2009 Daniel-Etienne Defaix Cote de Lechet Premier Cru Chablis 750 ml

Whenever we see one of Daniel-Etienne Defaix’s Chablis on a wine list, we order it without fail. His business model is completely nuts, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. He’s the last of a dying breed. 

Defaix refers to himself as “Le Dernier des Mohicans” or the “Last of the Mohicans,” a reference to his status as virtually the sole remaining member of the Chablis old guard who still holds back vintages for a number of years before releasing. 

Nobody else is crazy enough to age their top Premier Cru Chablis in a steel tank for over a decade before bottling it, but once you taste his 2009 Côte de Lechet Premier Cru, you’ll see exactly why he does it.

Defaix is giving you the chance to experience the incredible golden color, the interplay of citrus fruit and mineral nuance that only aged Chablis is capable of—for about HALF the price of a bottle of 2022 village Puligny. We love this wine’s floral, crushed oyster shell, sliced button mushroom scents, and aged, leesy character. It’s so rich and minerally. 

Most other village-level wineries in the region are putting 2022s on the shelves; the 2009 is a current—yes, CURRENT—release from Defaix. It’s also a great vintage in Chablis, producing powerful, long-lived wines.

“These are textural, complex wines that evoke the white Burgundies of yesteryear,” Robert Parker once wrote of Defaix’s releases, telling readers to buy on sight because “much of the production is sold to France’s best restaurants.”