The aristocrat! From 35-year-old vines grown in Kimmeridgian limestone and clay soil, on the right bank of the Serein River with western exposure.
With respect to the 2020 vintage, Piuze commented that it was "another hot and dry growing season where the trick was to preserve the acidity. As such, we chose to begin picking very early, which is to say on the 22nd of August. This date was between 90 to 95 days after the middle of the flowering, depending on the sector in question. The harvest conditions were, consistent with the growing season in general, also hot and dry so we picked as quickly as we could.
PRE-ARRIVAL WINE.
An elegant, pure, and quite an airy nose freely reveals its combination of white flowers, the essence of poached pear, anise, mineral reduction, and shellfish. The delicious and more refined if less powerful flavours possess a Zen-like sense of harmony on the mineral-driven, balanced, and beautifully long finale. This will need to develop more depth with time in bottle but that is one of the strong points of a fine Preuses - it almost always develops well.
The 2020 Chablis Les Preuses Grand Cru is a little more expressive and delineated on the nose compared to the Les Clos at this stage, offering yellow plums mixed with light spicy scents and a touch of smoke. The palate is well-balanced, wonderfully defined, and powerful, but much more elegant than the Les Clos, with a gorgeous apricot-tinged finish and a peppery aftertaste. Superb.