Hubert Lamy Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Clos de la Chateniere VV 2018

This is another of the Lamy benchmarks and perhaps his most famous wine. The Clos is a specific site, enclosed by dry-stone walls within the larger Chatenière vineyard in St-Aubin. Lamy has 1.25 hectares here and the vines here are 60 years old. For all intents and purposes, this is a monopole, as Lamy is the only grower able to bottle a separate wine from this site and to label it accordingly (Colin-Morey is the only other grower with a small parcel and he blends it into his La Chatenière bottling). It’s a south-facing vineyard, set just back and around the bend from En Remilly and Les Murgers des Dents de Chien. It is worked entirely by hand because of the vineyard’s 40% slope and incredibly rocky soils. 

Ponder this fact, the age of vines and the quality of wines when you look at the price of this wine. This gradient and the southern aspect of Clos de la Chatenière ensures that the vines receive plenty of light, while the rocky, limestone-rich soils (20 cm of rocky topsoil over hard, compact limestone) give the wines a piercing minerality that perfectly offsets the low-yielding intensity. It’s another spellbinding example of Saint-Aubin that will knock the socks off most 1er Cru Chassagne and Puligny (and quite a number of Grand Cru wines as well!)

“The 2018 Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Clos de la Chatenière bursts with aromas of waxy citrus rind, yellow orchard fruit, clear honey and wheat toast. Medium to full-bodied, round and textural, it's layered and enveloping, with fine concentration and a long, saline finish. Lamy notes that his old vines in this lieu-dit (which is warmer than, for example, Derrière chez Edouard) tend to produce lots of small, shot berries.” 91-93 points, William Kelley, The Wine Advocate.

“Planted 1964. Brisk primrose colour. A little gunflint reduction. A beautifully balanced juicy white fruit with plenty of flesh at the back. This is not one of the ultra-tense cuvées, more a question of generosity of fruit backed by a totally correct acidity. In harmony.” 91-93 points, Jasper Morris, Inside Burgundy.