New Burgundy Agencies - A Duo from Chablis
With unabating interest in Burgundy wines, we worked hard to search for producers from the region that align with our values. Over the coming months, we will be introducing a few exciting new additions to our portfolio. First up is a duo from Chablis, one espousing a minimal intervention style winemaking while showcasing less heralded terroir in the region, and another producing classically styled and consistent Chablis that has been flying under the radar.
Please read through till the end of this article for details of our introductory offer.
Caroline and Clement Lavallee
Domaine Clément Lavallée
“One of my most exciting discoveries in Chablis and the Auxerrois was fledgling Domaine Clément Lavallée… What I tasted on this first visit indicates that Lavallée hit the ground running with his very first vintage. Textural but incisive, pure and penetrating, I was immensely impressed by these young wines—from pungently mineral Chablis, to perfumed and intense reds, to Saint-Bris that's more Auxerrois than it is Sauvignon, everything here comes warmly recommended”
- William Kelley, robertparker.com
An exciting new producer in Northern Burgundy, Clément Lavallée produces Chablis wines in a minimal intervention style. Born into a family of Chablis winemaker, Clément had stints at various estates, including Armand Heitz in the Cote de Nuit, Domaine Chapoutier in Rhone, and Chateau Margaux in Bordeaux before returning to the family estate in 2018.
He soon realised he wanted to do things differently, starting his own Domaine in 2019, initially with 1.6 hectares in Chablis, but amassing a total of 14 hectares of vineyards following his father’s retirement in 2021. These are now managed together with his sister Caroline under the Domaine Clément Lavallée label.
No chemical or insecticides are used in the vineyard since Clément took over, and the Domaine is working towards organic certification. The wines undergo natural fermentation with indigenous yeast, with no sulphur used during pressing. Gravity flow winemaking is adopted to retain more nuances in the wines, with wines aged in mostly old oak with lees contact to get the right balance between acidity and texture. Prior to bottling, the wines are sometimes fine, and sometimes filtered, but never both.
Charly Nicolle and Lucie Thieblemont
Domaine Charly Nicolle
A young and dynamic winemaker, Charly hails from a winemaking family in Chablis. He started his own domaine in 2001, gradually expanding as he inherited vineyards from his parents. Together with his wife Lucie Thieblemont, they now farm about 13 hectares, with holdings in the Premier Crus of Les Forneaux and Mont de Milieu, as well as parcels in Petit Chablis and AOC Chablis.
The wines here are classical Chablis in style, vibrant but with increasing intensity as we move from the Village to Premier Crus. Charly’s winemaking skills were recognised by being awarded the Young Talents Trophy in the Chablis category in 2019 (GJPV Bourgogne Tropée Jeunes Talents) following a blind tasting by 70 wine industry professionals.
The wines are mostly aged in stainless steel, but with 10-25% aged in a mix of 400ml to 500ml barrels that are from new to 4 years old. Oak ageing is limited to a maximum of 25% for the Premier Crus to preserve Chablis typicity and prevent the wines from being too rich in texture. The wines are aged for a minimum of 1 year, always with fine lees to add texture and complexity, with Premier Crus seeing additional 2 to 4 months of ageing depending on the vintage.
Introductory Offer
🔥 15% off all wines by these 2 producers, from now until February 13 (Tue), both online and in-store 🔥