There’s very little of anything in Chablis from good producers that I dislike. But I find that when making buying decisions I generally avoid Vaillons, finding that the reputation generally exceeds what’s in the bottle. Not that I dislike the wine, but there are better wines for the same price or less for the most part.
Tonight, I opened a 2007 V Dauvissat Vaillons, not wanting to waste a Forest or Sechet. Early on, nice Chablis, nothing to lather up about. Now a couple of hours later, now that I’m writing this, it’s, well–it’s remarkably fine, sort of lacy in contrast to the Forest power. So, well, forget what I said. Nevermind.
john, finished a bottle of this last night. really enjoyed it.
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2007 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons - France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru (7/24/2014)
First of 2 bottles I bought a few years back. This one showed well. Lemon edged, nice energy with good ripeness. Light mineral, very good…retasted the following day, I dig the bitter citrus note that shows up in the wine, it appears in the finish and kind of folds into a slatey note. Really just a fun wine. I’m certain that if I was not spreading my wine budget to CA, champagne and the loire, that I would dig hard into Dauvissat at the higher end but it’s a numbers game and it’s just not doable. Drink window here? Lots of life left here so no rush, and putting the tangent of pox aside and all of that, this wine has 5-8 years left on it I am sure.
Posted from CellarTracker
Yeah, saw your report in the other thread. Nice note. (I find myself wanting to ask why you would want to spread your wine budget to California when you could drink wines like this, but I won’t).
I really like Vaillons. Not my favorite 1er, and I find it needs time to show its best, but when it’s on it can be great.
John, your OP made me think. I’m a bit so-so on Vaillons too. I looked at my Vaillons CT notes and none were spectacular, just solid.
Perhaps it’s what David says about it needing time?
I feel more excitement about MdT, Forest and Sechet, for example, than about Vaillons. But overall, I’m probably being too picky. Most Vaillons are well made, high quality Chardonnays at excellent QPR.
Cheers, Howard
I think a lot depends upon where a given producers vines are, and whether they separate out a sub-vineyard bottling, and perhaps on the year. I suspect we’ll hear from some who love a certain producer’s Vaillons, or remember a stellar bottling. I’ve had some nice ones, and don’t dislike the wine at all, I just tend to pick other sites when faced with a line up of wines to choose from (eg MdT, fourchaume, Dauvisat Forest (not sure others’ Forest measure up), etc.
This is my note on the 02 drunk in 07:
8/01/2007 - I WROTE: (Edit) 91 Points
Lovely pale straw colour. Aroma of minerals, white florals, white peach, nectarine and citrus. On the palate nice clean pure mineral entry that fattens up to being full flavoured in the mid palate and then lingers on to a clean finish. Perfectly balanced wine that is drinking up to its peak. The only problem is the bottle is finished to quickly.
I think all V Dauvissat 1er are great. I know the Forets gets all the recognition but Sechet and this I find to be near to it…
I am only really familiar with Dauvissat’s Vaillons. And…have almost never been disappointed with a Dauvissat wine ever (if it gets the aeration it needs, and isn’t prem-oxed, of course.) Though Vincent says Vaillons matures earlier…I’ve never looked at it as on a lower level than the Forest or Sechet. It has all the wonderful things Chablis, and particularly, Dauvissat Chablis…which is my favorite, by far…can offer in a wine glass.
My favorite wine in Chablis is Davissat’s Preuses…grand cru. I’ve had others’ Preuses that didn’t do that much for me…so, I think in Chablis, like elsewhere in Burgundy, producer is most important…by far. (I do try not to open a Dauvissat bottle at under 10 years from the vintage; even then, they blossom with lots of aeration, IMO, and I try to give it to them. IMO, you almost can’t aerate a Dauvissat wine too much, within reason.
Vaillons might be the weakest of the Premier Crus…but, if so, that just shows what a great region Chablis is.
I’ve only had a few bottles of the 2010 Droin Vaillons but I enjoyed them. What is it about this vineyard that makes it inferior to say Forest, Sechet, etc? How would you generally describe the differences if you took the producer out of the equation? I don’t recall seeing that much detail about them in Clive Coates book, but I will have to pull it out and see.
I also love the Dauvissat Vaillons. The 1996 is a fantastic bottle that is showing well now (I’ve not had the premox troubles that others have reported, for unknown reasons).