2014 Domaine Vocoret et Fils Chablis 1er Cru Les Forêts- France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru (3/12/2017)
This set me back a whopping $24 - hope it lives up to the lofty price of entry…Kidding aside, this was terrific. pale straw color almost to the point of blending into the glass if the light was at the right angle. This carries an immediate urgency of fresh squeezed lemon juice on the palate, begging for some fresh shucked oysters to join the dance, but has just enough restraint to avoid being severe. As the wine warms a tad, the back end develops a distinct nutty quality and a good thrust of dry extract on the finish concludes this is fine Chablis. I repeat, $24. (91 pts.)
Interesting! I’d never heard the name Vocoret until yesterday, when I sampled a couple of offerings by Domaine Eleni & Edouard Vocoret–the 2014 “Le Bas de Chapelot” and the 2014 Les Butteaux–at their table at the NYC La Paulée Grand Tasting. Both wines were very impressive, especially the Les Butteaux. Edouard clearly has learned the family business quite well!
Tasted them with Randy yesterday. Thought they were very nice. Kind of a rich, bright style of Chablis, reminded me a bit of the wines of the late Stephane Moreau.
I believe ‘Vocoret et Fils’ is a different producer than the Eleni & Edouard (maybe they are cousins?) - at any event, I have tasted a few rich and highly enjoyable 14 Chablis (Droin - Valourent comes to mind) - but this guy was clearly of the old school - high acid - probably all in stainless steel - nervy - type of wine. So much win in this vintage for all styles and producers.
BTW - I’m wondering if anyone can clear something up for me - Tanzers note is always for the VV Foret not for the straight vineyard on the label. CT has notes and labels for a ‘VV’ but noting past 2012 - Furthermore, I have not seen a 13, 14, or 15 for sale as a VV. Did they just drop the moniker of the label or is there in fact a 14 Foret VV floating out there?
Eleni and Edouard met while working the 2010 harvest in New Zealand but returned to Chablis to take over a small piece of Edouard’s family domaine. Edouard’s family owns Domaine Vocoret & Fils, a large and established domaine, with over 50 hectares planted. Their primary focus with their first 4.9 hectares was farming. The first couple of vintages were sold off in bulk shortly after harvest as they converted the farming to lutte raisonnée and committed to hand harvesting. They are currently producing two wines: Chablis “Bas de Chapelot” and Chablis 1er Cru “Butteaux.” Bas de Chapelot comes from a 3.2 hectare parcel just beneath Montée de Tonnerre while the Butteaux parcel is 0.3 hectares.
A selection of signature appellations:
Chablis “Bas de Chapelot”
Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux
Just did a run to our local Costco to pick up some steaks for the grill tonight and spotted the 2013 Vaillon for $15.99. Picked up 2 with a view to pop one tonight to see if I want to go back tomorrow and stock up.
If you like Chablis, actually even if you don’t but like energetic white wines, you absolutely have to buy as much of the 14 Chablis as possible. This is a vintage that is the vintage driven as the wines show excellent concentration, purity,freshness, energy, tension and mineral.
Every '14 I’ve had has been excellent. Even the least expensive I’ve had, the Marc Brocard Ste. Claire was very, very good and a screaming value. I’ll continue going to the well on '14 as long as I see it offered. The only problem is that they drink so well I’ve made little effort to save any for the future. They seem to disappear shortly after arriving.
To echo the last few posts on the 14 Chablis vintage, as I discussed on a different thread, the particular genius of 14 is the unprecedented (at least in my vino career) quality of the wines at the village and PC level, this Vocoret is a shining example. Sure, the heavy hitters will be great wines I’m sure, they usually are in most vintages, that’s why you pay a premium. Another poster mentioned dollar cost averaging - I agree with the concept and am looking to buy as many well priced 14 PC Chablis as a I can store. Keeping my hands off them will be the real challenge.