Daniel-Etienne Defaix - Chablis 1er Cru 'Côte de Léchet' 2013

Daniel-Etienne Defaix's commitment to extraordinarily long aging, organic farming, and natural fermentations puts him well outside the region's mainstream, but his deeply expressive late-released wines are Chablis to their core.

In generations past, long aging in Chablis was more the rule than the exception, but today Danny is virtually alone in that practice. The Defaix family-one of the oldest winegrowing families in the region-owns thirty hectares of vines, the vast majority of which are in premier and grand cru vineyards, but Danny designates only his best lots each vintage as cru-level, declassifying the remainder as villages. Astonishingly, he bottles these cru-level wines only after eight to ten years of aging in tanks, therein undergoing a slow natural settling which prevents the need for filtration.

Long aging, however, is not the only way in which Defaix distinguishes himself. He relies exclusively on naturally occurring yeasts-a rare practice in Chablis-and his fermentations routinely last between three and six weeks (inoculating gets it done in four-to-six days), with malolactic fermentation sometimes requiring two years to finish in his frigid cellar. He favors extraordinarily long lees contact, but employs stirringonly for the first two years, and then only seldom; this extended period of yeast autolysis guards a wine's color and promotes a generosity of texture, according to Danny. Furthermore, it takes a significant amount of time for the lees to settle, and Defaix relies on patience rather than fining or filtration-two practices which are par for the course in the region.

In fascinating contrast to “Vaillon”, Defaix’s “Côte de Lechet” is a master class in mineral precision. This remarkably steep site (a 45% gradient) with very poor soil produces a wine that Danny describes as embodying “the real, true mineral expression of Chablis.” Freshly blasted chalk dominates the nose, with notes of lemon, honey, and fresh herbs lurking underneath; still, this is a wine of minerality first and foremost. The family owns a 3.5-hectare parcel of 45-year-old vines in this distinctive cru, most of which are planted within a parcel known as the Clos des Moines.

Producer: Daniel-Etienne Defaix 

Country: France

Region: Burgundy

Varietal: Chardonnay

Appellation: Chablis 1er Cru

Vintage: 2013

Size: 750m