Domaine Bernard Defaix Cote De Lechet 1er Cru Reserve Chablis 2023

“Smelling of yellow plum tart, lemon oil and toasted hazelnuts, this has a delightfully rounded, viscous texture. There is a pleasant, amaro-like bitterness on the lengthy finish. The fruit from these 50-plus-year-old vines sees 50% oak, and Didier is using more and more 500 L barrels, even on the Côte de Léchet cuvées.” 94 points, Christy Canterbury MW, Tim Atkin Burgundy Report

Diam. Defaix also bottles this selection from a single hectare of almost 70-year-old vines on the mid-slope. The idea is to showcase the old vines’ ability to produce a more layered, hedonistic, seductive wine than the standard Côte de Léchet cuvée. Half the wine matures in tank, the other half in wood—mainly 228-litre used Burgundian pièces from Jaeger-Defaix in Rully.