2017 Domaine Raoul Gautherin White Burgundy

Fruit forward wine, round and rich, aromatic. A crisp and mineral expression of the Chablis terroir mixed with hints of spices and mild cream notes.

Adrien Gautherin at Domaine Raoul Gautherin in Chablis is the eighth generation in his family to make wine. For the past decade he has been working together with his father, taking care of their 16.5 hectare estate.
‘To me Chablis is a wine made in tank, with the lees. It’s a wine with minerality, some citrus notes and freshness. A good Chablis is a wine you can drink all though dinner without your palate becoming tired and telling you it’s enough.
Most of the domaine’s vineyards are close to Chablis. There is the whole range of Chablis at the domaine, from Petit Chablis, via village Chablis and premier crus, up to grand crus. Adrien Gautherin’s input has mainly been in the vineyards.
When it comes to winemaking the family philosophy is to keep it simple. We don’t make wines which could be considered technological. We are not making the same wine every year. Each year we reevaluate and modify the vinification process, we adapt it to the vintage. All things have to be taken into account. Weather conditions, diseases, maturity of the grapes, the balance between acidity and sugar, etc.
All parcels are vinified separately, he explains. Most of them are around Chablis, but we also have some vines in Chemilly-sur-Serein. When we do the first racking we blend everything and put it back in small tanks.
For the standard cuvée Adrien Gautherin blends grapes from both young vines – around 20 years old – and old vines – between 30 and 45 years old.
When you vinify old and young vines separately you can really taste the difference. Blending is sinteresting because you get the body and the roundness of the old vines and the freshness and the energy of the young vines. Bottling them separately doesn’t always create the best results.’