Varietal
100% Chardonnay.
Tasting notes
Powerful bouquet of peaches and bergamote underlined by grilled almonds flavors.
Full of fruits in the mouth, this premier cru is a generous wine offering intense notes of ripe yellow fruits and a fresh finale with a hint of minerality, very specific of the appellation.
Food and wine pairing
Perfect with oysters, seafood or fish, as well as grilled meats.
Serving suggestions
Serve ideally at around 14°C / 57°F.
Ageing potential
Already very pleasant, it will express its full potential up to 4 to 6 years after its vintage.
Origin
The 27 hectares of Vaucoupin’s vines are located on the right bank of the Serein river in the commune of Chichée.
As for the history, the name Vaucoupin could refer to the structure of the vineyard itself. It could mean that the valley used to covered with woods that were cut at a time or shared between several different owners. It might also refer a former owner, named Coupin.
Our cuvée comes from grapes harvested on very old vines with roots burrowing deeply into the stony, clay and limestone soils.
Vinification and maturing
The grapes were brought to the winery and pressed delicately in a pneumatic press.
The must was then cooled down and left to settle, in order to get rid of the roughest lees. The alcoholic fermentation was lead in temperature-controled stainless steel vats at a temperature between 18° and 20°C (64°-68°F) in order to keep as much fruit as possible in the wine. The malolactic fermentation was completed in order to mellow its aromas and get less acidity.
Then, the wine was aged on its lees for about 12 months with regular pumping over. A small part of the wine (15%) was aged in oak barrels, all of them having already received 1 or 2 vintages to age, so that the oak will leave a discreet imprint on the wine.
Vintage : 2018
Winter was particularly mild and the vine cycle began, once again, very early with consequently inflorescence. And this earliness did not stop all season long.
Spring was very wet and rainy but no frost this year! However some localized hailstorms caused damages in some villages of the Chablis area.
Then the climatic conditions significantly changed with a very dry late spring and summer that have led to fears of a new small harvest while keeping the cryptogamic diseases risks away.
The very high temperatures in August have resulted in falling down the acidity in the grapes and have hastened the harvest beginning. Furthermore the long dry and hot summer allowed us to minimize the necessary treatments against vine sicknesses.
September finally dispelled any doubts offering one of the best vintages in Chablis for almost 20 years. Mother Nature offered us a real gift after two difficult years in the region’s vineyards.
The extremely early harvest finally offered quantity thanks to some rainfalls by the end of August. The first grapes were cut (for the Crémants) by the 25th of August and the last Chablis were harvested on September, the 21st.
70% of the volumes were in the wineries around the 10th of September, offering clean, flawless juices with body, fruit and nice acidity.