The 2022 intake from Domaine Jean-Paul & Benoît Droin is our third at Radford Dale Imports. Whilst the wines of this Chablis domain are young to a South African audience, their influence in Chablis and reputation elsewhere in the world of wine is positively stellar.
They are one of the oldest names in Chablis, cultivating vines for approaching 400 years, whilst Benoît Droin represents the thirteenth generation. Like Charles Lachaux at Domaine Arnoux-Lachaux, or Benjamin Gras at Domaine Santa Duc, here is another case of a generational change taking things up a notch.
“Benoît Droin has really taken his domaine to new heights over the last decade... The bottom line is that his wines do the business, triumphing at various Burgfest blind tastings with such regularity that attendees almost laugh at the predictable outcome.” Neal Martin, Vinous
*Burgfest. An annual meetup in the coastal town of Southwold, England to look at a given vintage of Burgundy in bottle. Blind tasted. This extravagant tasting is attended by key trade figures and some of the foremost commentators on Burgundy.
Benoît Droin has achieved much of this sterling reputation in the face of a string of warm vintages in Burgundy over the last decade, a threat to the distinctive and steely Chardonnay’s for which the Chablis region is famed. He’s achieved this through attentive farming, picking early for tension, whilst favouring shorter elevage for fruit purity, and reducing the use of new oak and resulting weight favoured by his father. All these practices contribute to ensuring the Chablis here remains classical, brilliant and built around highlighting that fabled French concept of terroir. This is crucial to a domaine producing 17 expressions of Chardonnay here in Chablis.
We’ve curated five wines from Domaine Jean-Paul & Benoît Droin, all brilliant and which paint a picture of the diversity of Chablis. From Chablis to Grand Cru, from the left and right bank of the Serein river.
There’s a lot to like here. For purists of mineral laced Chablis, check out the Chablis, Chablis Premier Cru ‘Vaillons’, and Chablis Grand Cru ‘Vaudésir’. For those enjoying a richer Chablis, check out the Premier Cru ‘Fourchaume’, shaped like a Côte de Beaune, and stunning value relative, or the Chablis Grand Cru ‘Valmur’.
Chablis
Chablis is part of the Burgundy wine region. Whereas the Côte d’Or, Côte Chalonnaise and Mâconnais border on to one another in turn, Chablis sits isolated some 150km north and west of Beaune. At the very north of the region, it’s the coolest part of Burgundy. Like the Burgundy mainland, the soils are of Argilo-calcaire, a mixture of clay and limestone formed of the late Jurassic period. However, a point of difference in Chablis are the layers of marine fossils that have been compressed into the rocks.
The Chablis region is split by the Serein river, splitting vineyards to form a left and right-bank, a little like Bordeaux. The river creates a beautiful landscape, and over the years has carved out the topsoil to varying extents to expose the rocks along the valley.
As a rule of thumb, the left-bank yields wines of particular minerality and tension, whilst the wines of the right-bank show a greater degree of richness.
The left is home to 24 premier cru classified climats, with 16 on the right bank, totalling around 13% of the wines produced here. The 7 Grand Cru climats sit on one hillside to the right bank of the river, and represent just 1.5% of the wines produced in Chablis.
We won’t dive into Petit Chablis here, but the Chablis classified wines account for the wealth of production, around 65%. Pretty vast, and it’s important to understand the range of quality within the Chablis tier. Much of Chablis has been commercialised, with mass market success, but often over simplified wines missing the mark in expressing the character traits unique to the region.
Let’s take a look at the five wines available from Domaine Jean-Paul & Benoit Droin.
On the 2022 vintage:
Droin notes that “the 2022 vintage is fresher than 2020”, slightly cooler and without the heat spike of 2020 towards the end of July. This had resulted in a loss of 20% of the crop. For 2022, the nights were also cooler.
“I am a huge fan of these wines, whose strength is Benoît Droin’s assiduous use of used oak and stainless steel… in the 2022 vintage, where the summer heat erased a lot of nerve and tension, the wines somehow manage to retain those crucial elements, with an extremely consistent array of wines.” Neal Martin
Domaine Jean-Paul & Benoît Droin Chablis 2022 – R 705
This is a terrific introduction to the wines of Droin and the Chablis region. A variety of exposures and soils of varying bands of limestone with marine fossils contribute to this cuvée. The top vintages are generous and lively in youth, gaining in power and interest a decade on from release.
A fan favourite and about as good as village tier Chablis gets.
“.. a wine that offers fine quality for its level.” Allen Meadows, Burghound
“This is very capable and should age well in bottle.” Neal Martin, Vinous
Domaine Jean-Paul & Benoît Droin Chablis 1er Cru ‘Vaillons’ 2022 – R 1,039
The climat of ‘Vaillons’ is situated on the left-bank of the Serein, taking its name from the Latin meaning of ‘little valley’.
Vaillons is the ‘flag bearing’ climat; a little confusingly, a further 7 climates sit under its banner. These microclimates can feature on the label individually, whereas here Droin is producing an assemblage of 5 climats, namely ‘Epinottes’, ‘Roncières’, ‘Séchet’, ‘Chatains’ and ‘Beugnons’. This allows Droin to marry riper parcels of fruit, with those lending drive.
The marine fossils are particularly rich here, and the soil is thin. Droin notes the clay can become cloying and difficult to work in after rainfall. The valley is well sheltered from the winds coming in from the north, receiving plenty of morning sun.
This is class. One for the Chablis purists.
“The 2022 Chablis Vaillons 1er Cru has a complex bouquet with touches of white peach and a muscat-like scent, very focused and seductive. The palate conveys energy and vigour with citrus fruit and hints of orange zest towards the persistent finish. Superb.” Drink 2025 – 2037. 92-94*pts, Neal Martin, Vinous
*A range score indicates the wine was sampled from barrel rather than bottle.
Domaine Jean-Paul & Benoît Droin Chablis 1er Cru ‘Fourchaume’ 2022 – R 1,205
The ‘Fourchaume’ climat is situated to the north of the right-bank of the Serein, richer in style relative to the ‘Vaillons’, and more moderate in acidity. Benoît reckons this can look more like a white Burgundy than a Chablis, and he’s not wrong.
The climat is drenched in sun via a south to south-west exposure, with a deep covering of brown and reddish clay soils that help maintain good levels of moisture through the summer months.
A super seductive expression of Chablis.
Approximately 2,500 btls produced annually.
“The 2022 Chablis Fourchaume 1er Cru has a discrete nose that gradually reveals one of Droin’s more oral bouquets this year. The well-balanced palate has a slightly richer, nuttier opening and good depth, tensile with a subtle reduction on the persistent finish. Excellent.” 92-94pts, Neal Martin, Vinous
Domaine Jean-Paul & Benoît Droin Chablis Grand Cru ‘Valmur’ 2022 – R 1,975
‘Valmur’ is one of the seven climats of the Chablis Grand Cru designation, all located on a hillside on the right-bank of the Serein. Valmur is shaped like an amphitheatre, with most of the vineyard receiving a south and west exposure. At the very top, some of the vineyard faces North-West, making this site slightly cooler.
The wines of Valmur can effortlessly blend power, saline minerality and austerity – the hallmarks of top Chablis.
This is one of the most complex wines in the Droin line-up. Approximately 7,000 btls produced annually.
“This is also ripe but agreeably cool with its very fresh aromas of subtle wood toast, green fruit, just sliced citrus and oyster shell wisps. There is exceptionally good volume and richness to the more concentrated and markedly more powerful larger-bodied flavours that deliver excellent depth and persistence on the robust finale.” 92-94pts, Allen Meadows, Burghound
Domaine Jean-Paul & Benoît Droin Chablis Grand Cru ‘Vaudésir’ 2022 – R 1,975
The climat of ‘Vaudésir’ has light coloured soils, over clay and limestone subsoils, planted on a relatively steep slope. Again, the vineyards are in an amphitheatre like bowl, some with a south exposure and others with a cooler, north exposure, where the grapes ripen later. The orientation of vineyard here plays a massive role.
Droin combine the two, and regard this as their most elegant and delicate wine. The ‘yin’ to the Valmur’s ‘yang’.
Approximately 6,000 btls produced annually.
“The super-sleek and wonderfully refined medium weight flavors aren't particularly dense but they do offer a beguiling sense of energy that also suffuses the very dry, focused and highly persistent finale.” 93pts, Allen Meadows, Burghound
“The 2022 Chablis Vaudésir Grand Cru is very fragrant on the nose with white peach, white chocolate and hints of wet stone scents, like a Vaillons-plus.. Patience will be required, but there is no doubting the calibre of this Grand Cru.” Drink 2027-2040. 92-94pts, Neal Martin, Vinous
In summary, a wickedly individual set of Chablis, from a highly influential, artisan producer we regard as among the reference point today.
