2016 Chablis Vieilles Vignes

I have been visiting this domaine for several years now, the ambassador in many way for Zen-like Chablis. Vines, fruit, stainless steel, no wood contact, into bottle. That’s the simplicity of Picq. Their razor-sharp, saline Chablis can be thrilling. “We picked from 6 September to 12 September and cropped at 55hl/ha,” Gilbert Picq informed me. “It was very rapid because of the maturity. The pH levels are around 3.25. We had to do very little chaptalization and we will bottle at the end of October.” If you seek out razor-sharp Chablis that has seen nary a speck of wood then Picq is the place to come. They can be uncompromising wines that might feel rather stark on their own, yet matched with some fruits de mer they really come alive. I always think their Chablis Vieilles Vignes shows extremely well and the 2017 is a peach.

I tasted this year with Didier Picq’s brother Pascal, who is responsible for the vineyards at this family domain. The 2016 harvest here took place from September 26 through October 1. Overall production was down a sharp 70% as their home base of Chichée was hit both by the frost on April 27 and the hailstorm exactly one month later. (Their tiny amount of fruit from Dessus La Carrière went into their village cuvée.)

As is often the case at this address, the 2016s show some exotic fruit character and a couple of them were a bit aggressive and edgy on the finish, but Pascal Picq nonetheless described this vintage as more typical of Chablis than 2015. The earlier year produced a very rich set of wines—in some cases almost too opulent and buttery—that fermented for almost two months. They are lower in acidity than the ‘16s and probably best suited for enjoying relatively early.