Chablis AOC 2025

A Chablis that draws its power from tension rather than sheer volume. On the nose, the 2025 vintage comes across as elegant, fine, transparent and clear, then noticeably fuller on the palate than the nose promised. Dry, 13.0% vol., with plenty of energy.

The grapes come from more than 15 hectares of vineyards around the villages of Chablis, La Chapelle, Fontenay and Beine. The soils are limestone, shaped by Kimmeridgian and Portlandian limestone. Romain and Damien Bouchard founded Domaine de l'Enclos in 2016 from 29 hectares of family-owned land; their vines average 30 years old, with some over 50.

Pure Chardonnay, hand-harvested. After picking, the grapes are pressed directly, and the must ferments spontaneously with wild yeasts in stainless steel tanks, before ageing in multi-vintage oak casks that lend structure without imparting oak notes. The work takes place in a 450-square-metre gravity-flow cellar with no pumps; the wine is not fined, and only lightly filtered and sulphured at the end.

On the nose, lemon sorbet, lime and white currants, alongside garden herbs, petrichor and a touch of yeast. The wine coats the palate, remaining aromatic, citrusy and terroir-driven, with a polished, slightly chalky texture and fine extract sweetness. With air, tension, citrus brightness and piquant zesty notes emerge.

The vineyards are organically farmed and nourished with organic compost, with biodynamic principles woven into the work since 2017. The estate's wines age for up to 18 months on fine lees. The cellar and estate are housed in a 19th-century property in the heart of Chablis, once owned by the monks of Pontigny.