2022 Louis Moreau Vaillons Chablis Premier Cru 750 ml

When spring of 2022 rolled around, the long-suffering growers of Chablis were ready to catch a break. 

For three seasons, Mother Nature had cast down as much springtime frost and hail as she could muster, decimating yields and leaving many fermenting tanks empty. But in '22, the weather finally turned warm.

And it held. Come September, tanks were full again. Finally Chablis growers had "A Long-Awaited Vintage," as the Chablis Commission called it. The quality of the year had one Chablis grower calling it "a truly magnificent harvest…Having some better yields and delicious healthy fruit made it all something we needed after a tough and tiny 2021."

Vaillons is planted on the steep, southwest-facing slopes directly above the town of Chablis, where the Kimmeridgian limestone runs particularly deep. One of the most celebrated Premier Cru sites in the appellation, it produces wines with a distinctive combination of power and finesse—mineral-driven and taut, with a signature chalky spine that speaks directly to its terroir.

From this prized vineyard, Moreau's 2022 Vaillons delivers concentrated citrus and stone fruit wrapped around that spine of chalky tension. It's mesmerizing stuff that shows off one of the best Chablis vintages in recent memory. Perfect for Dover sole, oysters on the half shell, or a special occasion, it's a bottle that rewards both patience and immediate pleasure.

Over their centuries in Chablis, the Moreau family has accumulated 124 acres of old and mature vines, including their treasured parcels in Vaillons. The 2022 showcases the vigor of very healthy grapes farmed under the philosophy known as la lutte raisonée ("the reasoned struggle"), which sharply limits the use of chemicals.

Louis Moreau ferments their Vaillons entirely in stainless steel with native yeasts—as classic as it comes. Ten months of aging in those same tanks allows for the wine to bloom, as malolactic fermentation resolves the wine's pointillist detail into harmonious brushstrokes. We've been waiting two years to get our hands on this edition. Don't let it pass you by.