Notes of anise and mint, with demure hints of fruit, yet this is a wine of texture, detail and drive, demanding time. Very powerful and expansive, with a stony, phenolic drag across a prodigiously long finish. Wonderful performance. Best after 2028.

An example of purity and stony tension, Vincent Dauvissat’s 2022 Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses is the crowning achievement of an extraordinary portfolio. With an understated Chablisien character, it opens in the glass to reveal a marine bouquet of oyster shell and iodine mingling with lemon zest and white flowers. Refined and laden with incisive acids, an abundance of chalky structuring extract and with a persistent, searingly saline finish, it is more ethereal and elegant than Les Clos yet possesses all the prerequisites to age as gracefully—provided the cork holds. Vincent Dauvissat is one of the greatest vignerons in France, producing some of the most soulful wines not just in Chablis but across the entire Burgundy region. Dauvissat, who once considered a career as a shepherd, ultimately became a vigneron and, though technically retired, remains a vital presence at his eponymous domaine. His personality, both meditative and meticulous, is reflected in his wines, which, provided the cork holds well, are incredibly long-lived. (KK) 97+

The name of the vineyard is a version Pierreuses, referencing the huge blocks of stone underneath a reasonable marly topsoil. The 2022 displays a really complex nose, a bit of sun on the stones, the cailloux chauds of the amphitheatre in which Vincent Dauvissat’s holding sits. Then follows a massive development of fruit on the palate too. There is really a huge volume of fruit at the back, with a little iodine touch throughout. Makes one salivate! *5 Stars*