Staff Pick

Chablis 1er Cru "Vaillons", Defaix - 2010

Name: Chablis 1er Cru "Vaillons", Defaix
Brand: Defaix
SKU: 34231
Price: 64.96 USD
Availability: OutOfStock

Item # 34231 750mL

This Vaillons was aged on the lees for years before bottling and is just being released for sale now. This is Daniel Etienne's most mineral-driven Chablis and would work marvelously with a simple dinner of roast chicken. Opulent on the palate.

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Color

White

Vintage

2010

Country

France

Region

Burgundy

Sub-Region

Chablis

Producer

Defaix

Grape Variety

Chardonnay

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Staff Pick Notes

There’s Chablis and then there’s Chablis from Daniel-Etienne Defaix which is in a completely different stratosphere. The Defaix family maintains a domaine of 26 hectares that his ancestors established during the 18th century with his family taking the role of vignerons. Defaix is working primarily with Premier Cru vineyards with some Grand Cru as well. Going through long fermentation and resting on the lees for at least 18 months, sometimes longer for his Premier and Grand Crus, his bottlings see extended time aging in bottle to fully flesh out the remarkable qualities of Chablis. A premier parcel from the original Vaillons before it was expanded, this iron-rich Kimmeridgian soil lends itself to a wine full of dense flavors of quince, soubois, and melted butter while still feeling youthful and packed with minerality.

- JOS

Glossary

Burgundy

The range of wine styles offered in Burgundy rivals that of any other region. In Chablis, Chardonnay is left unoaked to produce lean, crisp, steely wines with incredible acidity - a far cry from the vanilla-oak bombs that so many consumers associate with this grape. Fans of rich, unctuous, and well-oaked Chardonnay will enjoy Chassagne-Montrachet, whose age-worthy offerings offer all the fatness of a California wine, yet retain a very Burgundian, mineral-driven core and great acidity....

Chardonnay

From Champagne to Chablis, it's hard (not to mention unpleasant) to avoid this famous white variety. During a huge popularity surge beginning in the late 1980s, Chardonnay plantings have increased dramatically -- not only in California's wine country, with which the variety is nearly synonymous, but also in Burgundy (its original, Old World home) and just about everywhere else in the winemaking world. It is a flexible, eager-to-please grape, responding well to just about anything a winemaker...