Domaine Servin
Producer web site
François Servin, along with his Australian brother-in-law Mark Cameron, direct the operations of this 30 ha domaine. Cameron's succinct take on 2008 was that while 2008 has "turned out very well, had in not been for the cool and dry weather coupled with a good north wind in September, we might have been looking at a very different outcome. We began picking on the 29th of September and brought in very clean fruit with relatively thick skins, which was also courtesy of the wind. Potential alcohols averaged around 12.5% but we did have a few wines come in close to 13%. The alcoholics were relatively long and I attribute this to the fact that the harvest weather was quite cool so naturally the grapes, and therefore the must, were also quite cool. We stirred the lees for longer than usual to try and add flesh to the wines because the acidity, even post-malo, is on the high side. The interesting thing is that from a tasting perspective, even with the high acidity the concentration is such that you don't really notice the structure. I think the '08s will be great in time as it's an old style vintage but the acid is ripe." As I have reported in the past, Cameron has been an advocate for decreasing the amount of wood used and he has been successful in this regard as it is considerably less than in the past and this trend continued in 2008 as both the Preuses and the Blanchots were raised in 100% stainless. By contrast, the Les Clos and Bougros are 100% raised in oak though not necessarily new wood. - Burghound
Francois Servin’s father, grandfather, great grandfather, great great grandfather and great great great grandfather were all named Marcel. As you see from this, tradition is important to the Servin family, which because of its long history in Chablis, owns some great parcels – four Grand Crus: Blanchots, Bougros, Les Clos and Preuses. Three premier Crus: Les Forets, Montee de Tonnerre and Vaillons. Even the parcels of village are very well situated, with their largest, les Pargues, formerly being a Premier Cru. Francois, however, while appreciating the great tradition, is starting to take some steps to bring this formerly solid, rather than spectacular-performing domaine (with the spectacular potential sites) into the forefront of Chablis. He is resuming the practices of hand harvesting (all the Grand Cru are now hand harvested; a large portion of the Premier Cru, too). For new planting, he is using uncloned Chardonnay and planting it a greater density. Some cuvees are being bottled for us with no filtration, and we are working very closely together on other ideas. Additionally, the Revue du Vin de France and The Wine Advocate have started to write promising things. Revue du Vin de France, for instance, wrote great things about the 2000 Grand Crus: "Decidedly, the Domaine Servin had a magnificent success in its 2000 vintage; its classique, careful vinification enabled it to preserve the freshness, while the great maturity of the harvest engendered softness."
As far back as the 16th century, the monks of Saint Martin cited the Servin family as vineyard owners in Chablis. Since then, successive generations have perpetuated the family's tradition and ever-evolving expertise as vineyard workers, coopers and winemakers.
from this tradition, Servin Chablis has charmed amateurs and professionals all over the world, including Alexis Lichine, the famous American wine writer and importer, with whom Servin created a historic partnership 60 years ago. Some six decades later, almost 85% of Servin Chablis is exported to all four corners of the globe.
Domaine Servin’s 36 ha 39 of vineyards are situated within the boundaries of the village of Chablis, lying solely on Kimmeridgian limestone soils, which gives the wines their incomparable minerality. The majority of the vineyards are over 40 years old. The different rootstocks of these non-cloned Chardonnay plants produce a unique style of Chablis, combining concentrated flavours and intense aromas, our guarantee of excellence.
Today, the Servin "method" is a careful mix of traditional and modern techniques. Following tradition, the finest vineyards are hand harvested and each parcel is vinified individually, in order to respect the identity and authenticity of the terroir.
Modern technology is used to produce consistently high quality wines, while retaining the inimitable “Servin” style. Each wine must find its own identity through specially adapted, tailor-made wine making.
The Domaine Servin is regularly selected in the most prestigious wine competitions and books such as the Guide Hachette, Decanter, Revue des Vins de France and the Wine Spectator. Each year the Domaine also visited by the most respected wine writers such as Stephen Tanzer, Allen Meadows, Antonio Galloni and David Schildknecht.