Chavy-Chouet's Wines Are Now Priced in the Elite Tier at Standard Retail ($100+)
- He's Still Young and Getting Even Better
- The Distinct Chavy Style Combines Density, Fruit, Minerality and Acidic Balance to Keep Freshness
- 2 Wines from the Terrific 2020 Vintage
- I Still Buy Them Direct and They Are Great Values for the Quality
The Style
- Among the Most Delicious Whites in Burgundy
- Tremendous Fruit Concentration and Intensity
- Brilliantly Mineral and Balanced With Top Notch Finesse
- Romaric is Using Less and Less Oak
- So Saline Now
- Top 20 Producer of Whites in Burgundy
- The Wines Should Be Much More Expensive
- 2016 Was The "Breakthrough" Vintage/Everything Since Then Is Elite and 2020 is a Clone of 2019
2020 Chavy-Chouet Puligny Montrachet "Les Enseigneres"
- Lieu-Dit Royalty (Like Tessons/Meix Chaveaux/Tillets in Meursault)
- Nose: Simply Lovely
- Rich Hazelnuts, Apple, White Peaches
- Lemon, Lemon Zest
- Palate: So Elegant
- So Mineral
- A Hint of Peach, Some Lemon Pith
- Perfect Balance
- Almost Impossibly Elegant Given the Density
- The Signature of Enseigneres is The Racy Minerality
- Easily 1er Cru in Quality Here
2020 Chavy-Chouet Meursault Narvaux
- Nose: Glorious
- Scents of Lime Orchard, Apple Blossoms, Mint and Citrus
- Palate: Huge Chavy Concentration, Orchard Fruits, Nuts
- Really Explodes on the Palate
- Creamy and Powerful
- A Ridiculous Value for Top Notch White Burgundy
- Chavy-Chout Power, Balance and Concentration at a Discount
- Shimmering and Bright
"Some are born great,
Some achieve greatness,
And some have greatness thrust upon them."
Malvolio, Twelfth Night
Twelfth Night and The Achievement of Greatness
who is an official in the house of Olivia. He makes the mistake of chastising the mistress of the household, Maria, who decides to get her revenge on him. She forges a letter to him from Olivia that dupes Malvolio into thinking that that Olivia loves him. After much humor, Malvolio ends up in prison.
The famous line quoted above is stated by the pompous Malvolio while reading the fake letter.
Chavy Chouet's Achievement of Greatness
Romaric Chavy's evolution has been particularly fascinating. When I started to sell his wines in 13/14/15, they were very good but on the bold side for my portfolio. He's always had great terroir and gets the most out of it. But there was definitely some residual wood on the wines when they were young (it integrated within 2-3 years). The wines were incredible value. And there definitely was a very clear house style. But I would not have said that they were in the elite. They were close but they lacked a certain finesse.
Romaric has worked very hard to improve and get that last bit of quality to become an elite winemaker. He's always tasting other producers and talking to them and sharing ideas. I always see Raphael Coche in his Instagram stories. He basically put himself through a Master Class in becoming elite; and it's paid off. His wines are up with the best in Burgundy.
His prices have been increasing about 20% per year. His top 2020 wines will cost well over $100 at retail in the States putting him with some pretty impressive company. And you know what? He deserves it. He's got great terroir, works his tail off in the vineyards and is very smart and knows when to harvest and how to make wine. So kudos to him. So grab them while you can afford them. Prices for these wines (barring a Euro collapse) are only going one way.
In 2020 he has dialed back the oak even more and the salinity of the wines is just off the wall.
The 2020 Vintage
His 20s are just electric and have that acid and mineral spine that all white Burgundy lovers crave. But they also have gorgeous dramatic fruit and according to Romaric, more freshness and acidity than his 18s. It’s a clone of 2019 and is exactly the same climatically. They anticipated harvest early and managed to capture the acidity that white Burgundy lovers crave. Romaric says it's his best vintage and his evolution as a winemaker is so damn impressive. The 20s here are remarkable. The contrast between freshness and the beautiful fruit of the vintage along with that salinity and purity is awe inspiring. The wines are the purest Romaric has made yet with unreal energy. These wines are so engaging and sadly they are allocated in 2020. I have strict allocations of all the wines. Today I'm offering the two lieu dits I have the most of as I want as many people to get the wines but also I will see who gets offered the 1er Cru’s which I have many allocations of only 24-36 bottles sadly. So if you want 1er Cru 2020 Chavy Chouet then you need to buy some wines today. And his Lieu Dits in my opinion are at same quality level of many of his 1er Crus.
The Wines
Up first is the 2020 Chavy-Chouet Puligny-Montrachet “Les Enseigneres, for $69.99 a bottle on a 3-pack. This is the first Chavy Chouet offer without tariffs in a while! Yay! Enseigneres, made famous by Coche Dury, is one of my favorite sites in all of Puligny. Adjacent to the Grand Cru Bienvenue-Batard-Montrachet and also below Batard Montrachet this wine combines the intensity and power you get from a Grand Cru with classic Puligny character of flowers, toasted hazelnuts, iodine/saline and top notch finesse. It is an insane value at $69.99. Coche Dury's is prohibitively expensive. The quality delta between the two is really not huge. Just a stunning wine. This is easily 1er Cru in quality here.
The nose just announces itself with rich hazelnuts, spice, lemon, apple, white peaches and also exceedingly mineral and almost smells like a breeze. Also a lanolin-like quality. Quite complex with terrific aromatic depth. So pure and expressive. Superbly mineral. With authority. Hickory, light smoke, green apple skins as well. Some wet earth notes as it warms up. Lovely, clean and super pure aromas. Awesome nose. Like a baby Batard.
Palate is classic Chavy, with incredible balance between richness and super rocky minerality with off the wall energy. Reminds me of river stones in a babbling brook that is extra because of severe winds. Impressive texture, balance and terrific purity. The inner mouth aromas are so clear and vivid. It's so elegant yet substantial. Structured, dense, juicy and explosive. So long and pure. Brilliant wine. Will age for a decade at least. This is super pure and has fresh fruit with terrific thrust and depth. Great classic Chavy-Chouet acidity. Mouthwatering. Great structure as well which suggests a nice window for aging. One needs to pay much more for Puligny of this character. This is an easy wine to fall for, especially in the juicy, clean, fine-grained and nervy style that 2020 is shaping up to be at Chavy-Chouet.
Up next I've got a terrific wine from Chavy-Chouet that I have not sold since the 2013 vintage and the 2017/2018 vintage. I cannot sell every wine every vintage but the 2020 Chavy-Chouet Meursault Narvaux is a knockout. It can be had for $69.99 a bottle on a 3-pack. This is incredible terroir and is situated right next to Genevrieres and Poruzots, two famous and expensive 1er Crus. It's elevation is slightly lower than the famous high acid and high mineral "Les Tillets" of which Roulot's is the benchmark. I love Narvaux and this is an extraordinary one and compares to the PYCM version that goes for anywhere between $80-$125. This is a significantly better value. It's not close. This drinks wonderfully young and doesn't have all that new PYCM wood.
The nose is glorious with scents of lime orchard, apple blossoms, mint and citrus. Lots of complex nuttiness as well. So unique and so Narvaux.
It is dazzlingly pure and full of complexity on the palate with loads of orchard fruits but also creamy and powerful with on point acidity and such clarity. The gains in the precision of Romaric's wines since we started in 13 to now in 16/17/18 is the most remarkable part of his evolution. The palate on this wine is so refined and so concentrated and just explodes on your palate. This is really spectacular for the money. Stunning. Below is the 91 Point Neal Martin Score from Vinous for 2019.
"The 2019 Meursault Les Narvaux comes from 70- to 75-year-old vines. It has a little more richness on the nose compared to the Les Vireuils, offering touches of yellow flowers and honeysuckle, and demonstrating more intensity and chutzpah. The palate is well balanced and finely tuned, with a slightly waxy texture and impressive salinity that gets the saliva flowing after the wax has departed." - 91 Points, Vinous, Neal Martin (2019)
2020 Chavy-Chouet Puligny-Montrachet “Les Enseigneres" - $71.99
($209.97 3-Pack)
2020 Chavy-Chouet Meursault "Narvaux" - $71.99
($209.97 3-Pack)
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