It was a bottle of Louis Michel that first convinced me that Chablis can be great. His Grand Crus are entities of intensity. This is lovely bottle.
[image image_id=”2353″]Chablis Premier Cru Vaillons 2005, Louis Michel
This has a very steely nose with plenty of nuttiness, it is really pure and focused. The minerality is really pleasing. The fruit on the nose is strangely peary, which is really quite attractive. No oak here, this is pure, unadulterated Chablis action, and very pleasing that is too. The palate is really light and refined, but not short of concentration. It has good lemony fruit and and excellent minerality to it. This is a totally refreshing, stylish little number that completely charms. It bursts with vivacity. The minerality shows strongly on the finish which is really quite long. This is providing really quite a lot of pleasure to drink now but it has the depth of character and balance to age into something even more beautiful. Louis Michel makes excellent wines (and this is certainly one of them) that don’t cost the earth. Well worth looking out for.