I really enjoy Chablis, and compared with the Cote d’Or, the region offers some wonderful bargains. But where is your sweet spot? By that I mean, where do you tend to buy/drink the most? I’m curious in terms of price, quality level (regional vs 1er Cru vs Grand Cru), and age.
Thanks!
Noah
As with most burgundy, producer > anything else. Raveneau 1ers can routinely destroy almost any other producer’s grand cru on day 1, and day 2 Raveneau is an extra-special experience. Alas, not every day can be a Raveneau day, so elsewhere I like Louis Michel, Moreau-Maudet, and some of the Laroche wines. For most Chablis I tend to like the 10-20 year old window. I also find the difference between 1er and GC to be less in Chablis, especially for 1ers like MdT.
Outside of the usual suspects life Dauvissat and Raveneau, I’m a huge fan of JP and Benoit Droin. Awesome Les Clos for about $80 or so.
Louis Michel 1er crus, and it’s not very close.
Agree. I love aged white Burgundy and have no aversion to paying up for quality, but in terms of Chablis the vast majority of my spend has gone towards Louis Michel. Not Dauvissat, not Raveneau, not even Fevre. I do like the Clos and Grenouilles in addition to the 1ers though
Big +1 for the Louis Michel 1er along with D-E Defaix 1er and VV Chablis right there for me as well
Roland Lavantureux’s wines are delicious, and (for now), a decent QPR.
Domaine des Malandes Mont de Milieu, Clos and Vaudesir
This. With fear of rising prices…this.
Favorite Louis Michel bottling? Mdt vs Butteaux VV?
Fevre Vaulorent
I drink mostly 1ers with a little GC in the mix. I love Raveneau but am priced out at this point. Christian Moreau, Moreau-Naudet, and Piuze are all standout producers to me for the tier below Raveneau and Dauvissat. I can understand why so many people like the style of Louis Michel, but I haven’t been wowed by the wines. Maybe I just haven’t tried enough. I hardly buy any Côte de Beaune whites at all anymore given what’s happened to the pricing (especially the 3 big name villages), but Chablis is thankfully still accessible.
+1 to Louis Michel.
I also like to Fevre for extended aging, given their adoption of diam.
Mostly 1er crus, some GC and some villages.
Seems like most agree on Louis Michel. So do I. I also enjoy Droin. Other producers I like and haven’t seen mentioned: Gilbert Picq, Servin, Samuel Billaud, Billaud-Simon and Domaine d’Henri.
I also had a couple of wonderful Roche de Bellene 2014 GC Vaudésir but it was my first Chablis from this operation and not one I’ve always liked in the past.
Wines from Montee de Tonnerre are consistently priced like 1er cru but drink like grand cru – for me that is one of the most reliably under-ranked vineyards in Burgundy (along with Vosne-Romanee Suchots, for instance). I also often look lower in the quality spectrum for Cote de Lechet, where the wines are priced like village but drink like 1er cru. For instance, the Sebastien Dampt Cote de Lechet is a super bargain at $25-30.
I happily add my voice to the chorus of Louis Michel lovers. Another recent standout was Billaud-Simon MdT 2012. In a perfect world, I would drink Raveneau Les Clos every day, but in the actually existing world that wine is going for $1,650 a bottle, so I am happy that Louis Michel is still such a consistent bargain – e.g., $34.99 for the MdT 2019.
Piling on for Louis Michel 1ers, also like Billaud Simon, Droin. Recently tried and enjoyed Dom. Hates. Used to buy a lot of Chalbisienne 1ers, which were amazing values, but I don’t see them offered as much recently.
agree re Michel, Droin, Billaud-Simon, Defaix, would add La Chablisienne to the mix. Of course Raveneau, Dauvissat, Fevre but those are more pricy.
Fevre isn’t that pricy, especially their basic AOC bottling. The '19 vintage is $20+/-
This right here.
I would add that the 2014 vintage (excellent) has been drinking superbly the last two years. Still bottles available off and on premise.
Thomas Pico and Alice et Olivier De Moor