Domaine Guillaume Vrignaud
It gives me great pleasure bringing you today’s wine from Domaine Guillaume Vrignaud . This is my sweet spot… amazing wines that are off the beaten path, aka the expensive path. Wines that little press or cacophonous clouds swirling about. Just you, your pocketbook and your palette…leave your ego at the door!
If you taste enough and develop confidence in your own palate …you will come across some bangers like this, that are not expensive.
As for Guillaume Vrignnaud …. last October, one of my importer friends popped in with a new Chablis producer he was really excited about. If you haven’t noticed, those of us in the wine biz love challenging each other and he insisted I taste it blind, with no back story.
The citrus leaning nose with hints of white flower and sea breeze left little doubt that I was in Chablis. Alone, the nervous energy the wine displayed was a nice compliment to the lush, expansive mid palate the wine offered in the mouth. It's one of those wines that when you swallow, the finish sneaks up on you and makes you tingle. I looked up and could only smile and compliment my colleague on a very nice discovery. “I don’t know what Chablis this is, but I’ll take whatever you want to sell me” I said.
Funny, not two days later I received a text with a photo from a client to whom I’d recommended Chablis Winenot , and he sent me this photo asking if I knew these wines! "BIG LOL 🤣🤣” I texted back, “I just bought everything the importer had!”
I only know a little thus far, but apparently the winemaker Guillaume returned to the family Domaine in the late 1990’s, having convinced his father to step away from the co-op and start bottling their own wine. This became a reality with the 1999 vintage. Next to stepping away from the co-op, organic farming was probably the second biggest change for which Guillaume was responsible, along with the use of indigenous yeast for the fermentation. Most of the cuvees are aged on lees in stainless steel for approximately 12 months with some lees stirring to add some fullness to the wines.
These are two beautiful, text book Chablis - well worth your attention!
Vins Rare Notes: This is the wine that really sold me on the producer. Citrus leaning nose with hints of lime and lemon zest - you can feel the richness and depth on the palate marked by a streak of minerality. There is such energy and lift on the finish. It's one of those wines that absolutely explodes after you swallow leaving you with that lip smacking acidity.
The 1.23 hectare 1er Cru ‘Côtes de Fontenay’ single vineyard is situated to the north of Chablis above the Ru de Fontenay stream, a tributary connecting the village of Fontenay-prés-Chablis to the Serein river. Such was the fame of Côte de Fontenay in the 16th century that it was known as 'La Grande Côte'. The vineyards here benefit from an ideal south-facing aspect and are planted on Kimmeridgian limestone soils. The vines are over 60 years old and yield exceptionally concentrated grapes.
