From: Chablis, France

Varietal: Chardonnay

About, Taste & Critical Acclaim: Wine Advocate: 93 Points
Mingling aromas of citrus zest green apple and white peach with notions of nutmeg and white flowers Bessin's 2020 Chablis 1er Cru La Forêt is medium-bodied satiny and incisive with racy acids and a bright saline profile. Beautifully balanced it will offer a broad drinking window.

Jean-Claude Bessin has officially retired handing over the reins to his son Romain and what was formerly Domaine Jean-Claude Bessin has been rechristened Domaine Bessin-Tremblay.

Romain's mother source of many of the domaine's vineyards being a Tremblay.

The name may have changed but quality at this 12-hectare domaine in La Chapelle Vaupelteigne remains just as impressive. As I've written several times this estate really deserves to be talked about more as it belongs among Chablis's top half-dozen domaines.

Bessin, as he puts it loves the acidity and tension of Chablis on the condition that it's paired with substance and flesh a philosophy that's admirably translated into practice in the form of wines with cut and concentration texture and definition.

Harvesting by hand followed by fermentation and élevage in neutral wood and tank on the lees for as many as 18 months is the method by which they are produced. The resulting wines offer everything one's looking for in great Chablis.

Farming and winemaking are entirely compliant with organic certification and have been for years with the exception of one product that Bessin employs to ensure his wines don't precipitate tartrates.