Domaine Louis Michel Chablis 1er Cru 'Montee De Tonnerre' 2018
SKU
LMCH201813 UCAU
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Quickly becoming one of the best value Burgundies imported into Australia each year
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An exceptional quality 1er Cru Chablis from an extraordinary producer and site
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Robert Parker: 92/100 "One of the more tightly wound, structured wines in the cellar."
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1 or more bottles$95.00
Editors notes
An exceptional quality 1er Cru Chablis from an extraordinary producer and site, this is quickly becoming one of the best value Burgundies imported into Australia each year.
After airing, this wine presents a perfect balance between fresh minerality and very ripe fruit. The mouth is warm, delicious and salty, with a spicy cinnamon finish.
Located on the right back of the river Serein, the same as for the Grand Crus, the Montée de Tonnerre is certainly the most prestigious and well-renowned of all the Chablis Premier Crus.
Details
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Wine Type
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Vintage
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Variety
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Brand
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Location
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Cellaring
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Closure
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Alcohol Percentage
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Bottle Size
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Oak Type
Tasting Profile
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Light (Light)Full (Full)
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Low Tannin (Low Tannin)Tannic (Tannic)
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Sweet (Sweet)Dry (Dry)
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Low Acidity (Low Acidity)High Acidity (High Acidity)
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Aroma
- Apple
- Lemon
- Nectarine
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Palate
- Apple
- Cream
- Peach
Food Pairings
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Cheese -
Fish -
Poultry
Critic Scores & reviews
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John Gilman
94"Not surprisingly, the 2018 Montée de Tonnerre is one of the more structured premier crus in the cellars this year and it will want some bottle age to start to stir. The potential here is excellent, with the very pure and precise nose offering up scents of green apple, smoke, flinty minerality, citrus zest, spring flowers and a hint of the beeswax to come with bottle age. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and nascently complex, with an excellent core of fruit, fine transparency and grip, snappy acids and a long, soil-driven and vibrant finish. This is a first class example."
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Vinous
93"The 2018 Chablis Montée de Tonnerre is clean and precise on the nose, perhaps more in the vein of a traditional Chablis than, say, the Butteaux. The palate is fresh and lively with crisp acidity, impressive tension and a twist of sour lemon toward the finish that keeps this Chablis alert and alive. Excellent."
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
92"The 2018 Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre is another success this year, delivering inviting aromas of citrus zest, crisp green apple, white flowers and oyster shell. Medium to full-bodied, with good depth and tension, it's one of the more tightly wound, structured wines in the cellar."
Other vintages
Love this wine? Here's a list of other vintages we have in stock if you'd like to try them as well.
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- Variety Chardonnay
- Vintage 2017
- Brand Louis Michel and Fils
- Cellaring None
- Wine Type White
- Alcohol Percentage 13.0% Alcohol
Domaine Louis Michel Chablis 1er Cru 'Montee De Tonnerre' 2017-
Antonio Galloni94 points
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Nick Stock93 points
$95.00
Current auction
All current auctions for this wine & any different vintages.
Locations
France
Wine is being produced throughout France and has been done for over 2,500 years with certain Châteaux dating their history back to Roman times, around 6th Century BC. Ranking second in the world in per-capita consumption and first in total production quantity. More so than the overall quantity of wine is the quantity of truly great wines coming out of France makes the nation the envy of wine-making nations worldwide.
Two concepts pivotal to the higher end French wines, in particular, are the idea of 'terroir' and the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) system. Terroir refers to the way the geography, geology and climate find their way into the glass, telling a story of the origin of the wine. The AOC was set up in 1935 and has the primary goal of protecting the authenticity of the wines and the livelihoods of the producers. Appellation rules strictly define which varieties of grapes and winemaking practices are approved for classification in each of France's several hundred geographically defined appellations, which can cover entire regions, individual villages or in some cases, like in Burgundy even specific vineyards.
Classic wine regions in France include Champagne (home of Champagne), Burgundy (Pinot Noir and Chardonnay), Bordeaux (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot), Alsace (Aromatic varietals), Loire Valley (Chenin Blanc, Crémant) and the Rhône Valley (Syrah, Grenache Mourvedre)
The Bordeaux classification of 1855 is still in use, as is the Sauternes and Barsac Classification of the same year. Wines from certain regions can be bought En Primeur, which is when the wine is sold prior to it being bottled.
Burgundy
Burgundy is undoubtedly the home of the finest Pinot Noir and Chardonnays in the world, where vineyards, or Domaines have been producing wines for over 2000 years. Burgundy is located in the North-east of France, an hours drive from Lyon and 2 hours from Paris. With over 100 appellations, or sub-regions (more than any other wine region) Burgundy is known for being the most terroir-oriented region in the World. The finest red wines of Burgundy are found in the Côte d'Or, a string of villages including Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin, Morey St Denis, Chambolle-Musigny, Vougeot, Vosne-Romanée and Nuits-St Georges.
There are flavours present in great Burgundys that are the envy of Pinot Noir producers worldwide. The elusive peacocks tail finish that goes on and on, and the pretty-elegance backed by Burgundy muscle is the goal of winemakers around the globe. The main levels in the Burgundy classifications, in descending order of quality, are: Grand crus, Premier crus, village appellations, and finally regional appellations. For the Chablis wines, a similar hierarchy of Grand Cru, Premier Cru and Village wines is used, plus Petit Chablis as a level below Village Chablis.
Chablis Premier Cru
The vineyards of Chablis Premier Cru cover 750 hectares across 15 communes on isolated slopes with good exposure. The terroir there creates freshness and minerality, generous palate weight with lovely roundness in the world class wines produced there. As of 2009 there were 40 Premier cru vineyards, although some 89 climats are to be found there.
These climats are often inclusive (where lesser known vineyards are permitted to have on the label the name of the umbrella vineyard). Some of the more famous premier Cru climats are listed here; Mont de Milieu, Montée de Tonnerre, Fourchaume, La Fourchaume, Côte de Fontenay, Dine-Chien, L'Homme Mort, La Grande Côte, Bois Seguin, L'Ardillier, Vaulorent, Les Quatre chemins, La ferme couverte, Les Couvertes, Vaillons, Montmains, Côte de Léchet, Vauligneau, Vaudevey, Vaucoupin, Vosgros, Les Fourneaux, Côte de Vaubarousse ,Berdiot, Chaume de Talvat, Côte de Jouan & Les Beauregards. Premier Cru Chablis accounts for a mere 14% of all Chablis wines.
The main bedrock of Chablis dates from the Jurassic, or more precisely the Kimmeridgean era (140-160 million years ago). One particularity concerning Chablis Premier Cru is that the Climats are spread between the right and left banks of the River Serein, a tributary of the Yonne which flows through the region from south to north.
About the brand Louis Michel & Fils
The Michel family have been cultivating their passion for tradition and the Chablis terroir since 1850. With the winery situated right in the heart of the village, this premium French Domaine has a total of 21 hectares of vineyards, mainly Premier and Grand Cru (discovered by Cistercian monks in the 11th century).
40 years ago, the family decided to stop making the wine in wooden barrels, preferring to create clean, pure and precise Chablis without adding artificial woody tastes. Through this philosophy, combined with the limited yields inspired by organic wine-growing techniques, the Domaine has developed a worldwide reputation for fine wine-making in stainless steel tanks.
The grapes themselves are also fermented at low temperatures to preserve their aromatic freshness and so that they may amply reflect the origins of their respective vineyard sites. The wines of Domaine Louis Michel are crisp, intensely flavoured wines that display what heights the Chardonnay grape can achieve in its purest and unadorned form and without the intrusion of oak.
With sixth-generation Guillaume Gicqueau-Michel now taking the reigns from uncle Jean-Loup Michel, the family continues to uphold the original principles this impressive Domaine built their reputation upon.
A firmly-rooted sense of excellence is passed down from generation to generation. Louis Michel & Fils has always been a family business and is managed today by Guillaume Gicqueau-Michel.he Michel family has been cultivating their passion for tradition and the Chablis terroir since 1850. In the mid-20th century, the family stopped making wine in wooden barrels in favor of stainless steel tanks to create clean, pure, and precise Chablis without adding artificial woody flavors. Through this philosophy, combined with limited yields inspired by organic wine-growing techniques, the domaine has developed a worldwide reputation for fine winemaking in stainless steel tanks.
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