Daniel-Etienne Defaix Chablis Côte de Léchet de Lechet Premier Cru 2010

Daniel-Etienne Defaix's wines have been described as “Chablis to their core” – with a tradition of extremely long aging, organic farming, and natural fermentation setting him far apart from the region’s norm. His 2010 Côte de Léchet Premier Cru bottling – from a 5-star Chablis vintage, no less – is the blueprint for mineral precision, sourced from an incredibly steep site that ignites the perfect tension between yellow fruits, chalky mineral tones, and herbal expressions.

Daniel-Etienne Defaix comes from a family of Chablis strongholds – honing their craft in the region since the 17th century and standing as one of the oldest winegrowing families in Chablis. Long ago, it was the mainstream practice to age Chablis wines for extended periods, but today Danny is one of the only remaining producers to faithfully subscribe to that patient process for his wines. For this reason, he styles himself as “Le Dernier des Mohicans” – a dying remnant of the noble Chablis style. Today, the Defaix family owns 30 hectares of vineyards, mostly in Grand and Premier Cru vineyards, and amazingly, Danny selects only his top lots each vintage as cru-level, declassifying the rest as villages. His cru-level wines are bottled after 8 to 10 years in tanks, which helps initiate a natural settling that negates the need for filtering.

This lengthy, painstaking process is only one aspect that sets Danny apart, however – he also utilizes only naturally occurring yeasts, which is quite rare for Chablis. His fermentations typically last 3 to 6 weeks, with malolactic fermentation lasting about two years to finish in the cellar. He stirs the juice only over the first two years of aging, and very seldomly, to allow extended yeast autolysis to protect the wine’s color and generate a more prominent texture. All of this is a part of his magic and renown – catapulting his wines to the top of Chablis’s offerings and creating a reputation that cannot easily be replicated.

This 2010 Premier Cru is grown on a 3.5-hectare site with a 45% gradient and poor soils, allowing the 45-year-old vines to stress and stretch down deep to be able to survive and grow some of the most purely mineral juice in the region. Danny himself says this wine exudes “the real, true mineral expression of Chablis.” White peach and luscious pear aromas escape the glass foremost, with a crisp, vibrant, and pure body on the palate enmeshed in bountiful lemons, white flowers, fresh tarragon, and honeyed pear, plus accents of chalk, seashells, and a citrusy acidic backbone that holds it all together. The minerality is cuttingly apparent the whole way through – though not in a distracting way, but more so exuberant and electrifying. It’s beyond clear that this is a classic Chablis for the mightiest fans to enjoy now – plus room to age another several years if desired (and able to)! Shipping is included on 4+ bottles, and we found ourselves agreeing we wish we had WAY more of this to go around!

PAIRING IDEAS: This Chablis practically begs for briny fresh oysters on the shell with a lip-smacking mignonette.