Régnard Chablis Montmains Premier Cru
Chablis, France
Vintage:2022 (Current)
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Reviews
The SOMM Journal 98 Points
Fresh and crisp to the point of being exacting, with echoes of sage surrounding a youthful, flinty frame. Tart lime coats the tongue, adding a dusty shiver of chalky oyster shell. Notes of dill with a twist of pure lemon blossom cleanse on the finish.
View From the Cellar 91+ Points
Maison Régnard’s 2022 Chablis “Montmains” is crafted entirely from hand-harvested parcels of vines, with ninety percent of the cuvée raised in stainless steel tanks and ten percent in older oak casks. The wine’s aromatic constellation is bright and complex, delivering scents of apple, pear, a complex base of chalky soil tones, just a touch of paraffin, white flowers and just a whisper of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is crisp, full-bodied and still fairly youthful in personality, with good depth of fruit at the core, fine soil signature, a good girdle of acidity and a long, well balanced and still quite primary finish. This is of course already quite approachable, but in reality it is still a young wine and more precision and complexity will certainly develop if the wine is given just another year or two in the cellar to blossom. It is a very good bottle of Montmains in the making, but its best drinking days are still a couple of years down the road. 2025-2050.
Decanter 94 Points
Crisp and mineral with a depth of savoury ocean salinity and a smoky tone of chipped flint and crushed slate that leaps from the glass with a suggestion of lemon rind. This Premier Cru comes from Montmains, a medium-sized mountain that sits lower than the peaks in its immediate surroundings. The soil has ample clay, giving the wines a freshness and core of minerality. An assemblage of yeast selections inoculated this wine, a core of rich lemon fruits offering a creaminess, brightened by piquant crushed stone and sea spray salinity.
Overview
Régnard, one of the oldest and most prestigious houses in Chablis, was founded by Zéphir Régnard in 1860. In 1984, Baron Patrick de Ladoucette purchased Régnard and has perpetuated the style and tradition of the wines. Respectful of tradition, Régnard continues to offer a complete range of Chablis wines, including Grands Crus, Premiers Crus, Chablis and Petit Chablis.
The Montmains appellation refers to a medium-sized mountain that is lower than two surrounding peaks. A higher concentration of clay gives wines from Montmains a fresher and more mineral profile than their more structured neighbors on the steeper slopes to the south.
Winemaking
During the harvest, all the grapes are handpicked and then pressed. The must then passes into a small vat for natural clarification and the juice is transferred to stainless steel tanks for malolactic fermentation. Four different types of yeast are used for fermentation, each bringing a specific character to the wine. This enables the Régnard team to achieve great complexity in its wines. Each tank receives cultural yeast to start the fermentation.
The temperature of the fermentation is regulated at 68-71ºF by water that is circulated in the double lining of the tank. After the first fermentation, all of the wine undergoes malolactic fermentation. Bacteria is added to begin this fermentation, which reduces the wine’s acidity and gives it more complexity and stability.
For 12 months, the wine ages in 90% stainless steels vats, with the remaining 10% undergoing the aging process in French oak barrels. The wine is then filtered before bottling.
Tasting Notes
Bright, limpid pale color. Fresh, delicate nose with citrus, mineral and slightly brioche notes. Full-bodied on the attack, round on the palate, lifted by a fresh finish. A promising young wine.
Harvest Notes
An exceptionally warm spring in 2022 with rising temperatures in May gave vegetation a boost. A dry spell followed throughout July. The health of the vines was excellent: no rain, no disease.
Technical Information
Varietals: 100% Chardonnay
Wine Alcohol: 13%