Sarah Marsh MW
Chablis Premier Cru Vau de Vey
A restrained, upright aroma to a straight, clipped, savory, and rather stony palate, somewhat austere, with spiky, lemon-pith bite. I like this leaner style from a warm vintage. It’s not especially intense, but it is stylish. 2025–29. | 85
Chablis Grand Cru Les Blanchots
This includes some fruit from younger vines (planted in 2013 and 2016), as the domaine is gradually replanting the vineyard. Fresh, pure, and vibrant. Airy volume and generosity, with a light, silvery thread of minerality running right through the palate, which carries to the elegant finish. 2027–35. | 90
DOMAINE LONG-DEPAQUIT Louis Gimonnet, originally from Champagne, has been making changes at Long-Depaquit. All 52ha (128 acres) are now managed organically (certified from 2024). Louis now presses at a lower pressure and has moved to using more 500-liter barrels.
Chablis Premier Cru Les Vaucoupins
From a 35–50-degree slope, with quite shallow topsoil and a massal selection planted in the 1950s and ’60s. Tiny, concentrated berries. It usually yields only 35hl/ha, but in 2023, just 25hl/ha. Ripe- citrus, lemon-curd aroma, with a touch of spice, but the palate, after a warm attack, is grippy, with an undertow of cold minerals. It gets very austere and stony on the finish. Really stylish. “The reductive minerality and gunflint you expect in Chablis. This is the cuvée of which I will have most in my own cellar,” says Louis. 2027–35+. | 90
Chablis Grand Cru Les Blanchots
A lemon aroma. Volume and generosity, rich and intense, but almost fluffy and airy. It wafts across the palate. It’s charming and approachable and sparkles. On the finish, the sliver of minerals is haunting. Delightful. 2027–36+. | 92–93
Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos Chablis Premier Cru Mont de Milieu
From three plots, about 60, 30, and 29 years old. Some 30% goes through 500-liter barrels, which you sense on the nose, but the oak is well-balanced on the palate. A more complete wine than the other grands crus from this domaine. Generous, layered, and intense. Complex. Breadth and intensity. 2029–40. | 94
Chablis Grand Cru La Moutonne (monopole)
La Moutonne is a 2.35ha (5.8-acre) plot, 95% in Vaudésir and 5% in Les Preuses, on the warm slope at the mouth of the Vaudésir valley. Quite exotic on the strike, this is concentrated and yet refined. Really focuses toward the end of the palate, where I like the vibrant minerality, which has a rich, miso- savory character. 2028–37. | 93
DOMAINE LOUIS MICHEL Guillaume Gicqueau-Michel was certain he would delay bottling—the premiers and grands crus until June 2025 at the earliest. All the wines
Exotic floral aroma. Rich orange blossom on the strike. More elegant and fresher than I expected. Threaded with silvery minerals, this has lively energy and a silky texture. Maybe the best I tasted in 2023. 2027–36+. | 90
Chablis Premier Cru Montée de Tonnerre
From a parcel toward the top of the vineyard. Lime zest and thyme flower on the nose. A hint of silex. Straight and channeled, this vigorous wine has steely minerality. 2027–38. | 90
Chablis Premier Cru Vaucoupin
From three parcels, two more than 65 years old. 30% older oak. A hot limestone aroma: a juxtaposition of ripeness and savory coolness, even on the nose. Salty and straight. Crisply edged. Slightly severe. Tension and bite, and the finish is austere and persistent. Like sucking on stone. Love it. 2027–35+. | 89–90
This has lovely freshness and layering. A rather discreet Clos. Pure, intense, compact, and persistent. Really focused. Even a touch austere. Very good indeed. | 94
Chablis Grand Cru Vaudésir
The most elegant Vaudésir I tasted in 2022 and again in 2023—it has such charm. So silky and refined. Glides on the palate. Shimmies into a light, soft salt finish. 2027–35+. | 93
J MOREAU & FILS I was impressed with the wines at J Moreau: high-quality, with distinctive terroir identity. For the premier and grand cru Chablis, winemaker Lucie Depuydt always works with the same parcels. She was not afraid of lower acidity in 2023 and waited for what she regards as full ripeness, as she has a particular dislike of pyrazines. She favors long lees- aging, 16–18 months, and 2023 is no exception.
have the same vinification—in stainless steel, with spontaneous fermentation, temperature- controlled—so it is a good domaine at which to see the terroir expression. No oak for aging.
Chablis Premier Cru Butteaux
A 50-year-old massal selection for this fatter, richer wine, with its brioche aroma. Good concentration, with the structure to carry it. Colder stone to finish. It has some grip. Very good indeed. 2026–35. | 88-89
Chablis Premier Cru Butteaux Vieilles Vignes
A massal selection, planted in 1955. Aniseed notes, deeper and toastier and darker. More exotic on the palate than the main cuvée which, for the moment, I prefer. Super-rich and viscous. When I tasted, it was still very vintage-dominated. This needs time, though, and will be bottled much later, with the grands crus. 2027–37. | 88
Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos
Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses
Golden on the aroma and on the succulent palate; smooth and gliding, this stretches and purrs into a lovely, long finish. Sweet and chalky. Very good typicité. 2027–38. | 94
Chablis Grand Cru Valmur
A savory, bay-leaf note. Punchy and intense on the nose. Very compact and layered, with muscular density and slatey minerality. It tastes cold and powerful. Reserved and layered. A really good example. 2028–40. | 93
DOMAINE FRANÇOIS RAVENEAU Isabelle Raveneau said of 2023, “The last vintage like this was 2018. We didn’t take the last part of the press, because the pH was high, and we had enough juice. Moreover, to keep up with the pickers, the pressing had to be quite short, as we have only one press. The Petit Chablis and the Chablis go in 500-liter demi-muids. All the other wines pass through barriques, which have to be renewed, which means about 6% new in 2023. Lower acidity than in 2022, but not soft. The same profile as 2011 and 2018—not very concentrated, but joyful.”
Chablis Premier Cru Butteaux
The most sapid of the wines from the Montmains hillside. Perched on the hilltop, the climat is steep. A cool microclimate and shallow soil make it quite mineral, especially from 55-year-old vines. It has some reserve and austerity and is slightly snappy. There is a cold richness and density. Savory tension on the finish. Chilly-chalky sapidity and minerality. I do like this. 2027–85+. | 90
Chablis Premier Cru Montée de Tonnerre
Because the holding is large—across nine parcels in Chaplelot and Pied d’Aloup—and because there are vines of different ages, this is the most consistent climat. Concentrated and rich, compact and dense. Has plenty of punch and vigor. Ripe, with a note of greengage and spice, but focuses to a straight, persistent, and channeled finish. The best Montée de Tonnerre I tasted in 2023. 2028–38. | 91–92
Chablis Grand Cru Blanchots
From an east-facing parcel, right at the top, next to Clos, with the most venerable vines of the domaine (90 years old). The 2023 is super-juicy up-front, tight and cold breezy behind. There is breadth and dimension—for Blanchots—but it also has sparkling, shivery tension and minerality to finish. A sprinkle of soft salt at the end. A delightful wine. 2028–40. | 94
Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos
From four plots on the slope, quite narrow and long. For now, it is densely layered and battened down, but even more sophisticated than the Valmur. Excellent persistence. 2028–40. | 94
Chablis Grand Cru Valmur
From a parcel where there is no sun until 10am, but by midday, the sun is strong, though it cools
THE WORLD OF FINE WINE | ISSUE 87 | 2025 | 179
LAYING DOWN: 2023 BURGUNDY: CHABLIS
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