2024 Domaine Alain et Adrien Gautherin, Chablis, Vieilles Vignes, White Burgundy, France.
The sleeper in the Gautherin lineup has to be the serious and old vine concentrated Chablis Vieilles Vignes bottling, which is made in the same way as their top Grand Cru wines and shows incredible terroir driven character, will excellent and steely details and layers of green apple, Asian pear, lime citrus and fleshy quince fruits, along with subtle brioche leesy notes, oyster shell, flinty stones, almond nuttiness, saline and delicate white flowers. This pure chalky Chablis Chardonnay has Premier Cru density and presence in the glass, showing off loads of mineral charm and a rich, elegant and lingering medium bodied palate that is nicely vinous, but still lifted by the natural acidity, making for an elevated experience and a wine that gets even better with food. I had not tried these Gautherin wines before this year, and I make them out to be one of the top discoveries of 2026, with their range of 2022, 2023 and 2024 vintages all being outstanding and individually distinctive in the bottle, each highlighting the Cru and or select parcels where they came from beautifully. Coming from their oldest vines, up to 70 years old, within the Chablis AOC, the Vieilles Vignes, like the rest of the wines at Gautherin, start with a gentle pressing and settling period before typically going to a combination of stainless steel vats, about 2/3rds, and some tiny amount of new oak and mostly used barrels with almost a third of the wine seeing time in large 600L demi-muids, helping not over power this pale gold hued Chardonnay with the wood. For maturing, very little batonage is employed, except for extreme vintages and the wine was aged on the lees for about 12 months. The Vieilles Vignes really caught my attention and I think it is a fine and exciting effort, especially with the difficult vintage and tiny yields here.
In New York, I was able to taste through the whole lineup of offerings recently from Gautherin, and as I noted in my prior review, was impressed by all the wines, especially the basic Chablis AOC cuvée, the Vaillons Premier Cru, which was excellent, the Grenouilles Grand Cru, which is a site that only five producers get fruit from, and this Old Vines Cuvée. Farmed sustainably, and made with respect to traditions, the Chablis at Gautherin, formerly known as Domaine Raoul Gautherin, before being handed down to his sons Alain and Adrien, are now on par with some of the region’s top names. Domaine Alain et Adrien Gautherin Chablis winery is a family estate that has been transmitted from father to son for many generations now and comes with a wealth of knowledge and commitment to make the finest expressions of ancient limestone influenced Chardonnays, with many unique and prime hillside parcels in this historic region. The top of the Gautherin range, includes the likes of this Grenouilles, but also has Les Clos, and what may be the winery’s signature bottlings from the Grand Cru Vaudésirs, even doing a special reserve version in top vintages. I was lucky enough to sample most everything and meet with Alain Gautherin, in both New York and Chicago, where they were pouring recently, so I like to think I got a good idea of the wines and some insight into what makes them tick, and like most top producers here in Chablis, it is all about the sense of place. The Grand Cru areas of Chablis were formed with the classic Jurassic era clay and limestone on the legendary Kimmeridgien soils, which give them the distinction of terroir here, and the Gautherin brothers pay tribute to that in their wines, as seen here in their lovely Vieilles Vignes. The Gautherin wines are imported by Massanois and available throughout the States, but some of the limited bottlings are harder to find, but I recommend searching them out.
($42-55 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive