2023 Chablis La Moutonne Grand Cru

One notable producer that, for my sins, I have not visited is Domaine Long-Dépaquit. It is part of Albert Bichot but runs independently. Of course, the wines are vinified in Chablis. I met with head winemaker Louis Gimmonet, who began his tenure in July 2021 after stints in Oregon, California and Champagne. I began by asking him about any recent changes. “We started organic certification two years ago and have changed our winery equipment. The 2022 vintage was the first year in conversion. All the Grand Cru and Premier Crus are harvested by hand, and I want to pick more manually, though, at the moment, we pick around 30 hectares by hand and 25 hectares by machine. We use machines for those vineyards located further from the winery. The harvest order completely changed in 2023 regarding which vineyards were picked first. We began on September 12 and finished on September 18. The yields spanned from 48 to 58hl/ha in 2023. The main issue is that we had huge rainy episodes. So we had more potassium in the soil that was absorbed by the vines.” I liked these wines rather than fell in love with them. They are technically good. However, I think they could be imbued with more personality. There is something “safe” about them, which makes them reliable and that’s not a bad thing. But tasting them together, they seemed to follow a stylistic template.