2024 Jean-Paul & Benoit Droin - Chablis (750ml)
Just landed: 2024 Jean-Paul & Benoit Droin Chablis — $38.99, the lowest price in the USA
Benoît Droin doesn't get talked about enough, which is exactly why insiders love him. This Village bottling has been a perenial best-seller at the shop for many years and we love the just arrived 2024 version. Benoit's family has been making wine in Chablis since 1620, and Benoît is the 14th generation to run the domaine, having trained in Beaune and put in time at Domaine Laroche before taking over from his father. He farms nine premier crus and five grand crus across the appellation, but this bottling...straight village Chablis is where you taste his hand most directly: no oak theatrics, just pure, chiseled Kimmeridgian limestone character.
2024 was a demanding growing season in Chablis, and yields came in well below normal — but what made it into the cellar shows real precision. Taut, mineral-driven, and strikingly fresh, with pear, apple, and citrus notes leading into a clean, dry, faintly saline finish. This is what village Chablis is supposed to taste like.
It's the perfect summer white — bright acidity and briny minerality make it a natural with oysters on the half shell or a simple grilled fish. Allocations are tight this year given the reduced volumes, so don't sleep on this one. You'd be hard pressed to find a better bottle of Chard under $40- fantastic stuff!