2011 Chablis Clos des Hospices

The entirely barrel-matured Moreau 2011 Chablis Les Clos des Hospices features bittersweet floral perfume over a base of lime and Rainier cherry, laced with salt and chalk. Substantial and – as is typical of this bottling – somewhat opaque in palate impression, it brings notes of lanolin and vanilla along with persistence of liquid floral perfume and mineral impingement to a sustained finish, if one lacking quite the clarity, energy, or refreshment exhibited by certain of the best wines in the present collection. I would look to follow this through 2018. Christian and Fabien Moreau – for more about whose evolution consult inter alia my reports on their 2008s in issues 179, 186 and 191 – are now confidently in command of their medium and style, managing to derive richness and structure from contact with lees and oak for the most part without sacrificing the mineral dimension or refreshing primary juiciness nor the sense of clarity for which Chablis at its striking best is known. Among the success factors at what has already become one of the poster children for a new Chablis quality-consciousness are a distinctively different assortment of barrels and tonneliers as well as a tendency to permit an increased share of the wines’ elevages to take place in tank. But vineyard work – now organic – is almost certainly also playing an important role in the Moreau’s success story, and their notably successful 2011s perfectly illustrate Fabien Moreau’s own assessment that “apropos the level of tension exhibited in our wines, our pH levels have been dropping the last couple of years.” The Moreaus waited until late September to commence picking in 2012, and by the time selectivity and this team’s rigorous viticultural regimen was added to the vicissitudes of the vintage, yields were way down, in extreme cases (notably Blanchots) by well more than half vis-a-vis 2011 and long-term norms. They intend to bottle both Vaillons cuvees, as usual, ahead of the next harvest, but not until September given that 2013 will be late, and the grand crus, as usual, in January. Importer: Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700