Description
Remoissenet, Chablis Grand Cru “Blanchot”
As we’ve noted countless times before, Remoissenet Père & Fils is a historic landmark in the Burgundy “hub” town of Beaune, known for its labyrinth of caves snaking beneath the cobblestone streets. But Beaune is merely base camp for this itinerant négociant house, which has left no stone unturned in its search for the greatest—and most sustainably farmed—raw material for its expansive range of wines. So, while you might immediately associate Remoissenet with Meursault and Chassagne-Montrachet and the like, Chablis is by no means off-limits, and they do it exceptionally well.
Today’s luminous 2020 from Chablis’ most unique Grand Cru, “Blanchot,” is a brilliant testament to Remoissenet’s ever-rising star. This is chiseled, radiant Burgundian Chardonnay with a finish that seems to go on forever—exactly the kind of blue-chip white you need to light up a holiday table this year and, if you so choose, 10 years from now. And, characteristic of Chablis, it is Grand Cru prestige and precision at a reasonable price. Having nudged our way to the front of the Remoissenet line over the last few years, we managed to snare some of the few bottles produced—take up to six today until the well runs dry!
Our point man at Remoissenet is the absurdly knowledgeable and well-connected Pierre-Antoine Rovani, who, before becoming Remoissenet’s estate manager, covered Burgundy for Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate. He’s part of a Burgundy dream team that also includes winemaker Claudie Jobard, who continues to display the deftest of touches in the cellar: she does a remarkable job of letting her many far-flung vineyard sources speak for themselves.
The considerable resources of a revived Remoissenet have been poured disproportionately into vineyards—in addition to acquiring a host of carefully selected parcels for themselves, they’ve also deepened their relationships with talented vine-growers throughout Burgundy, treating them as true partners rather than just “suppliers.” Whether it’s an estate or a contract vineyard, the Remoissenet team is implementing biodynamic farming practices across the board, and paying out bonuses for purchased fruit based on quality, not quantity.
Tasting their sleek rendition of Grand Cru Blanchot is like watching basketball phenom Luka Doncic juggle a soccer ball—it’s amazing, but also not surprising. Blanchot is the southern-most of the Chablis Grand Crus, covering about 13 hectares on a steep slope that faces southeast, not southwest like all the others. This orientation mostly shields the vines from more intense afternoon sunshine, so the conventional wisdom on the wines from here is that they are more taut and linear than those of their neighbors. While it is undoubtedly fresh, bright, and crystalline, there’s also plenty of punch in Remoissenet’s rendition: Jobard ferments and ages their Grand Cru wines in 342-liter French oak barrels, about half of which are new, so don’t expect a tooth-rattling, cheese-rindy style of Chablis here—this is a nicely polished gem.
In the glass, it’s a shimmering yellow-gold moving to green highlights at the rim, with perfumed aromas of white peach, green and yellow apple, lemon blossom, yogurt, chopped almonds, white flowers, and rain-soaked stones. Medium-plus in body, with good concentration on the mid-palate, it pulses with the kind of energy and tension Chablis is famous for (think polished rock rather than cut stone). It is delicious to drink now, especially if you decant it 30 minutes before serving, but its Grand Cru pedigree shines through—feel free to lay one down for 10 years or more and it will deliver. As for a pairing, we reached back into a previous offer of a Remoissenet Puligny-Montrachet for a Burgundy-friendly recipe from Le Bernadin’s Eric Ripert. For a white of this magnitude, you need to break out the big guns!
