The great Chablis loophole. A first-rate 1er Cru vineyard produced and bottled by a great Domaine costs nearly half the price in Chablis as it does further south. This much-celebrated Butteaux vineyard, in the hands of the region’s most exciting talent in Pattes Loup’s Thomas Pico, sets you back just over £40 per bottle in bond, in Côte d’Or currency that is nigh on the price of a Puligny villages.
Thomas Pico exudes calm and modesty but beneath the serene surface burns a fire, a passion for making great wine that puts nature first. There needs to be, as he has not chosen the easy path. In 2004, after taking back 8ha of his family vineyard, Domaine Bois d’Yver, Thomas set about creating his own estate and converting to organic farming. Certification followed in 2009 and he has since moved to Biodynamic practices. Chablis’ is an unforgiving climate for the eco-friendly vigneron. Organic viticulture can be brutal particularly in the harsh winters, but nonetheless he heroically ploughs on (literally) in a region where herbicide usage is sadly prevalent.
Read MoreButteaux is a steep, Kimmeridgian clay-based, southeast-facing site within the wider Montmains appellation, adjoining Forets – on Chablis’ left bank. It is the zenith of Thomas’ production and is the wine he bottles last, after 36 months sur lie in a mixture of neutral oak barrels, concrete and steel tanks. Preferring to pick when the fruit is truly ripe, and therefore later than most colleagues, his wines often wear a veil of silk draped over their intensely pure, rock-hewn mineral cores. The smooth texture, here, conceals a wine of vivid purity and electric energy. A Chablis that is as alive as the soils it originates from. At first tight-wound, it gradually reveals a crunchy saltiness and waxed citrus fruit complexity, with background notes of honeysuckle and fresh apricot. Cool, composed, but powerful and brooding, this needs some unravelling, but a little aeration and it infinitely rewards.