Chablis is always a fun one, and as time goes by and the world continues to warm up, we’re getting more and more vintages that allow for long term aging. While it may not be truly “long term” the amount of age on this bottle would be considered waiting waaay too long in the not to distant past.
Louis Michel is one of those producers who are better than most, but still kind of fly under the radar. Another similar producer would be William Fevre, although these days it seems they’ve made it firmly in the spotlight. Louis Michel always has great pricepoints and is one of the few producers these days that doesn’t use any oak. The wines will get spontaneous native yeast fermentation, spontaneous malolactic, and any aging takes place in stainless steel tanks.
**2014 Domaine Louis Michel Chablis Grand Cru Grenouilles, Chablis**- On the Grand Cru hill in Chablis, Grenouilles represents an area at the bottom of the hill below Vaudesir and right next to Valmur. The vast majority of this smallest of climats on the Grand Cru hill is owned by La Chablisienne Cooperative including the entire lower slope, so other producers mostly own plots on the upper plateau area where they get lots of sun and develop into bigger, more sunkissed wines.
This bottle saw 18-20 months of aging, and the subsequent time in the bottle, culminating in a fantastic chardonnay.
On the nose you’re first greeted by yellow apple and lemon curd, which is followed by wet rocks, yellow plum skins, peach, and white flowers. It’s very interesting to see how the nose changes as the wine warms up in the glass and continues to evolve with exposure to oxygen.
On the palate, the acidity is incredibly bright and crisp, exactly what you’d want from a Chablis. Ripe, tart apple is first, with lemon juice and starfruit not far behind. One note I found a little unusual since I don’t normally get it in chardonnay was underripe kiwi. Underripe pineapple also makes an appearance, with sourdough bread and a lovely salinity making up the finish.
Louis Michel is one of those producers that just consistently delivers and doesn’t seem to price their bottles like they’re trying to get rich quick which means you can count on a great bottle at a great price year in and year out.
GrilledCheeseTn
Another killer review. This wine sounds heavenly, I will need to seek it out.
2 Comments
Chablis is always a fun one, and as time goes by and the world continues to warm up, we’re getting more and more vintages that allow for long term aging. While it may not be truly “long term” the amount of age on this bottle would be considered waiting waaay too long in the not to distant past.
Louis Michel is one of those producers who are better than most, but still kind of fly under the radar. Another similar producer would be William Fevre, although these days it seems they’ve made it firmly in the spotlight. Louis Michel always has great pricepoints and is one of the few producers these days that doesn’t use any oak. The wines will get spontaneous native yeast fermentation, spontaneous malolactic, and any aging takes place in stainless steel tanks.
**2014 Domaine Louis Michel Chablis Grand Cru Grenouilles, Chablis**- On the Grand Cru hill in Chablis, Grenouilles represents an area at the bottom of the hill below Vaudesir and right next to Valmur. The vast majority of this smallest of climats on the Grand Cru hill is owned by La Chablisienne Cooperative including the entire lower slope, so other producers mostly own plots on the upper plateau area where they get lots of sun and develop into bigger, more sunkissed wines.
This bottle saw 18-20 months of aging, and the subsequent time in the bottle, culminating in a fantastic chardonnay.
On the nose you’re first greeted by yellow apple and lemon curd, which is followed by wet rocks, yellow plum skins, peach, and white flowers. It’s very interesting to see how the nose changes as the wine warms up in the glass and continues to evolve with exposure to oxygen.
On the palate, the acidity is incredibly bright and crisp, exactly what you’d want from a Chablis. Ripe, tart apple is first, with lemon juice and starfruit not far behind. One note I found a little unusual since I don’t normally get it in chardonnay was underripe kiwi. Underripe pineapple also makes an appearance, with sourdough bread and a lovely salinity making up the finish.
Louis Michel is one of those producers that just consistently delivers and doesn’t seem to price their bottles like they’re trying to get rich quick which means you can count on a great bottle at a great price year in and year out.
Another killer review. This wine sounds heavenly, I will need to seek it out.