Pierrick Laroche Domaine des Hâtes Petit Chablis 2022

Beautiful wine and a signpost to the Pierrick Laroche style. Open aromatics of green apple, white peach, white flowers, honeysuckle and cream. Plump, generous and fleshy, in no way fat, just a lovely lanolin texture, with rich orchard and citrus fruit, a sprinkling of herbs and long gentle finish. Chardonnay the way only Chablis can. Waters Wine Co

Only Maligny – 2 terroirs – a plateau that has a lot of clay – like in Lignorelles – plus limestone slopes, south, south-east-facing – here it’s more mineral. But the parcels are quite close to each other. About 20-year-old vines. This cuvée is from 12 hectares so easily the biggest cuvée here – ‘it has to be good!’. Open with plenty of higher toned freshness. Concentrated and silky – there’s a lot of wine here – supple, hiding to an extent its minerality, but only partly. Finishing mineral and precise. I’d be waiting a couple of years for it to grow a bit more focus – but then it could be a great one – really the concentration of a very good Chablis. Bill Nanson, Burgundy Report, January 2024.

The domain has nearly 12ha of Petit Chablis, classified as such because the limestone tends to be the younger Portlandian rather than the older Kimmeridgian, and as such typically occupies higher sites (Portlandian overlies Kimmeridgian) and has less clay. Pierrick is convinced that his largest parcel of Petit really ought to be classed as Chablis; it makes wine like Chablis and indeed is surrounded by AOC Chablis vines. Importer’s Notes