2002 Chablis Les Pargues

According to marketing director Marc Cameron, this estate suffered much more from frost in 2003 than from the extreme heat of the summer, as the estate has a high percentage of old vines with sufficiently deep root systems to find water.Francois Servin acidified the musts "to protect the wines against bacterial spoilage during fermentation," then added a bit more acid after the malolactic fermentations, which has the benefit, according to Cameron, of protecting the wine's own natural acidity from being eaten up during the cold stabilization.The Servin wines typically show a slightly unrefined character, with some caramelly oak tones, but also undeniably sweet, rich stone fruit and soft citrus flavors that many chardonnay lovers resistant to more classically taut, minerally Chablis will particularly enjoy.Francois Servin has for many years fermented all his wines with a yeast strain (Saccharamyces Bayanus) cultured in the Champagne region, which he described as a yeast "designed more for finishing the fermentations than for starting them," in contrast to most yeasts used in the Chablis region.It remains to be seen if this yeast partly explains the dominant fruit character of the estate's 2002s, or if they will become more minerally, like the 2000s, with more time in bottle.

This domain makes all its wines from its 30 hectares of vines, the majority of which are 30 to 40 years of age. In contrast to some of his colleagues in Chablis, Francois Servin describes the 2002 vintage as having yielded wines with "lowish alcohol and lowish acidity, not a bad combination. The grape skins were thick, and the grapes did not yield a lot of juice. According to Servin, "the wines are nicely balanced and are opening early. They're a touch more typical than the 2000s: they're drier, fresher and more minerally. Too many 2000s were picked too late; and it was certainly necessary again to harvest early in 2002." Like numerous other Chablis domains at which winemaking techniques are evolving, Servin uses different combinations of cuve and barriques depending on the needs of each cru. For example, he says, the Preuses and Blanchot are more delicate and do not like oak (even though prior to 2002 the latter wine was done in small barrels). The 2002s had been racked and fined just before my visit.