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 as Well 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
2020 Chavy-Chouet St. Aubin 1er Cru "Les Dents des Murgers des Chien"
- The Best Vineyard in St. Aubin - Across from Champs Gain
- A Burgundy Insider Wine
- Nose: Screamingly Mineral, Lemon Candy, Seashells Rocks
- Palate: Elegant and Intense, Concentrated and So Lithe
- Citrus/Green Apple Explosion
- 93 Points Vinous, Neal Martin (He’s Very Stingy, So This is 95/96 From Anybody Else)
- 36 Bottles!
2020 Chavy-Chouet Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes"
- Nose: Coiled Richness and Classic Meursault Nuttiness
- A "Wall of Flavor" Wine: Stunning Fruit and Density but the Acid Balance to Go Toe to Toe with It, Huge Minerality
- Incredible Texture
- The Palate Impact Is Incredible
- Remarkable Meursault Power but Great Restraint and Finesse
- A Stunning Bottle of Burgundy
- 93 Points Vinous, Neal Martin (He’s Very Stingy, So This is 95/96 From Anybody Else)
- 48 Bottles!
How do you get to Carnegie Hall?
Practice, practice, practice."
The Evolution into Excellence
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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 values. 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.
Many of my winemakers have the end game in mind when they start making wine. And for some, even the elite ones, it takes a few years to master their craft to produce the results that they want. With Romaric I think it was more about him evolving his style slightly. His ability to achieve his vision was never at question. The guy works hard and has always been top tier in the vineyard.
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 around $145 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.
Which brings me to today's email. I always have to sell this wine amongst the first whites because Romaric sells out of it almost instantly. There's a reason. Today I'm thrilled to offer the 2018 Chavy-Chouet St. Aubin 1er Cru "Les Dents des Murgers des Chien" for $77.99 a bottle on a 3-pack. I finally got an allocation in '15 and my allocation now goes up every year. Well it went down in 19 to zero as he had almost none and now back to 36 in 2020. I hope most of you are sipping on some delicious Fass Selections wines by a hot tub or on a heated patio safely away from people and enjoying a lovely early winter pre Xmas afternoon/evening and checking your email. This vineyard. Let me tell you about this vineyard. This is one of those "insider" Burgundy wines. It's an insider wine because it is St. Aubin, but it is across from Chevalier Montrachet and is directly next to Champs Gain in Puligny Montrachet. That is some exalted terroir. It is, for me, the best vineyard in St. Aubin. Because St. Aubin has only recently become prominent, this vineyard is not necessarily well known as St. Aubin's best. The 2014 was the best example of St. Aubin I've ever had. The 2020 tasted out of barrel is maybe even better. 2020 is a genius vintage at Chavy-Chouet. The St. Aubin in 2020 is a must not miss wine. This is the brightest wine from the vintage according for Romaric Chavy. It shows the purity, tension and richness of the vintage to a T.
The wine is screamingly mineral: a rock quarry on the nose. It is staggeringly pure with lemon candy, seashells and more and more rocks. Stunningly detailed. Just a wow nose.
Palate is elegant and intense, concentrated and so lithe. Amazingly juicy and mineral with such grip and length. Magical. The palate is a citrus/green apple explosion that has so much flavor density and detail in each drop. It blows my mind every time I taste as the class of the terroir is immediately evident. It covers and gets to every nook and cranny of your mouth with almost Grand Cru grip and intensity. The intensity of this wine cannot be believed. It can and will age for 15+ years but I think it will drink well young. The '14 drank well young but this I think needs more time. This is as profound as his greatest Puligny and Meursault 1er Crus and is one of the biggest insider sleeper wines in Burgundy. It got 93 Points from Neal Martin. Review is below.
"The 2020 Saint-Aubin Les Murgers des Dents de Chiens 1er Cru has a pretty bouquet that opens with orange blossom, red apples, a touch of melted wax and jasmine, all beautifully defined. The palate is very poised on the entry, the 25% new oak lending a little weight and depth, hints of orange zest, apricot and quince towards the finish. Give this 2-4 years for the oak to assimilate - it’s a great Saint-Aubin.." - 93 Point, Neal Martin Vinous
Next up is the 2020 Chavy-Chouet Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" for $94.99 a bottle on a 3-pack. For me, this is really what Meursault is all about, but in a Fassy way. It's a Wall of Flavor wine. It is super elite in 2020. Romaric said about the 2020 Charmes, "It is a monster of power and energy. Incredible volume and purity. 50% Austrian Oak."
The nose has that coiled richness along with classic Meursault nuttiness. Really deep and intense but complex at the same time in a sort of a maelstrom kind of way. It has loads of baking spices, green apple skins, huge clear minerality, like smelling fresh air, gorgeous hint of florals, zero sense of woods unreal purity on this nose. Just world class, super elite and profound. And only better with air. A cornucopia of complexity after 8-9 hours of air.
The palate has powerful Meursault fruit. And it is incredibly dense - that's the Chavy style. And it is dialed up in 2020. But the fruit is restrained, almost coiled to allow the finesse to shine though. This wine really shows what the Chavy style is - the fruit is massive and dense but the acidic balance is also massive and dense so the wine is powerful, yet balanced and not at all monolithic. It's that Chavy unobtrusive purity and clarity which takes another step forward in 2020. He is young and getting better with every vintage. The wine is incredibly juicy as great Charmes can be but combines that with lovely complexity, minerality and ripeness as well as real depth of flavor. Zero sense of wood, unreal purity on this, palate is superbly complex, linear with great energy and a sappy intense mineral driven structure. Such a lean Charmes! Love it. That opulence and richness one can get from Charmes is there but man is this chiseled. Gorgeous. Insane complexity already. Chewy and structured and gets richer with air but the chisel stays as is. Another terrific wine from a great site. Romaric is doing incredible work here from terrific vineyards. This, for $94.99 in THIS vintage might be the best elite Meursault 1er value I will ever offer. This is VERY LIMITED. Obviously, this is a bigger wine (it's Meursault, after all) but it does not go over the top and wallow in its power like some Meursaults can. It's absolutely chiseled and elegant while being prodigious and powerful.
It got 93 Points from Neal Martin. Review is below.
"The 2020 Meursault Les Charmes 1er Cru perhaps does not deliver quite the same mineralité or energy as the Les Genevrieres on the nose, maybe a little timid at the moment. The palate is well balanced with a sapid entry, quite saline with hints of oyster shells and fruits de mer towards its composed and persistent finish. Very fine." 93 Points Vinous, Neal Martin
2020 Chavy-Chouet St. Aubin 1er Cru "Les Dents des Murgers des Chien" - $79.99 ($233.97 3-Pack)
2020 Chavy-Chouet Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" - $96.99 ($284.97 3-Pack)
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