TN: 2018 Domaine Louis Michel Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre

  • 2018 Domaine Louis Michel Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre - France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru (4/29/2021)
    I have read all the naysayers about 2018 Chablis. Then I tasted this, and went “who cares”? No, it’s not a 220 volt line strapped to a Chardonnay vine, but it is just plain tasty. It has depth and richness, while never going over the top. Seashells and ripe lemon pick up a little bitter twist on the finish. This is just a satisfying wine.

Posted from CellarTracker

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Yes. Thank you.

This is one of my few regular buys.

Sounds like what I want in Chablis.

Makes me feel better about having bought a few. Thank you!

Agree, David. Tough to beat for 35 bucks.

Why would you need to feel better? Did you feel bad about having bought a few? Whatever for?

I had it last week and was very pleasantly surprised how good it was, especially compared to a few other '18 1er cru Chablis I’ve tried. It’s an annual buy for me and ordered some '19 already.

Nice to hear. I’ve been in a skipping mode on 2018 Chablis after trying a few.

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Oh sorry; I bought some 2018s because I like Louis Michel and it’s an automatic buy for me, and was getting a little down on vintage commentary about 2018 vs 2017. Glad to hear that it’s delicious regardless. As for quantity, I almost never buy more than 2-3 of any one wine, which is the reason why I use “few”

My question was a bit tongue in cheek, and meant to bring up that one should never feel bad about a wine purchase based on what “people are saying” about a whole vintage. Especially when you generally love the wine and haven’t even tried this vintage yourself yet.

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Last glass tonight is still very satisfying.

Got this and the Butteaux as cellar protectors and also as gateway drugs for people claiming they don’t like Chablis. Did similar with 2015.

Funny. I had an '18 Daniel Dampt Vaillons the other day and had the exact same thought. I’m a buyer of '18 Chablis now.

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I thought this was a good drink but showing more of the vintage than the vineyard. Definitely agree on the “gateway drug” comment.

Have found 2018 Montmains from 375s to be more open and showing more chablis character.

2015 is starting to come around and showing more vineyard than vintage and I bet this is similar in a couple of years

If a wine did not show the vintage then every vintage of it would be identical. That would be boring for me.

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This is an excellent way of putting it. Makes me think of a discussion we were having at home the other day - would people ideally buy exactly the same wine, vintage in and vintage out, so the only differences came about with time in the cellar? If you could pick your favorite vintage of a wine, would you want it to be like that on release every year? I truly would not, but I bet many would.

Same here. I might wish for more bottles that expressed a certain style (2001 J. J. Christoffel anyone?), but the exploration of vintage is one of the things I really enjoy about the exploration of wine.

As do I. And I think often about the number of notes and threads every day on this board where a wine from a “bad” vintage shows beautifully after a few years. Or how a highly praised vintage turns out to be disappointing.

It’s a balancing act, of course. I also buy more in vintages I think will be to my taste, knowing I may be wrong, but figuring I won’t be sorry so long as I’m buying producers and wines I generally love. But I don’t ignore or get scared about “lesser” vintages unless there’s a real problem, or a dominating characteristic I know I don’t like, like aggressive raisiny notes in nebbiolo.

I bet many would too. There’s a reason idling cars are lined up in droves at Chick-Fil-A and In-and-Out.