Moreau Naudet - Chablis 2020
Price: $39.99
| Producer | Moreau Naudet |
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| Country | France |
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| Region | Chablis |
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| Varietal | Chardonnay |
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| Vintage | 2020 |
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| Sku | 00358 |
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| Size | 750ml |
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A familiar refrain in the wine world could never be more apt here; “What’s old is new again!”
This is anything but “classic” Chablis… and yet, it is quite a bit more authentically “classic” then what everyone says is. Huh? Ok… follow me…
When you think of Chablis, you likely think of flinty, crisp wines with loads of minerality and scant fruit. “Austere” is a common descriptor. “Classic.” And yet, in reality these are a reflection of post-WWII thinking and methods.
In the 1950s, as the world’s economies began to explode, Chablis was at a crossroads. For a variety of reasons “Chablis” had become used around the world to describe virtually any white wine made from any number of grapes. The region’s attempts to rein in the usage had started in 1938 with the creation of the official appellation of Chablis, but, as you might imagine, World War II put a damper on that. So, faced with an insatiable demand for wine, particularly in the United States, Chablis producers faced a choice… and chose the one that would yield the most economic success. Let the vines go wild! Produce as many grapes as they could, and flood the market with wine. The introduction of mechanical harvesters made this even easier.
On top of that, as the northernmost region in Burgundy, and second only to Alsace-Lorraine for the production of still wines in France, Chablis can get a wee bit cold. With high yields becoming the norm, producers faced a new challenge: leave the grapes to ripen fully, and they faced frost, disease and fungus. Solution? Just send the harvesters out early and avoid the trouble.
The result was the “classic” style we have come to know.
Over the past 20 years or so, producers, led by radicals like Dauvissat and Raveneau, have begun swinging the pendulum back by reducing yields, hand harvesting of only ripe, clean fruit, whole berry pressing, and natural yeast fermentation followed by extended aging on the lees. Inspired by their example, Stephane Moreau began to change his family’s estate. And a funny thing happened on the way to the Forum… the generic, tart acidity that many claimed as “minerality” was replaced by a rounded, softer acidity and a vein of real mineral-inflected structure and flavor. Oh, and there is this crazy thing… the wines taste of fruit again! And you can still taste the “terroir” and individuality of different vineyards.
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