Chablis 1er Cru La Forest Dauvissat 2019

When you tackle the Premier Cru speech in Chablis, it rises dizzily. For the quality of the wines, which far from the Petit Chablis and Chablis villages thanks to the Kimmerriggiano soil (150 million years ago) on which they rest, but also for the complexity of the classification. In addition to a clear division between the right bank and the left bank of the Serein (the tributary of the Yonne river that cuts the village of Chablis in two), climat and lieu-dit intersect within the individual Premier Cru. Forest is part of the premier cru of Montmains, which extends for 118 hectares, bringing with it some different characteristics. More delayed harvests thanks to a fresh and breezy climate, and shallow marls that take on a brick red color, give the wine an absolute depth and an extremely expressive nose.

The Domaine Dauvissat has sold wine under its own label and remains one of the great traditionalists of Chablis. Since the torch was transmitted from generation to generation, here little has changed: the techniques are still classic and remarkably similar to those used by Raveneau.
The wines have become increasingly profound since Vincent Dauvissat joined his father, René, in the '70s. Vincent prefers natural farming, using sparingly the treatments for the vine, if at all. The fruit is harvested by hand and not de-stemmed; the fermentation takes place partly in steel tanks and partly in wood, and aging takes place in barrels for six to eight years. Dauvissat has always aged its wines in cask, believing that this allowed the wine to breathe during the élévage. As René Dauvissat said in 2002, "The oak is very important for Chablis. The synergy between air and wood adds character and also helps to soften the wine.Without the oak, Chablis would be too hard."