2012 Chablis Mont de Milieu

The 2012 Chablis 1er Cru Mont de Milieu comes from a sunny exposure that Benoit suggested creates Chablis akin to Condrieu. That is borne out in the aromatics, which offer an attractive, oily bouquet with touches of honeysuckle and quince developing. The palate is very well-balanced, quite oily and smoky with touches of Mirin toward the spicy finish. What a fascinating Chablis – one to accompany your Thai dinner perhaps? Drink 2015-2022. It was a pleasure to meet Benoit Drouin at his family’s tasting room close to the center of Chablis town (the winery, located on the outskirts was built in 1999.) This might be considered the Chablis equivalent of J.L. Chave in terms of intergenerational proprietorship. “The estate has been passed from father to son over 14 generations since 1620,” Drouin informed me as we descended the stairs to the tasting room. Indeed, the family have been deeply intertwined with the history of the region, Marcel Drouin having created the Fete des Vins de Chablis in the 1950s. The domaine presently encompasses 26 hectares of vines spread over 16 appellations, which includes a parcel in Vauleront that has just been bought and will debut in 2013. Benoit explained how he has a traditional approach in the vineyard. “We have an intelligent approach in the vineyard – nothing extreme,” explained Benoit, “and 80% of our time is spent working the soil. We commenced the harvest in 2012 on 19 September and the yields came in at around 40 hectoliters per hectare.” He is not convinced by biodynamic techniques. Rather, he is focused on enhancing the life in the soil and has seen a great difference since they began ploughing the soils in 1999. One other change is the pruning. Since 2002, they have lateral vines trained either side of the trunk that he says decreases vigor and enhances aeration, thereby reducing disease. Benoit’s policy is to pick early in order to capture the acidity and he chaptalizes a little to increase alcohol. He prefers this to picking later and then potentially having to acidify. The wines are matured in stainless steel with a maximum of around 15% barrel aging, using a mixture of around 5-year-old barrels. He is positive about the 2012 vintage that he found regular across the vineyards, unlike the 2013s. Importers: European Cellars, Charlotte, NC; tel. (704) 358-1665; and Fields, Morris & Verdin and Domaine Direct both in the UK.

The 2012 Chablis Mont de Milieu has a Riesling-like purity and focus to it. Lime, exotic white fruit, oyster shell and lychee notes are all woven together in a wine that stands out for its finesse and brilliance. The 2012 is distinguished for, among other things, its high-toned, super-expressive aromatics. All the elements are in the right place for the 2012 to develop into a gorgeous wine.

This is textbook Mont de Milieu with its exotic and vaguely Viognier-like aromas that introduce big, rich and impressively scaled flavors that enjoy strikingly good mid-palate concentration before culminating in a softly mineral-inflected finish that delivers both very fine depth and length. This is quite good though in contrast to several of the preceding wines, this will clearly need a few years first before being ready for prime time. Tasted: Oct 15, 2013. Drink: 2018+