Description
Guy Robin, Chablis 1er Cru “Montée de Tonnerre”
We have been singing the praises of Guy Robin for almost too many vintages to count now, and for good reason. No other estate in this famous white wine region has the same combination of very old vines, large swaths of top Premier and Grand Cru parcels, and a visionary talent at the helm, Marie-Ange Robin. Throw in the wide use of mostly neutral barrels, instead of stainless steel, and these wines become textural revelations that have only a couple of peers (yes, we’re looking at you Isabelle Raveneau). One of the estate’s best parcels is in “Montée de Tonnerre” or “Thunder Mountain,” and every vintage they produce a powerful, crackling good wine here. But the 2021 is something else entirely. This excellent, very old school vintage produced a Chablis that hits every note perfectly, and will continue to do so for many years to come. This is a showstopper White Burgundy for your holiday table, and yet it still barely breaks the $50 mark. Our advice? Grab as much as you can!
*Note: We also have very limited amounts of the iconic Grand Cru “Valmur” bottling from the same generationally great vintage of 2021. Pricing is also outrageously good ($79!), so if you act quickly you can grab what is almost certainly the best Grand Cru Value of the year, just click here.
Every year, we are the lucky beneficiaries of Guy Robin’s foresight: Back in the 1960s, he assembled a spectacular collection of vineyard plots in Chablis, including parcels in five Grand Crus and four Premier Crus. Later, he resisted the urge to replant those vineyards with higher-yielding clones of Chardonnay (as many others did), and now his daughter, Marie-Ange Robin, is blessed with perhaps the richest trove of old vines in the region. Furthermore, Guy Robin’s shrewd vineyard acquisitions also included significant stands of vines on their original rootstock!
Montée de Tonnerre is, in the minds of many experts, an “honorary” Grand Cru, i.e. as close as Premier Crus get to that top tier. The site shares similar expositions with Chablis’ famed cluster of Grand Crus, with Grand Cru “Blanchots” literally situated across a slender ravine. Montée de Tonnerre wraps around a hillside and is traditionally broken up into three smaller lieux-dits: “Pied d’Aloup” (at the top of the slope, facing east); “Chapelot” (more south-facing); and “Côte de Brechain” (the western slopes). Unsurprisingly, the Robins have 40-60-year-old vines in all three sections, and they blend this vinous trifecta together to offer a panoramic view.
All grapes are harvested by hand and whisked away to the cellar for a gentle pressing that’s followed by 24 hours of settling. The juice then spontaneously ferments and matures in French barrels, 10% new, for one year which always lends an extra textural gear. With 15-30 minutes in a decanter, this struts a powerful mineral core that stretches broadly and deeply alongside an energetic cast of plush fruit. But the real magic for Robin’s “Thunder Mountain” generally doesn’t start until around birthdays 3-5, and from there it keeps building. This 2021 is a generationally great vintage, and this stunning Premier Cru shows it off with aplomb. There is loads of beautiful, orchard-fruit-drenched texture on the mid-palate but the finish sizzles and dominates with crushed chalk, wet stone, and oyster shell. This is the type of crystalline, perfectly structured Chablis that’ll make someone a lifetime believer/follower. Enjoy!
