2016 Chablis Côte de Léchet 1er Cru

I have been visiting Domaine Laurent Tribut for a number of years now. It is just a short visit, since the portfolio is limited to just the villages and three Premier Crus from his seven hectares of vine. Yet the quality of his wines means I am always returning. As usual, Tribut matures the wine in pièces within his rather cramped barrel cellar and then finishes off the ageing in stainless steel vats for around six months. Tribut told me that he commenced the harvest on 3 September and cropped at 30hl/ha. These are crisp, characterful, charming Chablis that seem to attain that sweet spot between wood and steel, so that the former is always a subtle rather than a dominating influence on the wines. To quote Steve Tanzer himself, these are “vrai Chablis”. Tribut informed me that he will be retiring from 1 June and his children will be taking over the domaine. I look forward to tasting next year with the next generation and indeed, Tribut poured his daughter Solange’s own Chablis, suggesting the Domaine is in safe hands.

Tribut, who picks his seven hectares of vines entirely by hand, started harvesting in 2016 on September 26 with potential alcohol around 12.2% and did not chaptalize. He noted that sugars rose to 12.6% during the vinification but admitted that his refractometer may have been off at the outset. He described the pHs of the 2016s as low. “It’s a classic vintage but not austere,” he summarized. Tribut ferments all his wines in pièces and then, after about a year, gives them six months in cuves before bottling during the second spring. Tribut's wines typically convey a noble rusticity and they have been better than ever in recent ripe vintages. They're worth a search for fans of le vrai Chablis.