2012 Chablis Les Clos
Estimated value
Buying options
Tasting notes
The 2012 Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos comes from two parcels that together make 1.3 hectares that were planted in 1954 and 1969. It has a very focused nose with hints of dandelion, bruised apple, orange rind and hazelnut, every swirl revealing another facet. The palate is very well-balanced with well-judged acidity, a little higher than Drouhin’s other grand crus. It is interwoven through the notes of citrus fruit, smoke and hazelnut. This is very cohesive, those (Saar) Riesling-like, petrol-like-notes surfacing toward the finish. Excellent. Drink 2017-2030. Drouhin Vaudon is an idyll tucked away down a single lane in the village of Chichee. The soothing sound of water streaming over the weir is audible long before the former mill comes into view nestled among the willows waiting for Pissarro or Monet to arrive with their paints. The interior is furnished with the family’s antique furniture, although none of the Drouhin family lives here. In fact, there is no winery in the Chablis region. The must is transported down to their large facility on the outskirts of Beaune some two hour’s drive away. I met Frederic Drouhin, who has the most piercing blue eyes you can imagine, the youngest of the four children and head winemaker Denis Marie. Frederic first explained about the history of the estate. “My father Robert, the grandson of Joseph Drouhin, is the one that expanded the estate to what it is today. My father was 24 when he arrived in 1957 and he was able to expand the holdings in the Cote de Nuits. In the late 1960s he tasted old Chablis and said that there is terroir here and a style. He felt that Chablis should not be abandoned. So he took the Citroen and a geological map and in a couple of years he purchased around 40 hectares of village, premier and grand cru in the real Kimmeridgian soil. For many years we sold the wine under the Joseph Drouhin label, but consumers could not believe that Drouhin had wines in Chablis. So in 2008, on the 40th anniversary, we decided to marry the name of the house with the name of the family. When Philippe (Drouhin) came in 1988, he decided to move into organic viticulture, which we felt would be better for the vineyard and so he hired Denis Marie. Back then, it was almost negative to say we were doing organic viticulture and we were doing it for the whole property. In the 1990s we decided to move to biodynamic viticulture. All the preparations are made from plants around the locality and we are reducing the amount of copper and sulfur used in the vineyard. All the vineyards are worked by horse apart from one because it is too steep, the village crus picked by machine and the Premier and Grand Crus by hand.” I then asked Denis Marie about the 2012 growing season. “The 2012 vintage? There was a very early spring with unusually warm temperatures, especially in March, which promoted growth so that we were 2 weeks ahead. After March, the weather changed. April and May were cold and rainy with more than 100mm of rain in April, which slowed down the growth. The first flowering was at the end of May. June was unusually cold and rainy and then the weather changed that reduced the crop potential. July and August were warm, sunny and much drier here than in the Cote d’Or, but fortunately the water table was high from the spring. We had a healthy crop, limited in quantity. The first to be picked were in Chablis on September 23 and the harvest lasted 10 days. The premier crus are aged in stainless steel and the grand cru in used 300- and 500-hectoliter barrels (we have been moving away from new oak because people said that it was too Burgundian.) We are about 20% down in terms of production and the wines were bottled just before the end of July 2013.” And the domaine is continuing to expand piecemeal. “Last year we purchased one hectare of Mont de Milieu and this will be blended with an organic farmer whose vines lie adjacent. For 2012 we were around 20% down in production. The must is transferred into small vessels and driven down to be vinified in Beaune.” Importer: Dreyfus Ashby & Co., New York, NY; tel. (212) 818-0201; Also available through Pol Roger Ltd. in the UK (www.polroger.co.uk)
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Allen Meadows, Burghound
More reviews and scores
The 2012 Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos has a reticent, stony bouquet that takes time to unfurl with hints of orange zest and gunflint. The palate is fresh and vibrant on the entry. Taut and focused with light marine-like scents, it has a composed finish that just needs to develop a little more complexity in bottle. The matriarch of Maison Joseph Drouhin, Veronique Drouhin, escorted a group of writers and scribes through her 2012s in London, except for the Grands Echezeaux that happened to not be showing well. Hers were the only 2012s tasted outside Burgundy for this report, in respect of the miniscule quantities. Less for us critics: more for punters, even if it is a drop. The omnipresent story of depleted crops was the same here. In fact, 2012 is their smallest vintage for 50 years. “Everything that you think could happen, did happen,” rued Veronique in her fluent English. “We had frost, hail, storms and even sunburn.” There was some redemption though, a vital one too. “The only thing we did not get was botrytis and so the fruit was healthy. There had been a poor fruit set and a lot of coulure and millerandage. This meant the berries were small and not clustered close together, allowing good air flow between the berries and therefore inhibiting grey rot.” However, the unpredictable growing season proved challenging in the vineyard. “We are 100% organic, so we had to go over and over in the vines. We had to use natural responses to natural problems.” The 2012 vintage also demanded prudent approaches in the winery that could enhance the wines. “One of the most surprising things we found was that it took five to seven days for the fermentation to start. During this period you could extract some interesting things (color, polyphenols etc). Also, we found that the fruit had a long post-fermentation period of up to two weeks, which also benefited the complexity of the fruit. We also had a different approach to the vin de press. When we pressed the white grapes, we separated the end pressings. Using whole clusters means that the stems tend to increase the pH and the acidity goes much lower, which can dilute the cuvee. We had to separate the vin de presse and work each one differently. But in 2012 we did not include much of the vin de presse.” The vinification of such a small quantities springs its own set of problems; after all, you cannot fill all your barrels with marbles to keep them topped up. Fortunately, there was plenty of time to prepare because the February frost had burnt the buds. Poor flowering and fruit set early in the growing season meant that there was plenty of time to place orders for appropriately-sized barrels. “We used 500-liter barrels, which were very useful and similarly sized stainless tell vessels for the wines,” Veronique explained. “We hired a person who specializes in bottling small quantities. Jerome likes them (500-liter barrels) very much. They do not extract much, but they can make very elegant wines.” Perhaps one silver lining is that it has given producers such as Drouhin experience of using alternatively sized vessels that may be used in the future when vintages are more bountiful. At the end of the day, Drouhin have overseen another impressive set of Burgundy wines. While they do not possess the structure of the 2010s, the acidity levels are not dissimilar, although they seem to have more sweetness on the finishes. I concur with Veronique that two appellations that prospered in this vintage are Chassagne in the Cotes de Beaune and Chambolle in the Cotes de Nuits. In particular, the latter is very strong chez Drouhin in 2012, right down to the village cru. She also opined that Rully exceeded expectations, perhaps because the vines were so affected by hail in 2011 and strove to compensate in the following year. Here both the white and red come highly recommended and will probably represent good value. Prices are expected to rise, possibly 10-15% for the village and premier crus, 20% for the grand crus, although nothing had been set at time of writing. Importer: Dreyfus Ashby & Co., New York, NY; tel. (212) 818-0770 and through several importers in the UK via Pol Roger UK Ltd.
Three parcels. Mid gold. Still a little reserved on the nose. But lots of substance on the palate. Potential. (JR)
About the producer
Joseph Drouhin is one of the largest and most famous producers in Burgundy, making both domaine and négociant wines. It remains family-owned and run, now in the hands of the fourth generation.