Fabien Dauvissat's Best Wine - Pico Production, Allocated, "The Dead Man" - Stunning

Jean Dauvissat Pere & Fils Chablis 1er Cru "l'Homme Mort"

Only 48 Bottles
 - Only Produced in Certain Years
 - Very Similar Soil Structure and Exposition as the Grand Crus
 - A Whoah Wine: Insanely Juicy and Dense 
 - A Cult Chablis - Only 2nd Offer Ever
 - Just Ridiculous Sap and Huge Mineral Extract
 - Deep and Incredibly Fruity
 - 91 Points Neal Martin (Vinous) (2016)

I know I've surely recounted in my missives the first time I encountered the wines of Fabien Dauvissat. Before I dig into that. This is only going to the previous Dauvissat Chablis buyers on the list as I only have 48 bottles. I was dealing with my 2018 allocations and he gave me 48 bottles of today's wine for which I am eternally grateful.

The Night I Ate at Au Fil du Zinc and Discovered Fabien Dauvissat 
This is the first wine of Fabien's that I tasted at the brilliant restaurant in Chablis called Au Fil du Zinc. It was the end of the night and I was feeling it. We drank two bottles of Raveneau Clos and Valmur (2010s) and a bottle of a rare Irancy. Most people had vacated the restaurant and I asked the owner/sommelier what was the best new talent in Chablis and please open that bottle and bring it to my table and he brought me the 2012 Jean Dauvissat Chablis 1er Cru l'Homme Mort which is a special subsection of Vaillons. More on that later. The wine was epic and blew my mind and I was toasted on Raveneau Grand Cru.

I saw him at 8:30 AM the next morning and the rest is history. He's a star, you all love him and

everyone is happy. But one thing always has been nagging me at the back of my mind that no one knows except me. I've never sold the wine that the sommelier turned me onto. It's not made every year and it's very very small production.

It is his most expensive and rarest wine and he has given me, finally, 48 bottles of the 2018 Jean Dauvissat Pere & Fils Chablis 1er Cru "l'Homme Mort" for $39.99 a bottle on a 3-pack. This will likely be allocated.  So the story goes, and I know this because I've carried this vineyard in the past from another producer is that a geologist has confirmed this sub section has a very similar soil structure and exposition to the Grand Crus. The name comes from when the vines were originally planted there was a body there of an English Soldier from the Hundred Years War. This is even a level above his epic Fourchaume.

Big nose of wet earth and minerals. Saline. Super aromatic and most nuanced nose of any Dauvissat wine I've ever smelled. Layers of just beauty. So much salt. Pink salt. Sea salt. What a nose. Just stunning. You will not believe this. It is telling another thing as well. This is going to be a big Chablis. And indeed it is. Insanely juicy and dense with just ridiculous sap and huge mineral extract. It's a whoah wine. Opulent and chiseled. Epically long and structured and just plain ridiculous. A line of salt is from the moment you smell it to the last taste on your palate. Remarkable. So deep and incredibly fruity as well but young Fabien wines are about a mineral force, but then with age the fruit becomes more present. Sick stuff. Here is Neal Martin's 91 Point Review below.

"The 2016 Chablis Homme Mort 1er Cru has a lovely orange pith, citrus lemon, Morello cherry scented bouquet that wafts temptingly from the glass. The palate is well defined with deft use of new oak to lend this Chablis roundness, almost creaminess in texture. The acidity is well judged and it feels effervescent and utterly seductive on the finish. No, it does not convey the austere classicism of Chablis, but it is bloody delicious. This is the best cuvée that I tasted from the Domaine in 2016. Tasted blind at the BIVB Chablis tasting." 91 Points, Neal Martin, Vinous

2018 Jean Dauvissat Pere & Fils Chablis 1er Cru 'L'Homme Mort" - $41.99 ($119.97 3-pack) (VERY LIMITED/ALLOCATED) 

(*Including Tariff of $4.26)