Domaine Bernard Defaix Chablis 1er Cru Cote de Lechet 2022 750ml

Perfectly exposed to the southeast, Jasper Morris MW describes an archetypal wine from Lechet, pictured above, as “Entirely white fruited in style …not dissimilar to Beauroy, but with more intensity”, while Andrew Jefford suggested the hill gifts “some of the most 'mineral' Chablis of all”. In 2022, you get the best of all these, even if there is an extra dollop of fruit sweetness compared to a classical vintage. Taking advantage of the vineyard’s intensity and to build complexity, Didier Defaix ferments a quarter of this wine in old, neutral barrels which previously housed Defaix’s old-vine Reserve Lechet bottling. It’s a fleshy and seamless Cote de Lechet with oodles of mixed citrus, briny drive and impressive tension between waves of fruit and the vibrant, chalky freshness that this site always delivers in spades. Doggone delicious and a bargain in the scheme of things.