France | Burgundy | Bernard Defaix | Chablis 1er Cru Les Vaillons

Chablis 1er Cru Les Vaillons (2021)

VARIETAL
Chardonnay

NOTES
VINEYARD: Les Vaillons, with its south/southeast exposure and gentle slope, Vaillons is considered, along with Montmains, to be one of the top premier crus west of the Yvonne River. The soil consists of classic Kimmeridgian clay limestone. In general, the wines have lovely freshness and a lot of minerality.

VINIFICATION: Grapes are brought rapidly to the winery where they are immediately pressed. In the harvesting bins, there is a chamber at the bottom to collect the juice and separate it from the harvest in order to avoid oxidation. Then, the harvesting bins are emptied on a conveyor belt which "feeds" one of the presses. The alcoholic fermentation and malolactic fermentation occur in stainless steel tanks or in oak barrels according to the cuvée or Cru. The wine stays on its fine lees for 8 to 12 months depending on the characteristics of each vintage and each Cru. During this time, the lees are stirred regularly: in barrels, by batonnage; in tanks, by pumping‑over without contact with air.

VINTAGE NOTES: After a mild and wet winter, a very warm week at the end of March resulted in an earlier-than-normal budbreak. Following the unusual heat spike, there was a period of frequent frosts for almost two weeks beginning on April 5th. For the frost-affected parcels (mostly harming the top of the slopes), vines took almost 6 weeks to restart. The difference between the vines (frost and not frost) was visible until the end of June.

The beginning of the season was humid with small but very frequent rainfalls with flowering in mid-June. From mid-July, the weather got even worse with morning rains every 2-3 days. In the vineyard, the leaves were manually thinned to aerate the vegetation and allow the grapes to dry and benefit from the sun. Maturity took time to achieve with harvest ultimately starting on September 21st and lasting 5 days.

In the cellar, the vinification of the 2021 vintage went smoothly. The alcoholic and malolactic fermentations were easy and calm (much more quiet compared to the two previous vintages). After the malolactic, the wines improved in finesse and complexity.