Expanded Discussion

I have been too lazy and/or too busy too update this recently, but I always have quite a bit to say about Chablis wine. That being said, I decided that I am going to try very hard to update this with more regular offerings. Additionally, now that I have succesfully moved myslef in to my new place, perhaps I can get back to the tasting notes and adding the rest of the images. The fact of the matter is that many posts on the internet's discussion boards incite me to respond at great length; rather than giving the appearance of trying to take over conversations, I keep my responses short and hopefully sweet. This site is probably a more appropriate place to wax on more extensively on the issues that surround the wines of Chablis.

Given that, please check back soon as I hope to post more extensive commentary on issues that I feel are important to gaining a full understanding of Chablis. I wholeheartedly welcome your comments and questions to these posts and would love to hear from you!

Vincent Dauvissat Comments on Terroir...

The recent Kermit Lynch Newsletter contains intimate reflection and dissection on two of the finest terroirs in Chablis: les Preuses and les Clos. A highly recommended read for the lover of Chablis wine ...

Daniel-Etienne Defaix Comments on the Use of Oak

A recent article from Agrisalon.com highlights Daniel-Etienne Defaix's opinion on the use of oak in Chablis (or rather, his abhorrence of the practice). I will try to translate the key passages and repost my comments here in a couple of days. In the mean time, if you do read French, visit the link here for a nice, quick read...

2006 Chablis from Christian Moreau Pere et Fils

"Here is our first report after harvest 2006 that ended September 25th.We had a fast flowering period in the middle of June which lasted only 8days in most parcels and was the cause of some" coulure"and "millerandage".The end of June and the month of July was really hot and the vineyard suffered from such heat and the lack of water. But August was a rainy month and the vines recovered nicely from that period of dryness.The grapes analysis at the beginning of September showed that we could expect another early harvest. Our "sleepy" syndicate met only onSeptember15th to declare the"ban des vendanges" on that day. Many vine growers asked for derogation at the INAO. We finally started September 16th with our picking team for 9 days in the best possible weather. At the final stage of maturation, the natural alcohol level was between 11°9 and 13°2 for certain parcel, the acidity is way better than expected.In fact we have a well balanced juice which is so important for the life of a vine.At this moment October 8th we can already taste green fruit and see a good minerality. But time will tell what vintage we will have, one thing for sure it wont be bad !!! "

2006 Chablis from Domaine Bernard Defaix - A Very Succesful Harvest

"After a terrible month of August, the good weather and the sun came back in September preparing a very good vintage. Thanks notably to lower rainfall in Chablis than in the rest of Burgundy, the sanitary state of the crop was perfect and the maturity rather early.
In Rully, we have began harvesting on Monday 18th of September with a team about fifteen pickers.The hail falled at mid-August unfortunaltely caused some damages. So we have invested in a sorting table which was very usefull to keep only the best grapes. On the whites, we have eliminated about 20% of the volume. For the reds, we have reached 40%. This reason comes from the maceration: because of the prolonged contact between the juice and the solids of the grapes, the quality of the crop you put in the tank must be perfect.For Chablis, the harvest began on Wednesday 20th of September with a perfect sanitary state, very good potential alcohol content and acidities closed to the ones we have had last year. So, very logically, the vintage 2006 should be directly in line with the 2005!"