Description
The Picq style of Chablis displays the inimitable expression of minerality that Chardonnay only picks up in this rolling hillside, and limestone-laden vineyards of the Yonne Valley, coupled with racy acidity and fine depth that comes with low yields, meticulous viticulture and winemaking. The wines are naturally fermented with indigenous yeasts and raised in stainless steel tanks to protect the underlying expressions of terroir. You won't find a single stave of wood in the entire winery! Pascal Picq does severe pruning each winter and routinely thins the crop twice in the summer months. The serious work in the vineyards can immediately be felt in the Picq wines, as even the Chablis villages, the parcellaire wines, (also village-level) and the Chablis Vieilles Vignes offer up a depth and intensity of flavor in the mid-palates that is most often associated with at least premier cru level wines. One parcel of just over two acres planted in 1980 high on the hills above the Serein River. If a year is both productive and good, then this lieu-dit is bottled separately; otherwise, it goes into the straight Chablis blend.
Expect a vibrant and expressive bouquet featuring notes of vivid lemon, green apple, and white flowers, with underlying hints of oyster shell and a touch of flintiness. Some notes also mention fresh pear and apple blossom aromas. The wine is known for its purity and tension, with a crisp, linear profile and a fine bead of acidity. Flavors include bright citrus fruit (lemon, lime, pink grapefruit), green apple, and a distinct, racy minerality described as steel, crushed rock, or wet stone. It is light to medium-bodied, dry, and clean. The finish is long, persistent, and saline-inflected, with a very dry and youthfully austere quality that suggests good aging potential. The Domaine's style is ultrapure, as the wine is vinified entirely in stainless steel with no oak influence, emphasizing the specific Kimmeridgian limestone terroir of the "En Vaudécorse" single-vineyard parcel.
