The producer
Boasting a winemaking lineage stretching back to beyond 1620, the Droin’s reputation was established by 13th generation Jean-Paul and is now continued, even improved, by his son Benoit. Jean-Paul was a modernist in the Chablis movement of using new barrels, but that regime has today been reduced under son Benoit’s reign. And all to the betterment of these wines which show great purity and expression of their vineyard source whether that is Grand Cru Les Clos or Petit Chablis.
Droin is the perfect place to compare the variation that the vineyards instil in the finest of Chablis. With 13 hectares of vineyards, Droin produces 14 different wines including five Grand Crus, seven Premier Crus, communal Chablis and Petit Chablis. Each wine gets the winemaking and maturation treatment which Benoit finds suitable for the vintage and fruit quality. Les Clos usually sees 50% oak during barrel fermentation and maturation of which 10% are new. Overall, the wines are characterized by being full-bodied with creamy texture, steely freshness, and a wonderful purity of fruit.
The wine
Droin owns 4.82 hectares of, currently around 50-year-old vines, in the Vaillons premier cru. The land is south/south-east facing and the soil is chalky clay with tiny marine fossils. The wine ferments partly in stainless steel tanks, partly in barrel and then lets the wines rest for 8-10 months before bottling. Droin’s Vaillons is a forward wine with exuberant yellow orchard fruit and floral aromatics; the palate is round and lively with chiselled minerality.