Charly Nicolle Chablis 1er Cru Les Forneaux 2023

Domaine Charly Nicolle makes this Chablis Premier Cru Les Fourneaux from Chardonnay, worked by a trained oenologist across sixteen hectares of Chablis vineyards. Les Fourneaux is a Premier Cru site on the right bank of the Serein, on the region's classic Kimmeridgian limestone and marl, a stony soil rich in ancient marine fossils that gives Chablis its acidity and its cool, mineral spine. The Premier Cru slope brings a little more depth and ripeness than village-level fruit. The wine is aged on its lees, the spent yeast from fermentation, whose slow breakdown releases mannoproteins that add texture and a subtle, bready roundness while keeping the wine taut and precise. It stays unoaked, so the site speaks clearly. It shows pale gold with green glints, with a nose of green apple, lemon, white peach and a firm wet-stone minerality. The palate is dry and structured, with citrus and orchard fruit over a saline, flinty core, gaining a little breadth from the Premier Cru fruit and closing on a long, chalky finish. Serve at 10 to 12 degrees in a white-wine glass.