Because we pick up new subscribers literally every day, there may be some readers out there who haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing Guy Robin Chablis (meanwhile, countless others likely took one look at the photo and sped directly to checkout). So, for the newbies out there, let me give “Cuvée Marie-Ange Robin” its proper due: If I were asked to pick one wine that exemplifies what SommSelect is all about, this profound old-vine Chablis would be a perfect choice. Classic white Burgundy is my first love, but drinking it regularly can become an expensive habit—therefore one of my missions in life, and the singular mission of SommSelect, is to find the most transcendent wines within their respective categories.
Where Chablis is concerned, it doesn’t get more transcendent, more consistently thrilling, or more authentic than Domaine Guy Robin. Overall, I’d estimate we offer one out of every dozen Chablis wines we taste—but Guy Robin’s “pass rate” is way higher than that, maybe even close to 100%. Regardless of the bottling, you can count on the Robin wine to over-perform, dramatically, thanks in large part to the estate’s unparalleled collection of heirloom vines. The “vieilles vignes” designation on the label of today’s wine carries added meaning, as does the name of the wine, which is effectively the signature of the estate’s dynamic proprietor, Marie-Ange Robin. The last few vintages of this cuvée have blown us all away—it is easily of Premier Cru quality if not higher, with a combination of concentration and tension rarely seen in Chablis, regardless of price point. So, I’ll use that word again: transcendent. It’s simply one of the greatest wine values we offer.
It takes confidence to sign your name on a bottle of wine, but Marie-Ange Robin’s enviable collection of old vines is her ace in the hole. Namesake Guy Robin, Marie-Ange’s father, assembled most of the family’s holdings back in the 1960s, and these included significant stands of ‘pre-phylloxera’ vines—i.e., vineyards that were not destroyed during the phylloxera epidemic of the late-1800s. Although the phylloxera louse—an aphid that destroys the roots of vines—was ruthlessly efficient in devastating the European wine industry (forcing vignerons to graft vines onto phylloxera-resistant American rootstocks), it didn’t get everybody. Many small pockets of Europe were spared, especially spots with sandy and/or volcanic soil, but not exclusively: A good 80% of Domaine Robin’s modern-day vines are on their “own,” pre-phylloxera rootstock. Guy Robin had never re-planted them (as so many Chablis producers did) to higher-yielding clones.
Thus, when the vieilles vignes designation appears on a Guy Robin label, it is especially resonant. In most of the world, there isn’t any minimum standard for what constitutes an “old vine,” so it ends up feeling like empty words—devalued from overuse, like “all-natural” or “premium.” But the Guy Robin vineyards are true Chablis heirlooms, some of them exceeding 80 years of age, and, since leaving a career as an art dealer in Paris and returning to the family property in the early 2000s, Marie-Ange Robin has focused intently on farming those vineyards as naturally as possible, to realize their full potential. Her namesake bottling is sourced from 40+-year-old vines at the crest of a slope facing the Premier Cru “Vaillons” vineyard.
Another distinguishing feature of many Robin wines is that most are fermented in oak rather than steel, which lends them a level of richness and accessibility not often seen in the region. Today’s wine is a perfect example: it has the freshness and minerality we crave from classic Chablis, but a more layered texture and less austerity in its youth than most young Chablis. The oak treatment is gentle (only 10% of the barrels used for aging are new), adding a delicate accent note to a wine driven by perfectly ripe Chardonnay fruit. It’s a bright straw-gold in the glass, with aromas of green and yellow apple, salted lemon, nectarine, citrus blossom, crushed oyster shells, wet stones, and a hint of crème fraîche. It has substance on the palate but also the chiseled-from-rock minerality and mouthwatering raciness that makes Chablis Chablis. In short, it’s a textbook bottle, immensely enjoyable now, and poised to improve over the next 5-7 years. Splash-decant it 15-30 minutes before serving in all-purpose white wine stems at 50 degrees. Pair it with some lemony chicken paillard over some winter greens for a seriously good mid-week meal. Caution: Will be habit-forming. Enjoy!
