2019 Chablis Les Clos Grand Cru

At the Obédiencerie in the heart of Chablis, the ancient building where Domaine Laroche is located, I met with head winemaker Grégory Viennois. “The harvest was from September 10 to 21,” he explained, as I set about tasting the 2019s plus a handful of older vintages that readers can peruse in my recent “Mature Burgundy” article. “It was a surprise because 2019 was a dry, warm season with three or four waves of heat, but there was no stress in the vineyard. Working the vineyards organically, we found that the soils act like a sponge and retain moisture. At the end of August, the weather was unusually overcast, and it was more autumnal, which is why we had lower ripeness levels than expected. When we started picking, we had to go quickly. It’s an incredible vintage in terms of precision and precociousness. The timing and method of harvest was very important. We did a three-hour pressing with rotations at low pressure to bring out dry extract, good phenolics and antioxidants. The skins were thinner in 2019 compared with 2018. We did no fining under the press, to keep all the good compounds. I started the fermentation at 16°C, and we take care to never be over 22°C at the end. For the lees aging, 15% is in cask or foudres for the Saint Martin cuvée, between 30% and 70% of barrels or demi-muids for Premier Crus, and 100% for Grands Crus. It’s a little bit more than 2018 because the yields were smaller in 2019. There is never more than 5% new oak in our wine, and we finish the aging in stainless steel tanks.” Their 2019s are raised in a combination of vessels including demi-muids and foudres. I felt that a couple of cuvées just missed a little complexity compared to their peers, and at the entry level, I would like to see more nerve and terroir expression – the wines can seem a little commercial. But you do not need to venture far into their range to find excellent expression from their variety of Premier Crus, such as their Chablis Vaudevey and Fourchaume Vieilles Vignes. Their top cuvée, the 2019 Chablis Les Blanchots La Réserve de l’Obédience, is stunning and perhaps a little overlooked by the cognoscenti. Older bottles demonstrate how well La Réserve can age, though it boasts only marginal superiority over the regular and very impressive bottling from Les Blanchots.