Albert Bichot Domaine Long-Depaquit Chablis 2022

The 2022 Albert Bichot Domaine Long-Depaquit Chablis wears an inviting, bright, sun-splashed color. Fresh scents of spring flowers, white peach, citrus, and oyster shells greet the nose. Moreover, this comely Chablis delivers on the palate with the appellation’s refreshing telltale flavors: a delightful mélange of white flowers, flint, lemon zest, and a faint but beckoning scent of the sea born of Chablis’s Kimmeridgian soil. Sensuous and intriguing, the youthful 2022 Bichot Domaine Long-Depaquit Chablis finishes with panache. For optimal enjoyment, we suggest affording this generous Chablis a moderate chill (40º-45º F) before pouring and allowing it to unfold slowly in the glass. Anticipated maturity: 2024-2027. Enjoy!

The 2022 Albert Bichot Domaine Long-Depaquit Chablis makes an ideal aperitif. It also provides a classic accompaniment to oysters, shellfish, and assorted fruits de mer. Lobster, crab, and poached salmon make especially tasty pairings. This quintessential Chablis shines with sushi and sashimi, too. Many other traditional Japanese dishes, including shrimp, fish, and vegetable tempuras also provide superb accompaniments to Albert Bichot’s Domaine Long-Depaquit Chablis. Poultry, cheese risottos, and homemade pastas in cream-based sauces offer more mouthwatering matches. However, there is no drier, more refreshing Chardonnay to sip and savor with abandon than Chablis. As an added bonus, the 2022 Domaine Long-Depaquit Chablis should continue to evolve in bottle for several more years, gaining further complexity – that is if you can muster enough discipline to put a few bottles aside. Enjoy!

Established in 1791, Domaine Long-Depaquit enjoys a long and illustrious history. Purchased in 1970 by the venerable negociant Maison Albert Bichot, Domaine Long-Depaquit reigns as one of Chablis’s most prized estates. Located in the heart of the village of Chablis, the estate boasts 65 hectares (160 acres) of vineyards, all sustainably farmed. While a new eco-friendly winery was constructed at Domaine Long-Depaquit in 2014 to further advance the quality and purity of the estate’s wines, Domaine Long-Depaquit also strictly limits yields and practices minimal intervention in order to create its authentic and highly acclaimed Chablis wines. Barrel ageing, too, is kept to a minimum, to express the uniqueness of each Chablis vineyard and the appellation’s special terroir.

Domaine Long-Depaquit fashions a full range of highly rated estate wines, including this month’s feature, the 2022 Domaine Long-Depaquit Chablis, as well as a host of Premier and Grand Cru offerings. In addition to producing many fine Chablis wines, Domaine Long-Depaquit itself is worth a visit to enjoy the sheer beauty of the estate, its centuries old trees, and stunning rose garden.

Chablis is a distinct part of Burgundy as well as one of the world’s finest white wines. Since the 12th century when Cistercian monks introduced Chardonnay into the region, the name Chablis has been synonymous with outstanding white wine. It is no wonder so many generations of California producers tacked the name Chablis onto their inferior generic wares, hoping to elevate their wines in the eyes of consumers.

Today, all authentic Chablis is derived exclusively from Chardonnay grapes that are grown in Chablis’ chalky, limestone-rich soil known as Kimmeridgian. The name Kimmeridgian is in reference to an identical landmass that scientists identified in England’s Kimmeridge Bay. Chablis possesses one of the world’s greatest terroirs for the cultivation of white grapes; the appellation (A.O.C.) sits upon what was once the floor of an ancient seabed dating from the Second Jurassic Period (also known as Kimmeridgian) that now feeds the region’s Chardonnay vines. Because of its special terroir, Chablis yields unique, dry, mineral-rich wines of considerable finesse and flavor.

The French National Institute of Appellation d’Origine Controlée (A.O.C.) recognizes four distinct areas of Chablis: Petit Chablis, Chablis, Chablis Premier Cru, and Chablis Grand Cru. All offer the taster a special experience. However, in recent years it is the Chablis appellation itself that has come to fore, producing some of the region’s finest quality and value. In total, all four districts of Chablis cover just 7,000 hectares (15,400 acres). The best parcels typically occupy the region’s hillsides, making such choice parcels in Chablis and the surrounding Premier Cru and Grand Cru vineyards the most apt to produce the region’s fullest, most complex wines.