Critic ratings
vinous
2012
Rating:
97
–97
I know, I know, the 2012 Chablis Les Clos from Dauvissat is too young. But it is also not exactly the kind of wine that is easy to find on a restaurant list. I normally would not drink French wine in Italy (Champagne does not count), but simply can’t pass up a chance to drink the 2012 Clos. It is fabulous, just as it has been every time I have had it before. Powerful, tightly wound and sizzling with both energy and depth, the 2012 is a wine for the ages. I can only hope to taste it again with a few more years of bottle age!
vinous
2012
Rating:
96
–96
The 2012 Chablis Les Clos is all about depth, intensity and tightly coiled minerality. Many years away from delivering its finest drinking, the 2012 is a rapturous wine that takes hold of all the senses and never lets up. The 2012 Clos has been magnificent on all three occasions I have tasted it so far. Readers who can find it should not hesitate, as it is superb. Patience is going to be key, though.
vinous
2012
Rating:
94
–96
A deceptively mid-weight wine, the 2012 Chablis Les Clos is superb. Weightless and ethereal at first, the 2012 fleshes out beautifully in the glass, showing a combination of power and finesse that is remarkable. Depth and richness of the fruit are implied rather than stated, like a great Picasso. An intense, persistent finish rounds out a magnificent Clos from Vincent Dauvissat.
vinous
2012
Rating:
96
–96
Bright medium yellow color; deeper than the '14. Pure and mineral-driven on the nose but much less expressive today than the 2014, hinting at lemon, grapefruit and various shades of stone. Offers more weight on entry than the 2014, then quite penetrating and very dry in the middle palate, dominated by lemony citricity and powdered stone. This brilliant calcaire wine finishes dusty, tactile and firm, with a hint of youthful bitterness. Showing little easy sweetness or early appeal, this very dry, salty wine can't match the '14 for its impeccable early balance but it should age for a long time despite its average acidity. (Dauvissat described the yield here as not a big crop due to a moderately successful flowering during cool, humid weather; between 40 and 45 hectoliters per hectare, about like 2014; acidity between 3.9 and 4.0 grams per liter; harvested on September 24):
vinous
2012
Rating:
97
–97
Bright lemon-yellow. Even brighter and higher-pitched on the nose today than the Preuses, offering scents of lemon, grapefruit pith and crushed rock. Compellingly pure and electric in the mouth, with its superb mineral density leavened by citrus and floral flavors. Boasts an uncanny combination of supple texture and sheer stony cut. The longest of all of these 2012s, with a vibrant crushed-stone finish that leaves the salivary glands humming. One of the greats of the vintage.
vinous
2012
Rating:
93
–96
Good pale lemon-yellow color. Less expressive today than the supernal Les Preuses, hinting at underripe pineapple and steely minerality. Dense, tactile and sweet; at once richer and more austere than the Preuses, with tightly coiled, very intense grapefruit and stone flavors kept under wraps by the wine's strong acidity. This is utterly unevolved today but its high class is already evident in its dense, extremely long back end, which features a citrus quality I can only describe as electric. I would not be surprised if this wine eventually exceeded the Preuses, but it's stubbornly backward right now.
vinous
2008
Rating:
96
–96
Bright medium yellow. At once penetrating and refined on the nose, with high-pitched aromas of lemon, orange zest and oyster shell accented by cinnamon and ginger spice notes. Wonderfully juicy and vibrant in the middle palate, conveying an impression of outstanding tactile density without weight. Flavors of pineapple, white pepper and salty minerality are at once generous and chewy. This beautifully balanced, fresh grand cru boasts outstanding inner-mouth energy and finishes with steadily rising length and an impression of solidity. This wine, incidentally, was spectacular from the outset. (picked on September 29 with between 12.5% and 13% potential alcohol, according to Dauvissat; 4.5 g/l acidity)
vinous
2008
Rating:
96
–96
Bright, pale yellow with green highlights. The purest and most perfumed of these 2008s, offering scents of lemon oil, pineapple, mirabelle and white pepper. Wonderfully sweet and large-scaled, even a bit youthfully monolithic today, with a flavor of pure crushed stone. This boasts outstanding grand cru weight and a finish that saturates every millimeter of the palate. A wine that's still on the starting block.
