2015 Domaine Christian Moreau, Chablis 1er Cru Vaillon, White Burgundy, France.
Most of the 2015 Moreau Premier Cru and Grand Cru were preview samples, but finished bottle examples included the Chablis AC and this brilliant 2015 Vaillon Premier Cru, which I tasted at Wildman’s 2015 Burgundy Preview Tasting in San Francisco recently, The Moreau Vaillon 2015 is wonderfully dynamic and classic with steely crisp detail, vibrant acidity and sublime balance with zingy lime, green apple and lemony citrus layers along with flinty/stones, hints of golden fig and clove spices. White flowers, mineral tones and chalky notes add to the complexity in this vividly fresh Chardonnay and while it has an energy and lightness about it, it does fill out with some body with air, which I imagine is the tiny crop of the vintage and concentration showing through, even though it remains gloriously clear and vigorous. This was a great surprise in the lineup, this Vaillon punches way above it’s weight class and delivers a stunning performance, it’s an impressive effort, this beauty and their Grand Cru Valmur really stood out as stars of the vintage for Domaine Christian Moreau. 2015 Chablis are going to be rare offerings, because of hail and tragic conditions, plus with 2016’s almost complete wipe out due to frost, it’s going to be hard to get much great stuff at fair prices, but Moreau has these wines and they should be on your search list, especially this Vaillon 1er Cru! This pretty and vital Chablis will drink superb young and fresh, but there is plenty of reason to believe it will age gracefully too, best from 2017 to 2027+, don’t blink or it will be gone!
($45-50 Est.) 92-94 Points, grapelive
