2017 Bernard Defaix Chablis 1er Cru Côte de Léchet, Burgundy

Screwcap. Much like the rest of Burgundy, Chablis' finest vineyards have (for better or for worse) become synonymous with a symbolic grower. The emblematic vigneron and the largest holder of the 1er Cru vineyard Côte de Léchet is Domaine Bernard Defaix. They are the benchmark grower as well and the site’s only certified, organic grower. The Defaix cellars sit just below the vines of the Léchet hill, in the tiny hamlet of Milly. 15% of this wine was fermented and matured in old, neutral barrels, which previously housed Defaix's Reserve bottling, with the rest reared in glass-lined tanks. Allen Meadow’s notes below suggest a textbook Chablis, but calling this wine textbook would be doing it a great disservice. It’s a fleshy and seamless Côte de Léchet that has oodles of mixed citrus and briny drive, waves of fruit and the vibrant, chalky freshness that this site always delivers in spades. Doggone delicious.