2013 Chablis Vaillons
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Tasting notes
Aromas of menthol, minerals and wet stone suggest an austere wine. Then rich but backward on the palate, conveying noteworthy sweetness to the complex flavors of pineapple, mirabelle , apricot pit and violet. Finishes with a lightly phenolic edge. Not quite as pure as the 2014 edition but a triumph for its vintage.
Critic scores
Average Score
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Slate, crushed rocks, smoke and white orchard fruit blossom in the 2013 Chablis Vaillons, a wine that sizzles with energy, tension and pure class. The flavors are remarkably pure and vivid from start to finish. I very much like the intensity here. There is so much to look forward to in this tense, tightly wound Vaillons.
Bright yellow. Ripe aromas of lemon drop and biscuit, with sexy nuances of wild herbs, ginger and white flowers. Vibrant and energetic in the mouth, spreading out to saturate the palate with classic, sharply chiseled flavors of ginger and crushed stone. Finishes tactile, saline and palate-staining, with impressive penetration. Vaillons appears to have been a favored cru in 2013, as most of this cru's fruit was ripe enough to have benefited from an early harvest, before conditions deteriorated.