Eleni & Edouard Vocoret - Chablis 1er Cru Forets 2023
Price: $109.96
| Producer | Eleni & Edouard Vocoret |
| Country | France |
| Region | Burgundy |
| Subregion | Chablis |
| Varietal | Chardonnay |
| Vintage | 2023 |
| Sku | 604048 |
| Size | 750ml |
Édouard Vocoret and his wife Eleni launched their own domaine in 2013 after meeting during the 2010 harvest in New Zealand and returning home to Chablis to farm a small portion of the Vocoret family holdings. Beginning with just 3.3 hectares, they set out with a clear purpose: work closely in the vineyards, farm sustainably, and bottle individual sites separately so each parcel could speak for itself. The modest size of the estate allowed them to know every row intimately, and from the outset their wines carried the energy of a new generation in Chablis — precise, site-transparent, and restrained in the cellar.
The Vocoret name itself runs deep in the region, with family roots stretching back to the mid-19th century. While the historic Domaine Vocoret & Fils today oversees extensive vineyards, Édouard and Eleni intentionally chose a more artisanal path, focusing on farming first and minimal intervention afterward. Influenced in part by mentorship from Vincent Dauvissat, they prioritize healthy fruit, balanced ripeness, and patient élevage to express mineral clarity rather than cellar technique. In 2023, Édouard inherited an additional five hectares — including premier crus and grand crus — bringing the estate to roughly ten hectares and allowing them to deepen their terroir-driven approach while remaining faithful to their hands-on philosophy.
Forêts, from two parcels planted in 1975 and 1988, is the most linear, taut, and firmly structured with a chiseled backbone built for aging.
Wine Advocate: 92-94 Points
Issuing from two old-vine plots at the top of the climat (planted in 1967 and 1981), totaling 0.9 hectares and characterized by clay-limestone soil, Eleni & Edouard Vocoret’s 2023 Chablis 1er Cru La Forest strikes a balance between the warm roundness of Vaillons and the tauter, more reductive profile of Butteaux. Soaring from the glass with a bouquet of citrus oil, beeswax and oyster shell, it’s a terrific effort—medium to full-bodied, energetic and tense, with ample reserves of chalky structuring extract, a bright, even incisive spine of acidity and a long, searingly saline finish. This superb, harmonious wine has navigated the vintage with ease in its debut year and offers plenty of complexity and exceptional length, deserving special attention.
Vinous Media: 91-93 Points
The 2023 Chablis Forest 1er Cru comes from two parcels of around 0.85 hectares in total. It is the most muted on the nose tasted from barrel despite rigorous coaxing. The palate is lightly spiced on the entry, slight viscous in quality, tightly-wound, perhaps not quite as expressive as the Séchets at the moment. A second barrel was far more expressive, with a touch of reduction, and a faint note of fennel emerging with time. The palate is more concentrated and articulated with a slight pepperiness on the finish.
Burghound: 91-93 Points
A wafting and airy nose freely reveals its aromas of citrus rind, essence of pear, algae and brine. The highly seductive and impressively concentrated, especially for the vintage, flavors coat the palate with sappy dry extract even though the palate impression is not quite as rich as that of the Butteaux while displaying excellent power on the clean, dry and sneaky long finale. This too should amply repay medium-term cellaring.
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