How long do people generally age a premier cru Chablis? I am thinking 5-7 years, but wonder what the consensus is - I like a little bit of secondary savoury development. I am talking about the 2018s in particular.
I know we’re all tired of discussing and thinking about premox, but in the last two decades or so, that has been the real governor on how long you can hold these wines. I just poured two 2007 White Burgs down the drain this weekend.
If you feel, because of DIAM or anything else, that you are safe enough from premox going forward, then I think we at least arrive at your actual question. I tend to agree with you that 5-7 years may start to get you into some early development, but then good wines from good vintages could really develop further from there.
Thanks Chris. Just pondering some Duplessis wines and thinking that DIAM should make it safe to age awhile but unsure about how long.
The premox thing also makes it very producer dependent. I haven’t seen any issue with Louis Michel so I’m aging mine. I think Fevre had some issues with premox for instance so I would do some research before laying those down. Brocard has had issues and I wouldn’t age those more than 5 years.
Daniel-Etienne Defaix is a producer that holds their release until they think they are ready. Right now they are releasing their 2005s and '06s premier cru. For whatever reason, I’ve had less of an issue with Chablis premox than the rest of white Burgundy. This is a current release:
I’ve had terrible luck with premox in Chablis, to the point where I’m almost done buying/drinking anything other than current vintage. I’ve poured so much Robin and Puize down the drain in particular, that I’ve all but sworn them off.
While I have never cellared a lot of it, I also had bad experience with premox to the extent that I stopped buying several years ago. I thought it might be time to take a flier on the new technology and dip my toe back in. The other thing that always deterred me was that I do not like high levels of sulfur. The Chablis fans seem to have become acclimated to that to the extent that they often no longer even see it or comment on it.
Fevre and Bouchard started using Diam some years ago.
I have had horrible experiences aging Fevre. 2008 was a 50-50 shot across the whole line-up.
Came here to recommend Daniel-Etienne Defaix. Huge plus one for their wines. They hold up extremely well and the current releases still have plenty of live left in them.
Fevre is all under diam as of 2010, and I have seen NO reports of premox since 2010, so it’s now actually perhaps one of the safest producers. In a significant vintage, I would say 5-7 years is when one could start into your premier crus, if you want to be seeing some of the effects of maturity, and if you are not concerned about premox. A few producers wines shut down somewhat in the 3-6 year time frame (eg Dauvissat), so sometimes starting in earlier involves a bit of a penalty. 2018 is not really a classic year, so who knows. they may drink well earlier.
I generally prefer them at 10-15 years of age, when they have developed complexity and integrated, but when the acidity is still there and they aren’t too honeyed. But I’ve had older ones that were delicious, just depends on producer, vineyard and vintage.
I’m also in the “age them” camp. I prefer development. Typically 10 year minimum.
I am not sure that the 2018s will age as well as other vintages. I have only had a couple but they did not seem to have the focus of most Chablis vintages.
But, then again, I don’t know how anyone can answer the OP’s question about Chablis premier crus. Really, how similar would the aging curves for premier crus from say Brocard and Raveneau be?
Yes, for my own purposes, 10-12 years is where I tend to start. Partly this is because I have plenty of chablis, and have the luxury to do it this way. But in suggesting for someone who is starting out and doesn’t have stocks to fall back on, I think they can start sampling at an earlier point.
Old info needs to be corrected…
Both Fèvre (since 2010 for the whole range) and Brocard (2011) are for a long time with DIAM - zero issue regarding premox today. Though for those of you comparing aging curves with ‘natural’ cork - you should add 2-3 years as the DIAM-sealed bottles age (but properly age) more slowly.
For my taste 12s have come around much earlier than I would have expected but still are young, crystalline and taut - it’s my most favourite vintage that I’ve tasted in situ. 13s have been attractive for years, 14s are really babies. 15s drink quite well and younger wines, apart for villages on hot summer days (actually there have been a lot of those 
) I hardly touch.