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Kirjeldus

Chablis veinipiirkonnas on kokku umbes 100 hektarit Grand Cru viinamarjaaedu, Les Clos Grand Cru on nendest suurim, mis hõlmab 26 hektarit. Domaine Louis Michel omab sellest vaid 0,5 hektarit, aed asub keskmisel kõrgusel, puud kasvavad väga järsul lõunapoolsel nõlvakul ning puud saavad külluslikult päikesepaistet. Kasvatatakse 100% Chardonnay viinamarju, aedade pinnas on väga unikaalne, koosnedes Kimmeridgian lubjakivist, mis on erakordselt rikas kivistunud merikarpide setete poolest, pinnases on hea tasakaal lubjakivi ja savi proportsioonis. Veiniaia vanus on rohkem kui 50 aastat, puud on istutatud 1968. aastal.

Viinamarjad korjatakse käsitsi ja pressitakse väga aeglaselt ja ettevaatlikult. Veinivirret kääritatakse temperatuurikontrolliga roostevabast terasest mahutites, käärimine kestab väga kaua ja kasutatakse ainult looduslikku pärmi, malolaktiline käärimine toimub 100% ulatuses ja toimub iseenesest. Veini ei hoita tammevaadis, pärast malolaktilise käärimise lõppemist seisab vein 18 kuud terasest tankides koos käärimissettega. Veini valmimisprotsessi sekkutakse äärmisel vajadusel. Veini settest eemaldamiseks kasutatakse bentoniiti ja seda vaid äärmisel vajadusel, veini pudelisse villimisel viiakse läbi üks õrn filtreerimine.

Komplekssne ja jõuline vein, mille unikaalsuse avastasid juba Pontigny mungad. Oma nooruses on vein karge ja maskuliine, aroomis tuleb esile mineraalsus ja värsked tsitrusviljad, lisaks valge pipar ja mukaatpähkel. Maitses delikaatne kollaste lillede nüanss, õrn pähklisus, küllusliku happesusega, värske vürtsikus. Väga kompleksne vein, mis vajab aega, et täielikult avaneda ja näidata oma maitse – ja aroomipotentsiaali, saavutab oma joomisküpsuse kuskil 10 aastat vanuselt, küpsemispotentsiaal 20 – 25 aastat, suurepärane pinnase ja terroir väljendus.

Toitudest sobib mitmesuguste mereandidega, värskete austritega, koorikloomadest hautisega, küpsetatud homaari või kuningkrabiga, rasvasest kalast roogadega nagu heik võikastmes või lõhe oliividega, küpsetatud hanelihaga, röstitud metslinnulihaga, Aasia stiilis vürtsika pardiga, küpsetatud vürtsikas-magus-hapu sealihaga. Serveerida temperatuuril 12 – 14 kraadi.

“Clean, fresh, driven and with great purity, this balances soft, ripe peach fruit, a dash of lemon/lime zest and a saline character on the very long finish. Super concentrated, elegant and precise, this restrained, less showy, Les Clos will be exceptional in 5-10 years. Louis Michel’s plot lies in the western part of Les Clos, halfway up the slope on blue clay soils.” Decanter 96 points

“Pale lemon colour. The bouquet is the most backward to date, but with a measure of steel which promises well. Very good tension, pure and clean white fruit with grand cru grip, and fine length, especially for the vintage. One to look out for. Powerful in a compact style! Drink from 2027-2035.” Jasper Morris 95 points

“The 2021 les Clos was a touch reductive at the time of my visit, but as it was due for a racking in preparation for bottling in the early spring, this was certainly not a concern. With some coaxing, the wine offers up a lovely nose of lemon, sweet grapefruit, green apple, a complex base of chalky minerality, white flowers and a topnote of beeswax. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, focused and rock solid at the core, with lovely purity and minerality, zesty acids, beautiful focus and a long, complex and soil-driven finish of lovely balance and grip. This too is going to be outstanding. 2027-2060+.” John Gilman 93-95 points

“The 2021 Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos is one of the richer, more muscular wines of the vintage. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of sweet orchard fruit, white flowers, clear honey, toasted nuts and youthful reduction, it’s full-bodied, satiny and seamless, with a layered core, bright acids and a long, saline finish. Guillaume Michel presides over this important 22-hectare estate, which has long been the reference for tank-fermented and -matured Chablis, a style that the Michel family did much to popularize in the 1980s. Intense and tensile wines are the calling card here, pure and unadorned in style and consistently high in quality. Indeed, as I’ve written before, I sometimes think that Louis Michel is the most underrated of Chablis’s larger domaines. The big news at this address is a very welcome shift to Diam closures—with the exception of the Vaulorent that was bottled earlier for reasons explained in the accompanying notes—which should guarantee these wines’ graceful evolution in bottle. For this first year, Michel retained his usual 30 parts per million of free sulfites at bottling, which lends the wines a somewhat reductive profile out of the gates; but it isn’t overdone and I suspect that many readers, like me, will actually appreciate this quality. Those that don’t may want to consider a brief decant.” Wine Advocate 94 points