France - Burgundy - Chablis and Auxerre
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Chardonnay
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Domaine Pinson
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2007
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White
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Dry
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Medium Full Bodied
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Smoked Fish/Chicken/Shellfish/Cheese/Vegetarian
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Best laid down
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Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos
Ref: A014507
A grand Cru Chablis is the very pinnacle of great Chablis and Les Clos is recognised as being one of the best grand cru sites. Pinson holds the largest single plot in Les Clos. Just as the 1er Crus are one step up from the Chablis Villages so this wine is up several notches again. With Pinson's Les Clos you get richness of fruit without too much fatness. Laurent is not looking to disguise the inherent concetration and ripeness in his wines by exposing them to too much oak. Oak is there but in a supporting role where it provides a framework in which to display the essence which is the wine.
Established in the early 17th Century, this 10 hectare estate is one of the most ‘senior’ estates in Chablis, both in terms of its reputation and the sheer quality of its wines.
The Pinson brothers’ grandfather, Louis, established the estate’s pedigree in the late 1940’s and became one of the first growers to bottle and sell their own wine.Laurent runs the wine-making side and the cellars whilst his brother, Christophe, is in charge of the 10 hectares of vineyards. Laurent and his wife, Corinne are both fanatical supporters of Auxerre FC whilst Christophe is more introverted and spends his free time walking. Both brothers are immensely proud of what they do and are passionate about their numerous different terroirs. This is a domaine that concentrates on very low yields, believes wholeheartedly in authentic Chablis, is one of the few that still picks their entire vineyard area by hand and manages to achieve one of the purest, most highly defined style of wines. It was nigh on impossible just to hone down our Premier Cru choice to Mont de Milieu but it was easy to select the stunning Grand Cru les Clos.
The vineyards are sensibly replanted, giving an average age of vines a little over 30 years old, whilst tight pruning ensures carefully maintained yields. All the grapes are manually picked and vinification is traditional, with the initial fermentation of all the wines taking place in stainless steel vats and then the Premiers and Grands Crus are transferred to a range of new, and not so new, oak barrels for ageing. This process allows the wines to have a wonderful purity and intensity of fruit - they are not dominated by oak which comes from barrel-fermented Chablis and a richness which is so often lacking in the wines from this region.
These are world-class wines which benefit a sensible amount of ageing before being released. They are ripe and fruit-driven with dominant white fruit characteristics.
£31.81
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