Chablis at its most chiselled and vibrant. Drawn from old vines in Chapelot, the prized southeastern slope of Montée de Tonnerre. This 2023 Premier Cru carries the hallmark energy of one of Chablis’ most celebrated terroirs. Long considered the shadow sibling of the Grands Crus, Montée de Tonnerre produces Chardonnay with both mineral drive and layered complexity, and this release shows it in spades.
The fruit comes from a trusted grower with whom the Defaix family has worked for two decades, farmed in the same low-intervention, organic-leaning style as their estate vines. Fermented with native yeasts entirely in seasoned barrels (one to five years old), the wine spends 12 months in oak before a further six in stainless steel to tighten and refine. The result is mouth-coating and zesty, with a saline snap that speaks of limestone and sea breeze.
It’s a bottling that wears its Premier Cru pedigree without ostentation. Tonic, precise, and already complete, yet capable of unwinding beautifully over the next decade.
Chablis at its most chiselled and vibrant. Drawn from old vines in Chapelot, the prized southeastern slope of Montée de Tonnerre. This 2023 Premier Cru carries the hallmark energy of one of Chablis’ most celebrated terroirs. Long considered the shadow sibling of the Grands Crus, Montée de Tonnerre produces Chardonnay with both mineral drive and layered complexity, and this release shows it in spades.
The fruit comes from a trusted grower with whom the Defaix family has worked for two decades, farmed in the same low-intervention, organic-leaning style as their estate vines. Fermented with native yeasts entirely in seasoned barrels (one to five years old), the wine spends 12 months in oak before a further six in stainless steel to tighten and refine. The result is mouth-coating and zesty, with a saline snap that speaks of limestone and sea breeze.
It’s a bottling that wears its Premier Cru pedigree without ostentation. Tonic, precise, and already complete, yet capable of unwinding beautifully over the next decade.