WTN: 2002 Verget Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons Vieilles Vignes

[David M. Bueker]

2002 Verget Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons Vieilles Vignes de Minots

Just finished reading the article on Chablis in The Art of Eating, so I wanted a bottle of the stuff to drink. As per my usual practice I put two bottles in the fridge in case the first was affected by the dreaded premox. Turned out the first bottle was perfectly sound, and while I have moved away from this somewhat oaky style of Chablis as my Chardonnay drink of preference I have to admit it is very good wine. There's plenty of fruit, mineral & acidic cut, and the patina of oak is not completely overbearing, but rather a liberal seasoning that puts me in more of a mind of a certain Cote a little further south. It's still very fresh (yay!), and I could see positive development for a while longer.

As per my usual practice I put two bottles in the fridge in case the first was affected by the dreaded premox.

Oxidation fears this early? Yikes!

Glad to hear the bottle was enjoyable though. I'm not a big Chardonnay person, although wines like these are nice every now and then (although the obscene Burg prices these days, I just reach for a really young Hunter Semillon anytime I want that Chablis-like precision and slight austerity).

[David M. Bueker]

Premox has hit any number of 2002s. I've had to dump several Grand Cru Chablis from 2002.

That's shocking - considering that those wines are still relatively young and given the now-absurd costs, it seems a real crapshoot if the premox problem is as bad as I've heard from some more regular Burg drinkers (haven't followed the premox threads elsewhere or the wiki), only heard a few horror stories from a couple of guys - although I've fortunately not come across any oxidised young Burgs yet. I'll just stick to my German/Austrian whites and the odd Aussie - Less risk, more reward.
BTW - great avatar.

[David M. Bueker]

In the last year I have lost upwards of half a dozen 2002 Chablis to premox.

In October of last year, an '02 V. Dauvissat Vaillons showed definite signs of PremOx: deep yellow color, oxidative notes in nose. It was still pleasant, but the signs were there.

Mark Lipton