2020 Domaine du Vieux Chateau-Daniel-Etienne Defaix, Chablis, Vieilles Vignes, White Burgundy, France.
This Old Vine Chablis is a unique wine, with a slightly oxidative maturity, while still being vibrant and steely to its core, it shows off a pure chalky terroir character in the glass and a depth not typically seen in non cru versions. This 2020 is ripe and concentrated, with a leesy texture, medium body, as per normal for the vintage with orange blossoms, lemon curd, apple, pear, oyster shell, hazelnut, clove spice, wet stone and a fine salinity. Daniel Defaix ferments, 100% de-stemmed grapes, in stainless steel tank, using 100% natural yeasts, at cold temps, which takes close to three weeks and then the wine is rested almost three years on the lees, again in stainless (only) and goes through natural malos, then racked again back to stainless tanks to aged, which usually lasts between 4 years, in this bottling, to 10 years, in the Premier Cru and Grand Cru wines before bottling! This bottle got better and better as it opened up and is a very rewarding Chablis, and I am glad a bought a few to enjoy over the next few years.
Daniel-Etienne Defaix, who uniquely cellar ages his wines before release, as mentioned in my prior reviews, continues this long family tradition of wine growing, which has been working the vines around Chablis since the 1500s, and now he manages 26 hectares planted exclusively to Chardonnay, which most all there vines in a selection of Premier Crus. Defaix, a natural minded vigneron, who’s family is from Avallon, not far from Chablis, with his ancestor Etienne-Paul Defaix moving the family into Chablis during the eighteenth century, he uses largely self taught methods to craft his wines with ideas passed down and learned from his own experiences. His severe selections of grapes and his long fermentations highlight his deft and gentile touch in the cellar. I’ve been following vintages here at Defaix, since having his 2005s, and have become a big fan of these lovely Chablis offerings, and this 2020 Vieilles Vignes bottling shows maybe the most personality and overt flavors, with a delicate tropical note, but still is faithful in style and full of old school charm.
($49 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive