Chablis Montserre AOC 2023

A Chablis with nervy acidity, richness and saline minerality, bottled without added sulphur. This omission makes it open and engaging, fleshy and fresh at once.

Montserre is the highest point of the Béru hill in eastern Chablis, the summit of the Serres, a formation of stacked fossil limestone plates. At the surface, the soil is scattered with white pebbles. The vineyards of Château de Béru are rooted in Kimmeridgian limestone and are farmed biodynamically, using horses instead of heavy machinery and with cover crops between the rows.

Chardonnay, hand-harvested, gently pressed and spontaneously fermented. Ageing took place in smaller and larger used oak barrels, with the wine maturing on fine lees; the 2023 includes a touch of newer oak, which lends its own note. Winemaker Gaëlle Ribé bottled it unfiltered, unfined and without added sulphur. 13.5% vol., dry.

On the nose, smoky lemon, lime, pear, salted lemon and iodine, along with an oxidative touch of mellow cellar apple with its skin. The palate offers lemon zest, apple, oyster shell and stone, along with power, a creamy texture and plenty of tension. The finish brings a sea breeze, sea salt and crushed rock.

With oysters, seared scallops and turbot, as well as with poulet de Bresse.

The label carries the Demeter logo. Athénais de Béru joined the family estate in 2004 and converted it to organic, later biodynamic, farming; its seat is a Renaissance estate overlooking the vineyards of eastern Chablis.