2024 Domaine Jolly et Fils, Chablis AOC, White Burgundy, France.
The steely and pure 2024 Chablis from Denis Jolly and Domaine Jolly et Fils is full of terroir expression and classic in mineral driven character with delicate, chalky aromas, a racy bright palate of lime, quince, green apple, tart peach and Bosc pear fruits, a touch of herbal tea, wet stone, clove spice and hint of almond brioche. This all stainless fermented and aged pale straw hued Chardonnay shows a fine purity in the glass, with just the right amount of textural richness and plenty of zesty acidity to keep the Chablis fans happy. As far as I remember, I believe this was my first experience with wines from this Domaine, and I was very pleased by what I found here and it certainly was a nice value for the quality, which has been hard to find in recent years. Coming from various plots within the Chablis AOC, this wine is from vines grown on hard, brown Portlandian limestone soils, which at times, the winery says can sandy and muddy, so the vineyards are situated high on a plateau with good drainage. These vines have, as Jolly notes, a varied exposure, but mostly south and east for good ripening qualities, but also benefits in terms of balance in warm years. The 2024 vintage saw a difficult time from growers in Chablis, and Burgundy, with tiny yields due to frost and other trying climate conditions, so it was good to see this delicious effort come good.
The Domaine Jolly et Fils, a small family vigneron known mainly for their Petit Chablis bottling, is based in à Maligny, near l’Yonne, and close to the village of Chablis, focusing on their small panels in the AOC Chablis and Petit Chablis, with some pedigreed Fourchaume Premier Cru. The winery, I learned, is run by Denis Jolly, whose mission it is to is crafting wines that are a true expressions of the Kimmeridgean and Portlandian soils and the distinctive based terroirs of the Chablis region. The Domaine Jolly estate consists of 42 acres of vines, set across the Petit Chablis, Chablis and Chablis 1er Cru Fourchaume appellations. Chardonnay is the only varietal grown on the Jolly et Fils estate which produces the wines from these three vineyard areas, making for a tight three wine lineup, with a good mix of young and old vine plots on the chalky limestone. The winemaking is simple, exclusively in temperature controlled stainless steel tank, with the grapes being gently pressed in a pneumatic press before undergoing the primary (alcoholic) fermentation, lasting about 7 days in the stainless steel vats. The secondary Malolactic fermentation follows for 30 days and the wine is aged on its lees for between 7 to 8 months, with the wine seeing a cold stabilization before bottling. Again, as I mentioned, this was a nice find and a bargain for the clean and clear Chablis character in the bottle and I can easily recommend it.
($28 Est.) 90 Points, grapelive