Domaine Vrignaud, Chablis 1er Cru Fourchaume `Les Côtes de Fontenay`

Guillaume Vrignaud joined his family domaine in 1999. At the time, Domaine Vrignaud was a member of the cooperative winery in Chablis, until Guillaume convinced his father to build a cellar and start making their own wines. The results were so successful that the domaine has since grown from 12 hectares of vines to 28 hectares today, all of which are organically farmed.

Domaine Vrignaud’s scrupulously clean cellar comprises primarily stainless-steel tanks, in which 90% of their wines are fermented. In 2005, they started using solely indigenous yeasts in their winemaking, which Guillaume believes give the wines " more fruit and minerality”. Yet it is in the vineyard that Guillaume has made the most significant difference. The domaine has 12 parcels of Chablis vines spread over 14 hectares of 15 - 50-year-old vines, planted on three different soil types: Kimmeridgian, white clay and Portlandian. "I think my best Chablis comes from a blend of all three soils," Guillaume explains. To express the character of these vineyards in the finished wines, Guillaume pays close attention to picking times. "I pick when the seeds in the grape are brown, but before any over-ripeness or botrytis has set in," he explains. "I like my Chablis to be precise rather than fat and full." Guillaume’s village Chablis displays lovely lift and freshness on the nose, giving way to supple yet taut fruit on the palate, with a classic cut of acidity on the finish.

All of Guillaume’s Premier Crus are aged before release, giving them a complexity that few of their peers can match. Like the rest of Guillaume’s wines, they offer classic expressions of Chablis. The Chablis Premier Cru ‘Fourchaume’ has a lovely flinty character on the nose and is rich yet tight with striking length on the palate. Also from ‘Fourchaume’ is the excellent ‘Côtes de Fontenay’, which hails from a part of this Premier Cru that is more south than southwest facing. Such was the fame of ‘Côtes de Fontenay’ in the 16th century that it was known as ‘La Grande Côte’. Guillaume has just over a hectare of vineyard here and makes a perfumed wine that mingles scents of fennel and flowers before giving way to a precisely balanced palate.

The distinctive Premier Cru Fourchaume ‘Les Vaupulans’ hails from a small parcel within the Fourchaume vineyard, with vines averaging 25 years old and planted on Kimmeridgian limestone. ‘Les Vaupulans’ is oak-fermented (as signified by the brown label) and aged for 12 months in a mixture of stainless steel and 30% oak. It shows intensely concentrated fruit with a hint of spice and notes of mandarin and golden apple. The palate is textured and lifted by fresh acidity, culminating in a long, saline finish.