Domaine Vrignaud - Organic Chablis estate, new to Australia.
Serious value to be found here - Petit Chablis at $29.90, Village at $33, 1er Cru at $49 & Grand Cru at $99

Arriving in Australia in December

There is no wine like Chablis, and as Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson say 'Chablis is one of the most underestimated of wines – chardonnay at its most thrilling and potentially long-lived.'

A few years ago a colleague in Chablis put together a small box with bottles from a few under-the-radar domaines that he rated highly, newer, up-and-comers on the block so to speak.I took the samples to Paris and tasted them blind, and the result was that the organic Vrignaud wines came up trumps and I’ve been following the domaine since.The wines are due to arrive in Australia in November.
Vrignaud are wines of great character, authenticity and value. Buy up large!
Cheers, Randall.

Guillaume Vrignaud and his family run this 24 ha family domaine based in the hamlet of Fontenay-pres-Chablis, just at the top of the Cote de Fontenay section of 1er Cru Fouchaume; and about 1.5km “behind” the cluster of the famed Grand Crus. The domaine has plantings going back to 1955 when it was created, but the grapes in following vintages were all sold to the co-op until a little wine was made and bottled in 1991, then Domaine Vrignaud was fully enlivened when the winery was built in 2000.
Guillaume re-organised the winery in 2008 with a view to getting better equipment, like a vibrating de-stemmer/crusher, and therefore making better wines. With the same intense quest for improvements in quality he started conversion to organic farming in 2012.There is a definite upwards spiral of quality! These are steely, textured and characterful wines that speak boldly of place and honest, careful grape-growing.

Email wine@randalls.net.au if you would like to sign up to the mailing list

---

This is a pre-arrival offer - the wines are due to land in November. Quantities are limited. Payment due with order.

Please order via reply email to wine@randalls.net.au.

Domaine Vrignaud Petit Chablis 2019 
RRP $49 | OFFER $29.90
This is from plot in Chemin Des Chaumes on the plateau above Grand Cru Les Clos.This 2019 comes from a warm dry vintage but still weighs in at a relatively modest 13.1% alc. With “surprisingly very respectable acid levels” according to Guillaume.This was fermented with zero additives and left in tank to feed off the lees for 5 months. Petit Chablis as good as this is rare, thanks to lower yields, a warm vintage for Chablis and careful, caring viticulture, this is benchmark. It exhibits the classic lemon pith, citrus and sea-breeze characteristics with inflections of honey and almonds. It’s beautifully dry and cleansing; lithe with long and refreshing finish.    

Domaine Vrignaud Chablis 2019
RRP $55 | OFFER $33
The yields were quite small in 2019 (in this cuvée only 30hl./ha.) and the density and concentration come through. Again, the acidity level is good and the alcohol is a perfect 13%. This is from plots ranging from 15-50yo, and it’s a classic. Marine and mineral notes, with white flowers and some lightly grilled nuts with warm dough. It’s a pristine, shining example, 100% aged on lees in stainless steel tanks for 5 months.

Domaine Vrignaud Chablis 1er Cru Fourchaume 2019 
RRP $83 | OFFER $49
Domaine Vrignaud is blessed with 6ha of Fourchaume, mostly where the easterly slope turns up the Fontenay Valley so the vines face more towards the south. Deeply concentrated, it radiates with tangy sea breeze and oyster shell Chablisity, along with flavours of citrus, anise, fennel seed, brioche and lemongrass. For a great 1er cru, it’s a perfect example, tight and youthful with textural interest, powerful flavour and dry, long cleansing and flavourful finish. This wine has so much elegant power, partially thanks to the 30yo vines, that Guillaume prefers to leave it on lees for a year.

Domaine Vrignaud Chablis Grand Cru Blanchot 2018
RRP $155 | OFFER $99
This site, partially because of its more easterly and breezier, cooler position often makes the most elegant of the Grand Crus. For this reason this is aged in steel on lees, but for an extended time of 15 months. The vines here are 40yo, so nicely mature. The alcohol is 13% so perfectly ripe with the great balance and acidity of 2018. There was only 800lt made of this powerful but very tight, elegant, classy Chablis.

Please order via reply email to wine@randalls.net.au.