Chablis appellation owes its fame to the Chardonnay wines that have gradually established over time for some characteristics rather peculiar to its position, north of the Côte d’Or. This position has ensured the birth of extremely fresh wines, citric and mineral, the mix between the soil Kimmeridge, characterized by the storage of small fossil shells of marine origin, and low temperatures. Right in the heart of this area, in 1923, Abbé Bàlitrand convinced some winegrowers to join and create a cooperative winery, La Chablisienne, which would have the simple purpose of selling their wines.
As time passed, this initial approach evolved and the members began to develop their project in the direction of the centralized cellar, to which the musts were to be sent and no longer the finished wines.
This operation allowed in a natural and empirical way to conduct a study on the quality of the individual musts, linking each of them to the origin parcel. It was thus possible to carry out a real zoning of the various lands of the associated winegrowers that led to the birth of guidelines for each single vineyard. This choice is still practiced today, with the grapes being pressed, by the individual winegrowers associated, as close as possible to the vineyards, so as not to waste time between harvesting and this operation. The musts are then sent to the central cellar that deals with fermentations (alcoholic and malolactic, where necessary) and the aging that can take place entirely in steel, for the freshest and immediate products, or entirely in barrrique, for the most valuable plots like their 7 Grand Cru.
Speaking of Grand Cru, we must mention the Chablis Blachot, whose vineyard, facing south-east and planted with an average of 7000 vines per hectare, is located on the right bank of the Serein (the river that divides the Chablisienne into two). From its plants of about 30 years are obtained the grapes that once pressed arrive in the cellar for static cold decanting, followed by alcoholic and malolactic fermentations, in barrique. After 14 months of rest in barrique, on the fine lees, the wine is ready for bottling and marketing.
The 2010 vintage has a rather intense straw color, with streaks as golden as greenish, and an olfactory range that opens on notes of medlar, yellow plum, chamomile and boisée, followed by peach in syrup, custard cream, kumquat and chlorophyll, with conclusive mineral echoes, of burnt shell and vanilla. The palate highlights from the beginning both the soft and generous component as well as citric and iodine-mineral one, combined with a pinch of white pepper; all while returning the yellow fruit, the burnt shell and the boisée that accompany the sip towards an excellent length juicy closing.
Rating: 90/100
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