Prices - All prices are quoted In Bond (excluding Duty & VAT) and are per case of 12 bottles unless otherwise stated

Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons

£145 add to basket 

Dry, delicate and racy with elegance and approachability. The sunnier exposition allows a stone fruit note and floral perfume to come through before giving way to a long steely finish finish which gives a very classic feel. Drink 2010-2015. - armit

Pale, cloudy yellow. Pineapple, lemon, minerals and a whiff of oak spice on the nose. Sweet on entry, then nicely concentrated and fairly rich in the middle, with good floral lift to its pineapple flavor. This harmonious, easygoing, tactile wine finishes with good citrus lift and grip, and suggestions of exotic fruit. At once fat and serious. – 89-91 points, Stephen Tanzer''s International Wine Cellar, Jul/Aug 09

(from 6 different climats that saw 15% of new and one year old wood). This is unusually fine for Vaillons with a lightly spiced nose of white flowers that is really quite elegant and the refinement continues onto the rich yet precise and lacy flavors that possess excellent intensity and even better depth on the extended and palate staining finish. This is one of the best examples of the vineyard in 2008. 2013+ - 91-93 points, Allen Meadows' Burghound Issue 36, October 2009

Chablis 1er cru Mont de Milieu

£175 add to basket 

A stylish wine with a floral, peachy bouquet and pure round flavours balanced with a refined minerality. From 50 year-old vines, this is a wine in which Benoît sees "Chablisien freshness with the fruit of a vin solaire". It will be  delicious for earlier drinking. Drink 2010-2015. - armit

Pale yellow. Pure, very ripe aromas of white peach, underripe pineapple and pear lifted by flowers; there's something Condrieu-like about this. Then rich, sweet and suave, with juicy, deceptively open fruit flavors perked up by a continuing floral element. Firms up nicely on the back, finishing with a saline quality and a distinct juiciness. From south-facing vines and in a very ripe style; the 20% oak component, all one- and two-year-old barrels, is barely apparent. – 89-92 points, Stephen Tanzer''s International Wine Cellar, Jul/Aug 09

A mildly exotic nose features ripe yellow orchard fruit and lychee nut aromas that slide gracefully into full-bodied and admirably rich flavors that possess a textured mouth feel and a powerful, delineated and strikingly long finish. This doesn’t possess quite as much overt Chablis character but it’s more complex. 2013+ - 91-93 points, Allen Meadows' Burghound Issue 36, October 2009

Chablis 1er cru Montée de Tonnerre

£175 add to basket 

Concentrated and powerful, with broad flavours. The most backward of the 1er crus but also the wine with the most volume too. Notes of green apple and white peach alongside iodine, gunflint, smoke, showing its mineral side. This is excellent, very distinctive and Grand Cru in quality. Drink 2012-2018. - armit

(20 to 25% of new, 1, 2 and 3 year old wood). The malo had just finished so the nose was, understandably, not as clean as it normally is though the intense, powerful and broad-scaled flavors possess superb intensity and impressive underlying material on the seriously persistent finish. This has grand cru power and weight if not quite the sheer depth of the following wines. 2014+ - 91-94 points, Allen Meadows' Burghound Issue 36, October 2009

Chablis Grand Cru Vaudésir

£285 add to basket 

A particularly fine Vaudésir which has a soft, graceful almost creamy texture,  framed with a lively minerality and mouthwatering acidity.  A persistent finish. Drink 2012-2020. - armit - armit

Pale yellow. Pineapple, lemon and a toasty note on the nose; more exotic and oily than the Blanchot. Fat, rich and sweet, with a silky texture but less tension and minerality than the Blanchot. This rather elegantly styled, easygoing wine tightens up a bit on the end, finishing with good lingering perfume. But I prefer the more taut Blanchot. This aged in 35% barriques, one-third of the barrels new. - 89-92 points, Stephen Tanzer''s International Wine Cellar, Jul/Aug 09

(from 30+ year old vines aged in 50% wood, some of which is new). Moderate wood influence sets off a spice-suffused nose of citrus, white flower and brioche hints that can also be detected on the big yet fine flavors brimming with wet stone notes on a persistent where the oyster shell and algae notes are very much in evidence. 2014+ - 92-94 points, Allen Meadows' Burghound Issue 36, October 2009

Chablis Grand Cru Valmur

£295 add to basket 

Spicy white peach bouquet with a wonderful density on the palate and a long mineral finish. Benoît uses a little more oak on this to frame the extra muscle of the Valmur. A wine to be patient with- Benoît compares this to his 2002 which is still awaiting the corkscrew. Drink 2014-2020+. - armit

Bright, pale yellow. Sexy aromas of lime, pineapple and flowers, with complementary oak spice. Big, tactile and rich, more saline and less obviously sweet than the Vaudesir. In a comparatively powerful, masculine style but less marked by its wood component (40% barriques, one-third new). The subtle, building finish leaves the mouth fresh. This is a blend of 55- and 8-year-old vines; there will be no old vines in the 2009 wine as these vines are being replanted, along with portions of Vaudesir and Clos-all at a very dense 10,000 vines per hectare. – 89-92 points, Stephen Tanzer''s International Wine Cellar, Jul/Aug 09

(from 50+ year old vines aged in 50% wood but only a “small” percentage was new). Here the wood treatment is a bit more discreet with a green fruit and intensely stony nose that also displays hints of iodine and oyster shell that continue onto the textured, dense and amply concentrated middle weight flavors that possess excellent delineation and so much sap that there is a chewy texture to the mouth coating, minerally and wonderfully long finish. 2014+ - 92-95 points, Allen Meadows' Burghound Issue 36, October 2009

Chablis Grand Cru Grenouilles

£325 add to basket 

The deeper soil in this great vineyard gives a more exuberant style.  Perfumed, almost tropical bouquet with exciting,  seductive, green apple flavours and a little spice too. A little more oak here but delicately integrated and well judged once more. This is already showing very well. Drink 2012-2020. - armit

Bright yellow. Very ripe aromas of lemon oil, spicy oak and honey. Fat, rich and enveloping, with an almost confectionery ripeness leavened by sound acidity. Stuffed with fruit, but this vin de plaisir is more for lovers of chardonnay fruit than for fans of minerality. Finishes spicy and firm. Droin notes that this large-scaled wine has very healthy acidity near five grams and a pH of 3.15. This got 50% oak, one-third of which was new barrels. - 90-93 points, Stephen Tanzer''s International Wine Cellar, Jul/Aug 09

(from 55+ year old vines aged in 60% wood). This is notably riper with white orchard fruit, orange peel and honey aromas that introduce rich, powerful and concentrated big-bodied flavors that are also textured to the point of chewiness on the long and driving finish. This is impressively broad but lacks the elegance and refinement of the best of these grands crus. 2014+ - 91-93 points, Allen Meadows' Burghound Issue 36, October 2009

Chablis Grand Cru Clos

£330 add to basket 

Refined and pure combining all the best qualities from this domaine but taking them up to highest level.  Classically mineral with gunflint and smoke aromas. The palate is grand and extraordinary with incredible concentration yet a delicate mineral finish which just keeps going.  The is the thoroughbred in the line up and built for the long term. Drink 2015-2020+. – armit

Pale, bright yellow. Steely aromas of underripe pineapple, white peach and oyster shell. Dense, tactile and distinctly sappy, showing much less inner-mouth sweetness but more precision than the Grenouilles. This also aged in 50% oak but is much less marked by the wood. The bright lime and mineral flavors are complemented by a smoky, flinty silex quality. A very firmly built wine and the longest of these 2008s, with lovely energy and lift to its finishing flavors of lime and crushed stone. - 91-94 points, Stephen Tanzer''s International Wine Cellar, Jul/Aug 09

(50% wood, approximately one-third of which was new). This is perhaps the most elegant of these grands crus with its white flower and mineral reduction aromas nuanced by oyster shell hints that continue onto the rich, powerful and minutely detailed middle weight flavors that are precise, lemony and beautifully balanced on the strikingly long finish. In a word, terrific. 2015+ - 92-95 points, Allen Meadows' Burghound Issue 36, October 2009

Terms and Conditions

Prices - All prices are quoted In Bond (excluding Duty & VAT) and are per case of 12 bottles unless otherwise stated.

Delivery - The majority of the 2008 wines offered will not be here until February 2010. On arrival, we can either:

• Store the wines for you in our cellars in Wiltshire. They would be stored Under Bond, which means that Duty and VAT would not be paid until you have them delivered.
• Deliver to you following payment of Duty (currently at £19.26/ case) and VAT (currently at 15%). Duty and VAT rates are subject to change by the Government.

Back to Chablis 2008 Home Page

“A very Chablisienne vintage, but with richness and no dilution.”
Benoît Droin

"Benoit Droin noted that: "I would compare 2008 to a blend of 2002 and 2007 as it has the roundness and fat of the former with the freshness and racy acidity of the latter. In fact, it’s interesting to note that the acidity in 2008 is about the same as it was in 2007 yet the wines do not at all taste the same because of the additional concentration in 2008. I think everyone will like the 2008s.” As I observed in Issue 32, the Droin ‘07s are among the best wines that I have ever seen from him and the in-bottle results are equally stunning. And, Droin has followed up with another very successful vintage as his ‘08s are not to be missed either." - Allen Meadows