Today, we have a “desert-island” white for you. If you don’t know what that means, it’s the kind of wine you’d be happy to have if you were trapped on a desert island with just one wine to drink in perpetuity. Yes, that’s a big endorsement, but the Nicolle family’s wines offer such a pitch-perfect snapshot of place and grape, at such a reasonable price, I can’t help myself. 
Of course, I am biased because of my love for Burgundy (maybe you’d rather drink German Riesling on your desert island…who’s to say?), but you really can’t ask for a more complete white wine at this price point: It’s got breadth on the palate, chiseled-from-stone minerality, alluring aromatics, and slap-in-the-face freshness that bodes well for aging. When we offered the 2016 vintage of this wine, the response from subscribers was swift and adoring, so I might well have waved this 2018 right into our warehouse sight-unseen—except we don’t do that! Aside from wanting to personally vet everything we sell, I wanted to experience Nicolle’s “Vieilles Vignes” again for myself! As you can probably tell, I was not disappointed.
In the glass, Nicolle’s 2018 is a pale yellow-gold with flecks of green and silver. Scents of yellow apple, lime blossom, stone fruits, lemon curd, white button mushroom, chalk dust, and wet stones carry over to a palate leaning toward medium-plus in body, with that trademark Chablisienne push-pull of ripe fruit and mouth-watering freshness/minerality. This is as good as village-level Chablis gets, and there are many Premier Cru bottlings this wine will eclipse, so frankly, ignore the price tag and treat it like something fancier: Splash it in a decanter 30 minutes before serving in Burgundy stems at 50-55 degrees. Over the course of the next 5-10 years, this will only get better and better, so do consider purchasing in quantity: This wine paired with simply-prepared sole or halibut will take the ‘everyday’ wine/food experience to another level—our raison d’être here at SommSelect. Enjoy!