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Domaine Guy Robin, Chablis Vieilles Vignes, “Marie-Ange Robin”

Burgundy, France 2017 (750mL)
$35.00
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Domaine Guy Robin, Chablis Vieilles Vignes, “Marie-Ange Robin”

When I worked in restaurants, there were countless instances when I would enthusiastically recommend a wine to a customer, only to have that person ask for something “better”—i.e., more expensive. Even the most well-traveled, well-educated wine drinkers still hold on to the belief that great, ‘cellar-worthy’ wine must necessarily cost more. But there’s evidence to the contrary all over the place: I’m thinking of producers like Olga Raffault in the Loire Valley; Produttori del Barbaresco in Piedmont, Italy; López de Heredia in Rioja, Spain; Mount Eden in the Santa Cruz Mountains…and, without a doubt, Domaine Guy Robin in Chablis.
Longevity has a lot to do with these estates delivering such remarkable value-for-dollar, and today’s 2017 epitomizes that: When art dealer-turned-vigneron Marie Ange Robin puts the words “Vieilles Vignes” (“old vines”) on a label, it really means something, as you’ll taste in her namesake cuvée. Sourced from 40+-year-old vines grown on a slope that faces the Premier Cru “Vaillons,” this wine’s combination of concentration and tension is just unbelievable at this price. It is right up there with the greats I cited above, and like just about every other wine Guy Robin has released over the last few years, we snapped up all we could. You should do the same!
It takes confidence to sign your name on a bottle of wine, but Marie-Ange Robin has an enviable collection of heirloom vines as her ace in the hole. Namesake Guy Robin 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 the Paris art world 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.

Another distinguishing feature of many Robin wines, this one included, is that they are fermented in oak rather than steel, which lends them a level of richness and accessibility not often seen in the region. Today’s 2017 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 ’17s you’ll encounter. The oak treatment is judicious (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: Can be habit-forming. Enjoy!
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Country
France
Region
Burgundy
Sub-Region
FranceChablis
Soil
Limestone & Clay
Farming
Sustainable
Blend
Chardonnay 100%
Alcohol
13.0
OAK
10% New French
TEMP.
50
Glassware
All-Purpose Whites
Drinking
Now-2025+
Decanting
15-30 Minutes
Pairing
Pan-Roasted Chicken Paillard

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.

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