Vineyard Article
Vaudésir
Last edited on 4/2/2020 by LindsayM
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Vaudesir is one of the seven official climats of the Chablis Grand Cru white wine appellation. The vineyard – planted entirely to Chardonnay – sits atop the Grand Cru hill, overlooking the town of Chablis below. Vaudesir Grand Cru wines tend to be softer and more elegant than other Chablis Grand Cru wines, with floral characters rounding out Chablis' iconic minerality.
The vineyard covers 42 acres (17ha) of steep land above the Grenouilles Grand Cru site on the hill, just east of Preuses. The vineyard is shaped like an amphitheatre, and is cut through by a track known as the "Chemin des Vaudesirs", giving it a double orientation. Half of its vines face due south, with the remainder facing southwest.
This topography helps to distinguish Vaudesir from other vineyard sites, as the steep slopes provide some protection from northerly winds and vines instead benefit from good exposure to sunlight. This moderates temperatures in the cool Chablis climate, giving Vaudesir a favorable mesoclimate where grapes can develop phenolic ripeness alongside acidity. This leads to balanced wines with lighter body than some of its more exposed neighbors.
Another crucial factor in the Vaudesir terroir is the soils, which tend to be lighter than in the other Grand Cru climats. Although they are still based on the same Kimmeridgian subsoil that sits beneath the rest of the Grand Cru hill, soils in Vaudesir tend toward clay rather than limestone. The lower proportions of limestone here have led to a wine with a more refined minerality: Vaudesir Grand Cru wines lack the muscularity of Les Clos or Valmur wines.
Vaudesir is home to the La Moutonne vineyard: a six-acre (2.5ha) site that is not officially part of the AOC law, but is often considered to be the eighth Chablis Grand Cru.
Vaudesir is one of the seven official climats of the Chablis Grand Cru white wine appellation. The vineyard – planted entirely to Chardonnay – sits atop the Grand Cru hill, overlooking the town of Chablis below. Vaudesir Grand Cru wines tend to be softer and more elegant than other Chablis Grand Cru wines, with floral characters rounding out Chablis' iconic minerality.
The vineyard covers 42 acres (17ha) of steep land above the Grenouilles Grand Cru site on the hill, just east of Preuses. The vineyard is shaped like an amphitheatre, and is cut through by a track known as the "Chemin des Vaudesirs", giving it a double orientation. Half of its vines face due south, with the remainder facing southwest.
This topography helps to distinguish Vaudesir from other vineyard sites, as the steep slopes provide some protection from northerly winds and vines instead benefit from good exposure to sunlight. This moderates temperatures in the cool Chablis climate, giving Vaudesir a favorable mesoclimate where grapes can develop phenolic ripeness alongside acidity. This leads to balanced wines with lighter body than some of its more exposed neighbors.
Another crucial factor in the Vaudesir terroir is the soils, which tend to be lighter than in the other Grand Cru climats. Although they are still based on the same Kimmeridgian subsoil that sits beneath the rest of the Grand Cru hill, soils in Vaudesir tend toward clay rather than limestone. The lower proportions of limestone here have led to a wine with a more refined minerality: Vaudesir Grand Cru wines lack the muscularity of Les Clos or Valmur wines.
Vaudesir is home to the La Moutonne vineyard: a six-acre (2.5ha) site that is not officially part of the AOC law, but is often considered to be the eighth Chablis Grand Cru.