/2018
"These are textural, complex wines that evoke the white Burgundies of yesteryear, and they may confuse consumers habituated to the tart, brittle, processed wines that are often passed off as expressions of region's "terroir." Their potential to develop in bottle and their capacity to pair with a thrilling variety of foods, however, make them fascinating, at least to this writer [William Kelley]. Much of the production is sold to France's best restaurants, but what reaches the export market is well worth seeking out."

Reviews

  • The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 89+ (8/5/2021)
    The 2018 Chablis Vieilles Vignes is very attractive, offering up scents of citrus oil and crisp orchard fruit mingled with hints of wet stones and oyster jus. Medium-bodied, ample and satiny, with bright acids and a saline finish, it's still an infant by Defaix's standards, and I suspect it will gain in depth with a bit of bottle age.