Domaine Gilbert Picq et Fils

The Picq family has been working vines around the village of Chichée for generations. Although the property still carries their father Gilbert’s name, brothers Didier and Pascal are at the helm today, with Pascal running the vineyards and Didier the winery, and sister Marilyn involved in the commercial side. Together, they produce great, definitive Chablis – and even after 40 years at the estate – their enthusiasm and passion hasn’t wavered.

The vineyards are worked lutte raisonnée, and largely organically, although the Picqs prefer to use some fungicides instead of adding more copper to their soils. Pascal prunes severely and uses de-budding to reduce the yields, with every effort made to preserve older vines. There are a little over 15 hectares in total, and, while much of this is classified as only village, the quality far exceeds the modest official status.

They make three single-site bottlings (Dessus-la-Carrière, En Vaudécorse and Vauclaire), as well as a separate old-vine Chablis (from vines that are 60 to 70 years old), that age beautifully and prove the potential here. They also have parcels in two Premiers Crus, Vosgros and Vaucoupin.

The winemaking is as meticulous and minimal as the work in the vineyards, with indigenous yeast and no oak at all, with the wines just lightly filtered prior to bottling. Everything here is about channelling the quality of the fruit and sense of place of each parcel, producing unadulterated, pure expressions of Chablis at its finest. The wines are lively, brimming with stony intensity, seashells and mouth-watering minerality. Production is around 7,500 cases a year.