Description
Guy Robin, Chablis Grand Cru, “Valmur”
The Robin family has deep roots in Chablis, as we have detailed in many previous offers. Namesake Guy Robin assembled most of the family’s holdings back in the 1960s, and these included significant stands of ‘pre-phylloxera’ vines—i.e., vineyards that were not destroyed during the phylloxera epidemic of the late-1800s. Although the phylloxera ‘louse’—an aphid that destroys the roots of vines—devastated the European wine industry (forcing vignerons to graft vines onto phylloxera-resistant American rootstocks), it spared pockets of vines here and there; amazingly, some 80% of Robin’s modern-day vines are on their “own,” pre-phylloxera rootstock. Guy Robin never re-planted them (as so many Chablisiennes did) to higher-yielding clones. Today his daughter, Marie-Ange Robin, is blessed with arguably the richest trove of old vines in the region. Since taking the reins of the family estate in the early 2000s, the Robin wines have skyrocketed in quality.
Robin’s 2019 “Valmur” is sourced from vines planted in the 1960s on the pure Kimmeridgian limestone of the slope. It was fermented with only indigenous yeasts in oak barrels, of which 10% were new, and aged just under a year in the same mix of barrels. In the glass, it is a glistening yellow-gold with hints of green at the rim, with powerful aromas of yellow apple, salted lemon, acacia blossom, fresh cream, white mushroom, and crushed stones.
