Domaine Gilbert Picq "Dessus la Carriere" Chablis 2023

With amazing depth and a ton of character, this is classic Chablis in every way. Glowing pale yellow, with an attractive bouquet of apple blossom and fresh pear. The palate is well-balanced showing racy citrus fruit, iodine, seashore and lime zest with a fine bead of acidity and a good hit of mineral like a proper Chablis should have. The delicious, vibrant and precise middle weight flavors flash good minerality on the clean, dry and saline-inflected finish.

“Dessus La Carrière” translates to "over the quarry," because the two parcels that are reserved for this wine grow above an old limestone quarry in a bed of pure Kimmeridgian, essentially one mammoth roche mère, or mother rock. Both parcels were planted in the 1970s, one with an old Chardonnay clone, the other with a sélection massale from the Picq’s favorite vines, and the two cover just under five acres of ground. The layer of topsoil is so thin here that there is a dead zone where nothing grows in the center of the parcels. These two parcels are always the first to be harvested by the Picqs and the last to be bottled.

One can tell this is Chablis immediately, and grown on good terroir at that. Didier says the soil in these parcels is high quality chalk and always gives a focused, mineral wine. Classically styled, with the utmost care, this sees indigenous yeast fermentation and aging in stainless steel tanks to protect the underlying expressions of terroir (you won't find a single stave of wood in the entire winery). Picq is a classic case of how truly amazing wines can be made from more humble vineyards when given the utmost attention at every step. The family is gifted in old vines at the Villages and Premier Cru levels, and they hope to someday obtain vines within a Grand Cru vineyard.

The Picq family have farmed its small collection of vines for several generations. Today, the estate is in the deft hands of Gilbert's two sons Didier and Pascal, and his daughter Marilyn Picq, each with their defined roles: Pascal is in the vines, Didier is in the cellar, and Marilyn manages the commerce. The Picq style of Chablis displays the inimitable expression of minerality that Chardonnay picks up in these rolling hillside of limestone-laden vineyards in the Yonne Valley, coupled with racy acidity and fine depth that comes with low yields, meticulous viticulture and winemaking.