Chablis Grand Cru Blanchot AOC 2023

A Chablis of noble bearing that is at the same time full of energy. The nose is fragrant and intense: pear, apricot cream, star fruit and lemon curd, followed by blanched almonds as well as oak and vanilla from the barrel, well integrated into the white- and yellow-fleshed fruit.

The parcel measures just 0.23 hectares and lies in the lower, steeply sloping part of the Grand Cru climat Blanchot. Romain and Damien Bouchard founded Domaine de l'Enclos in 2016 from the family's inherited 29 hectares of vineyards. Their estate in the heart of Chablis is a 19th-century property, once home to the monks of Pontigny; beneath it lies a 450-square-metre gravity-flow cellar that operates without pumps. With this new beginning, the brothers converted their viticulture entirely to organic farming, and since 2017 have incorporated biodynamic principles.

Pure Chardonnay from vines planted in 1982 by the brothers' father. Hand-harvested on 13 September 2023, slow whole-cluster pressing, spontaneous fermentation with wild yeasts, followed by ageing in used oak. The wine is not fined and only lightly filtered. It was bottled on 18 November 2024 with 59 mg/l total sulphur.

Juicy, creamy fruit and a silky texture, paired with an elegant acid structure that gives the wine tension. The oak remains lightly perceptible without masking the fruit. The finish is saline and piquant, mouthwatering and powerful.

Only 0.23 hectares produce a mere trickle of this Grand Cru. The Bouchards give the vines and the cellar time: old vines, native yeasts, used oak rather than the aromatics of new wood.