2021 Chablis Les Clos Grand Cru

I remember seeing Vincent Dauvissat last year, visibly fatigued and stressed by the 2021 growing season. I half-wondered whether he would survive. The good news is that he did. “I started picking on 21 September,” he told me. “I did a late pruning [which would have mitigated against more frost damage.] It marks the first time that I have chaptalized since 2007, but not a lot. The acidity is slightly higher this year. The wines will be bottled this coming winter.” This was a solid set of wines from Dauvissat in 2021 where I feel that the challenges of the season skimmed away some of the élan one comes to expect from this address and as such, I rate his 2020s higher than his 2021s. Yet, Dauvissat’s is a very high bar and so despite everything, they continue to rank amongst the finest in Chablis, albeit wines that demand several years’ cellaring.