2013 Chablis Vaillons
Estimated value
Buying options
Tasting notes
(these vines were the first to be harvested in 2013): Bright, pale color. Fresh peach and lime on the pure nose. Boasts excellent energy for Vaillons, showing noteworthy precision and lift to the stone fruit and lemon curd flavors. Quite fresh on the long, pure finish. A lovely showing, but I'd give this another year or two in the cellar before pulling the cork.
Critic scores
Average Score
Neal Martin
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2013 Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons does not quite deliver the same intensity as the Montmains at the moment, although it is still well defined with more of a sea spray influence coming through. The palate is fresh and crisp on the entry, just a suggestion of dried honey on the front palate, before it gently fans out on a walnut/smoky finish that is cut from the same cloth as the Montmains '13, albeit with an extra pinch of spice. This is excellent.
A deep, dense wine, the 2013 Chablis Vaillons is built on pure texture and volume. Lemon oil, white flowers and dried pears all blossom in the glass, but it is the wine's round, sensual personality that impresses above all else. A vein of underlying acidity gives the wine its backbone.
(from very ripe fruit picked just before the rain): Peach, lemon drop and a hint of spices on the nose. Broad and essentially gentle, with a touch of sucrosite joined by a subtle saline quality. A smooth, lush Vaillons with no shortage of cut. From a relatively healthy crop of 40 hectoliters per hectare.