La Chablisienne : Chablis 1er cru "Mont de Milieu" 2019

Tasting notes and serving suggestions for La Chablisienne’s Chablis Premier Cru "Mont de Milieu" 2019

Tasting

Color

The wine displays a pale golden-yellow hue with silvery highlights, with remarkable clarity.

Nose

The bouquet initially shows restraint, revealing elegant, lightly grilled and toasty notes. With aeration, brighter aromas emerge: white-fleshed fruits such as peach and pear, hints of citrus, and floral nuances reminiscent of acacia. Notes of lemon curd and exotic fruits such as pineapple also appear, along with toasted hazelnuts. Mineral character gradually asserts itself, with impressions of gunflint, flint, and chalk—hallmarks of the Kimmeridgian terroir. A few touches of citrus-zest bitterness complete this complex aromatic profile.

Palate

The attack stands out for its remarkable freshness and a tartaric vibrancy suggesting minimal or no malolactic conversion. The palate delivers striking fruit purity led by peach and lemon curd, supported by mineral impressions of white stone. The texture shows fine breadth despite a moderate alcohol level of around 13%, the result of twelve months of aging split between stainless-steel tanks and traditional oak barrels. Contact with fine lees brings a subtle textural richness that balances the freshness. The finish is long and persistent, moving from the initial fruity notes toward increasingly mineral and chalky sensations, concluding with impressions of flint, gunflint, and a saline minerality that underscores the expression of the terroir. Oak remains discreet, expressed as a light toasty note without overshadowing the fruit or minerality.

Food and wine pairings

This Chablis Premier Cru "Mont de Milieu" 2019 pairs beautifully with delicate sauced preparations of fine fish, notably turbot, sole, or monkfish meunière-style. Seafood and shellfish make classic matches: raw oysters, baked clams, or scallops with butter. Poultry in a cream sauce, veal with cream, and white-wine-poached ham are also excellent pairings. This wine also harmonizes with vegetable dishes such as a green-vegetable risotto or wild mushrooms. Lastly, Burgundian cheeses and aged local goat cheeses offer lovely complementary pairings.

Serving and cellaring

It is recommended to serve this Chablis Premier Cru "Mont de Milieu" 2019 at a temperature between 12 and 14°C. This vintage can be enjoyed through around 2028, although its aging potential extends beyond this period thanks to its extract concentration and acidic balance, which will allow for prolonged bottle evolution.

A mineral and expressive Chablis Premier Cru

The estate

Founded on May 1, 1923 at the instigation of Abbé Balitrand, La Chablisienne is one of the most important wine cooperatives in Burgundy. Today bringing together around 250 winegrowing families across approximately 1,200 hectares, it controls nearly 23% of the Chablis appellation area. Led by Damien Leclerc since 2008, the cooperative has undergone a remarkable transformation, growing from €35 million in revenue in 2004 to €62 million in 2024. Under the winemaking direction of Estelle Roy—appointed in 2023 and the first woman from Chablis to receive the International Wine Challenge’s White Winemaker of the Year title—La Chablisienne produces around forty different cuvées and exports to seventy-two countries. In 2024, the cooperative distinguished itself by winning the International Wine Challenge’s White Wine Producer Trophy, recognizing both its qualitative excellence and its commitment to sustainable viticulture.

The vineyard

The Chablis Premier Cru "Mont de Milieu" comes from a historic 44-hectare Climat located on the right bank of the Serein, straddling the communes of Chablis and Fleys. The name "Mont de Milieu" recalls that this hillside once marked the border between the County of Champagne and the Duchy of Bourgogne. The vineyard benefits from an optimal south and south-southeast exposure, sheltered from northerly winds by a woodland, and enjoys a steady slope that promotes drainage. The soils show remarkable homogeneity, made up of clay-limestone and small white limestone stones typical of the Kimmeridgian, a geological formation around 150 million years old. These soils contain fossils of small oysters that give the wine its distinctive minerality and saline notes. The vines, averaging twenty-five years of age, are planted at a density of 5,500 to 6,500 vines per hectare.

The vintage

The year 2019 was marked by a mild winter followed by pronounced contrasts. An icy spring preceded a prolonged heatwave from mid-May to mid-August, with exceptional sunshine and periods of drought. The timely rains at the end of August allowed for optimal ripening, revealing berries of remarkable generosity and balance. These conditions favored the production of ripe grapes while preserving the freshness and acidity characteristic of the appellation.

Winemaking and aging

After harvest, the grapes for the Chablis Premier Cru "Mont de Milieu" 2019 undergo cold settling, allowing suspended solids to precipitate and the must to clarify before fermentation, thereby preserving primary aromatic compounds. Alcoholic fermentation takes place in a combination of temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks and traditional oak barrels, with the split determined by tasting and technical analysis rather than a predefined formula. This selective approach adds textural richness only where it contributes to complexity. Alcoholic and malolactic fermentations are carried out under conditions optimized for each lot. Aging then continues for twelve months on fine lees, divided between stainless-steel tanks and oak barrels, developing secondary characters through autolysis while maintaining the appellation’s hallmark freshness. Bottling is carried out in a single run to ensure consistency.

Grape variety

100% chardonnay.