Laroche Chablis 1er Cru Les Vaudevey 2023
£37.45
The wine
Pale lemon, an elegant expression of the cru, with lemon curd defining the nose.
Les Vaudevey is a premier cru on the left bank, north-west of the town, on a cooler and later-ripening slope than the right-bank crus. Chablis sits on Kimmeridgian limestone, a 150-million-year-old seabed packed with fossil oyster shells, which is the source of the flinty, saline character that separates it from every other Chardonnay. The appellation is heavily fragmented, so most producers work many small parcels rather than contiguous blocks.
The producer
Laroche
View all Laroche winesDomaine Laroche is one of the most respected names in Chablis, based in the Obédiencerie, a former monastery where wine has been made for over a thousand years. Its wines are benchmarks of Chablis purity and racy acidity.
Laroche's holdings are remarkable in this fragmented region, with 90 hectares of vines including 21 hectares of premier cru and six of grand cru. This gives the domaine unrivalled access to Chablis's finest slopes.
The range runs from fresh, precise village wines such as Saint Martin and Les Chanoines to premier cru bottlings like Les Vaudevey and the blended L'Essence des Climats. Each shows crystalline fruit, minerality and drive.
Despite its venerable heritage, Laroche is a dynamic, forward looking producer. Its wines are pure, precise and true to Chablis. This is white Burgundy from one of the region's great houses.
