Placeholder Image

Le Domaine d’Henri, Chablis “Saint Pierre”

Burgundy, France 2016 (750mL)
$29.00
/
Your cart is empty.
  • In stock, ready to ship
  • Inventory on the way
Fruit
Earth
Body
Tannin
Acid
Alcohol

Le Domaine d’Henri, Chablis “Saint Pierre”

In the realm of extreme values, Burgundy lovers know that Chablis offers some of the absolute best quality-to-price ratios in existence. Premier and Grand Cru Chablis can be had for a song if you know where to look, and when the market becomes flush with 2018s, and trickles of 2017s, the savviest among you will thank your lucky stars you stocked up on 2015 and 2016 vintages—particularly 2016, which today, are really hitting their stride, showing more energy and complexity than they had out the gate. 
While many Chablis winemakers have only stories about devastating hailstorms in both vintages, those who were spared dealt with back-to-back vintages of reduced yields. That’s why today’s 2016 Le Domaine d'Henri “Saint Pierre” Chablis comes with my highest recommendation—it is a show-stopping value at $29. Vintner Michel Laroche has rightly been compared to icons such as Michel Chapoutier of the northern Rhône and Olivier Humbrecht of Alsace, but until you’ve enjoyed one of his profound creations yourself, all I can say is you’re missing out. This is an ultimate Chablis value from one of the legends of the region, and the story behind it makes it all the more appealing: In a world obsessed with growth, Michel Laroche flipped the script, downsized, and focused all his attention on maximizing quality—of both wine and life, it seems!
Laroche comes from a family with 300+ years of experience tending vines in Chablis, where they owned more Grand Cru vines than any other family. In the realm of blue-chip estates, they are master vintners, rife with pedigree and prestige, which is why everyone in the wine world did a double-take when Michel sold off the iconic Domaine Michel Laroche estate and established Le Domaine d'Henri (named for his father).
 
The Laroches are a family steeped in Chablis viticulture, with records indicating their ancestor-owned vines here in the late-1600s. So, obviously, it takes a brazen man to hit the “reset” button on a thriving business for a return to humble beginnings—but that’s exactly what Michel did when he sold off Domaine Laroche in 2010. This lucrative estate, which was handed down to him in the late-1960s by his parents, Henri and Madeleine, held (and still holds) the largest percentage of Grand Cru Chablis vineyards, but this didn’t matter to Michel—all he wanted to keep were the historic vineyards he had originally inherited from his father. Most important was the family’s prized possessions in the Premier Cru “Fourchaume.” With this and several other hectares of land throughout the region, he created Domaine d’Henri, a traditionalist approach to classic, terroir-driven Chablis. 
 
“Saint Pierre” takes its name from the 12th-century church in Chablis. Thirty-year-old estate vines planted in the villages of Maligny, Chablis, and Fleys are hand-picked, fermented with native yeasts, and aged a year or more in a combination of stainless steel and less than one-third neutral large oak barrels. A classic mix of chalky limestone and clay soils help deliver a Chardonnay that exudes energy and power through that classic Chablisienne combination of stark minerality and racy acid tension. 
 
Make no mistake, the 2016 Le Domaine d'Henri Saint Pierre is not a huge, flashy Chablis. It holds a lot of power and depth without going over the top. In the glass, a pale golden-yellow core with green reflections reveals high-toned yellow floral and green peach-pit aromas, complemented by raw hazelnut, hawthorn, and acacia flowers with a beautiful salted lemon and oyster shell quality. Medium- to medium-plus in body with refreshing acidity and beautiful tension. Finding epic values under $30 for Chablis is simply becoming more and more difficult, which makes this a no-brainer I’d strongly encourage buying by the case. Let it decant for 30-60 mins as it comes out of its shell and enjoy it alongside grilled scallops in a beurre blanc sauce, or with caper sauce, or alongside Halibut with a golden-brown butter sauce and roast potatoes. This is a ‘pantry-staple’ white if I’ve ever seen one! Enjoy!
Placeholder Image
Country
France
Region
Burgundy
Sub-Region
FranceChablis
Soil
Kimmeridgian Limestone
Farming
Practicing Organic
Blend
Chardonnay 100%
Alcohol
13.0
OAK
Partial Neutral Barrels
TEMP.
50-55
Glassware
Burgundy Stems
Drinking
Now-2025
Decanting
30-60 Minutes
Pairing
Halibut w/ Brown Butter, Lemon, & Sage

France

Bourgogne

Beaujolais

Enjoying the greatest wines of Beaujolais starts, as it usually does, with the lay of the land. In Beaujolais, 10 localities have been given their own AOC (Appellation of Controlled Origin) designation. They are: Saint Amour; Juliénas; Chénas; Moulin-à Vent; Fleurie; Chiroubles; Morgon; Régnié; Côte de Brouilly; and Brouilly.

Southwestern France

Bordeaux

Bordeaux surrounds two rivers, the Dordogne and Garonne, which intersect north of the city of Bordeaux to form the Gironde Estuary, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The region is at the 45th parallel (California’s Napa Valley is at the38th), with a mild, Atlantic-influenced climate enabling the maturation of late-ripening varieties.

Central France

Loire Valley

The Loire is France’s longest river (634 miles), originating in the southerly Cévennes Mountains, flowing north towards Paris, then curving westward and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean near Nantes. The Loire and its tributaries cover a huge swath of central France, with most of the wine appellations on an east-west stretch at47 degrees north (the same latitude as Burgundy).

Northeastern France

Alsace

Alsace, in Northeastern France, is one of the most geologically diverse wine regions in the world, with vineyards running from the foothills of theVosges Mountains down to the Rhine River Valley below.

Others We Love