2016 Chablis Vaillons 1er Cru

People often cite Domaines Raveneau and Vincent Dauvissat as the two greatest exponents of Chablis, however, I would like to add a third – Domaine Jean-Paul & Benoît Droin. Over the last five or six years, Benoît Droin has really ratcheted up the quality. I cannot exaggerate how often Droin’s wines end up the best of the flight during the annual “Burgfest” blind tastings. Again and again, they shine against stiff competition. It is time to accept that Droin is now one of the leading producers in Chablis. As usual, I met Benoît Droin at his vat-room to taste his nascent 2017s directly from tank (none marked with the cru – God only knows how he can tell one from another!) and then we repaired back to his tasting room below his parents’ abode for a run through his 2016s in bottle.

“It was easy and difficult,” Droin replied when I enquired about the 2017 growing season. “It was difficult because we had the problem with frost. We lost a lot in the Right Bank, especially Vaulorent and Montée de Tonnerre and in the Grands Crus. We had frost, but we protected the vine. Even in our parcels of Grand Cru, the weather was very cold for two weeks, while the nights were on the limit for frost, which made it difficult for the vines to grow. So with the cold conditions, the grapes didn’t form and we lost a lot of production [known as “vrille”]. Sometimes you would have one bunch instead of two or three. After that, for me it was a perfect vintage with respect to the vegetative cycle. We had good temperatures, never too high or low, not too dry or wet. When it was hot we had rain, but not too much. I don’t like vintages with excessively high temperatures or too much rain, but in 2017 the maturation came naturally and maintained the tartaric acidity. So the grapes were perfect. I remember it was the first time in 20 years that I smelled the juice before pressing and it was so wonderful. We started the harvest on 2 September. In the end, it was such a pity to have such a small crop. That’s the difference with 2016. In 2016 the hail and frost affected Petit Chablis and Chablis. In 2017 it is OK for Petit Chablis and Chablis and not so good for the Premier and Grand Crus. In 2017 we lost around 50%, nearly the same as in 2016.”

Droin’s set of 2016s was one of the strongest I tasted, seemingly shrugging off the difficulties that beset Chablis in the early part of the season. Their Grenouilles must be one of the high points of that year. But the 2017s are incredibly exciting across the board: Chablis as it ought to be – full of tension, steely, poised and intense. The wines continue to represent outstanding value.

The irrepressible Benoît Droin, who normally picks on the early side for acidity and chaptalizes his wines lightly, began on September 22 in 2016, with grape sugars between 12% and 12.5%, noting that “13% potential alcohol is too ripe for Chablis.” He insisted that there were no rot issues in 2016 and that he picked quickly to maintain energy in his wines. In fact, his 2016s have sound levels around four grams per liter, or a bit higher than the ‘15s, which Droin says suffered a bit of dilution of acidity from the rainfall before the harvest. The ‘16s had been assembled and sulfited about three weeks before my visit. Droin told me that his grand cru vineyards were protected against frost in 2016 by paraffin-burning smudge pots but that his Petit Chablis holding was decimated. And he won’t offer a Mont de Milieu or Fourchaume in 2016. The wines that he did make in '16, though, are splendid.