2011 Chablis Vaillons Cuvee Guy Moreau

Moreau’s 2011 Chablis Vaillons Guy Moreau (from the core or Ur-Vaillons vineyard and vines Fabien Moreau’s grandfather planted in the 1930s) is raised initially in second, third and fourth-use barriques. Heliotrope and ginger on the nose segue into notes from barrel, while scents of yellow plum and grapefruit presage a succulently fruity impression on the expansive palate. Although stimulatingly-tinged with salt, the finish here lacks the clarity, complexity, verve or refreshment to be garnered from the corresponding “regular” bottling, leaving me to wonder whether the barrel elevage employed here will really lead, as the wine matures in bottle, to virtues the outweigh those lacks. I’d follow this through 2017 to find out. 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