Jean-Paul et Benôit Droin Grand Cru ‘Valmur’ 2021

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

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Back in the early naughties, we were hoovering Chablis from the early 1970’s. When the Tsunami hit, wheelbarrows of Grand & 1er Cru’s were arriving from the auction houses at around $14 a bottle. By the time it receded, after everyone else had caught on, they were up at around $40 a bottle and still a bargain. Purity, complexity, amazing texture, lovely lines of acid were the hallmarks of these incredible wines. Testut et Fréres Grenouille featured! Such a great vineyard.

People often cite Domaines Raveneau and Vincent Dauvissat as the two greatest exponents of Chablis, however, I would like to add a third – Domaine Jean-Paul & Benoît Droin. Over the last five or six years, Benoît Droin has really ratcheted up the quality. I cannot exaggerate how often Droin’s wines end up the best of the flight during the annual “Burgfest” blind tastings. Again and again, they shine against stiff competition. It is time to accept that Droin is now one of the leading producers in Chablis. Neal Martin

The Droin family has been collecting small holdings in all the top premier and grand cru Chablis vineyards since 1620.  Over the last 400 years they have played an important role in shaping Chablis’ wine production and local politics throughout their existence. Jean-Paul was one of the first to introduce oak aging to the region in the 1980s, a transformative innovation. In 1999 Benoît, Jean-Paul’s son, took over as winemaker and the domaine has since flourished. His meticulous vineyard management with severely restricted yields and careful élevage of the individual cuvees afford the attention to detail required for greatness.  Benoît’s artistry in the winery and careful stewardship of their outstanding collection of small vineyards has long ago elevated the family domaine to the very top of the Chablis tree. The Droin style is one of purity and transparency, coupled with powerful concentration and deep minerality.

The 2021 Vintage at Droin

From Vinous:

“For me, 2021 is near a classic vintage,” Benoît Droin explained as we toured the vats in his spotlessly-clean winery. “It was an awful vintage in the beginning due to the frost when we lost around 50% of the crop, mostly Petit Chablis and Chablis [Village]. Nowadays we don’t have normal frosts. In 2021 some Premier and Grand Crus were not affected. Afterwards the season was normal but everything was delayed. There was a good quantity of rain, that I think helped with the yield. It was difficult with mildew pressure but not too bad, and I was happy to have the water. We started picking on 19 September when the cold nights helped with the freshness. It’s a long time since I’ve seen these levels of malic, 4-5g/L. That’s more Chablis style. Everything is picked by machine but some parcels I crop by hand, but it depends on the plot. For me, it is not a problem. Yields were 27 to 28hL/ha but they were 35hL/ha for Grand Crus. In Petit Chablis it was just 12 hL/ha. All wines are finished and will be bottled in two months. Everything bottled under Diam since 2011.”

Chablis Geology & Geography Explored

Detailed Map of Chablis

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