Favorite Producer Chablis from the "Superb" "Must Have, Must Drink" 2014 Vintage!

SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST - DOMAINE ROMAIN COLLET!

"I've known Romain Collet since he first made wines under his own domaine. Some of you may remember when he visited the store in 2012 to introduce his 2010s. I certainly remember those fantastic wines, and thought at the time, 'This guy is one to watch. These are the real deal. I haven't drunk Chablis like this since the vogue for new oak hit.' In my opinion, there is no better Chardonnay than well-made, traditional Chablis. When the winemaker lets the unique chablisienne soil of the vineyard shine through the lens of the fruit, there is nothing like it. I can tell you Romain's 2014s do exactly that. They are all sourced from estate-grown, organic fruit, vinified with native yeasts and aged in a combination of stainless steel and neutral foudre with the occasional light 'touch' of barrel.

I am excited and proud to offer his most recently released wines – and given the caliber of the 2014 Chablis vintage, they will not stick around for long, because, as the importer notes, '2014 is a must-have, must-drink, must-collect vintage in Chablis.' We expect these to arrive in store in June. This may well be one of our last 2014 Chablis offers… we are saving the best for last!" – Jim Knight, The Wine House

I visited Romain Collet in July last year, and here is what he had to say about his 2014s: "Jim, you can share with your clients my satisfaction with this release. Their personality is exact to their terroir. Our 2014s possess nerve with superb tension, all coming from our soils with that magical mineralité. There are abundant stone fruits, sea spray and salinité. It will be difficult to resist their charms now, but for those who can stand the wait, cellaring will yield incredible results over the next ten winters."

Importer's Notes: The Collet parcel of Valmur (.51ha) was planted in 1973 in the middle of the Grand Cru and faces northwest with clay-limestone. In exceptional vintages Valmur has depth and aromatic generosity like its powerhouse counterpart to the east, Les Clos. It tends to be floral/fruity over mineral. Romain's unique cooler exposure allows longer hangtime, and he is usually the last to pick. All Grand Cru wines by Romain Collet are fermented in used Burgundy barrels (2-3 years old) and aged in used Burgundy barrels (2-3 years old) for 15 months. In leaner vintages, Romain will stir the lees more frequently, but with 2014, he hardly stirred at all. Valmur 2014 brushes lemon-lime cream over the mid-palate and melts into savory-salty-tang, followed by a tart stones and rocks finish.

ACCLAIM FOR THE 2014 VINTAGE IN CHABLIS

"Two thousand fourteen is a splendid Chablis vintage that should please connoisseurs and neophytes alike. The wines were made from ripe, healthy fruit with bright natural acidity, and they offer a lovely combination of aromatic freshness and complexity, with elements of citrus and stone fruits, flowers and fresh herbs, serious density of material, piquant saline minerality and firm, long finishes. These wines are more pliant and less austere than vintages of a generation ago, but they are in the line of cooler recent years like 2012, 2010 and 2008." - Steven Tanzer, Vinous