TN: 2006 Daniel-Etienne Defaix - Chablis 1er "Côte de Léchet" (France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru)

2006 Daniel-Etienne Defaix Chablis 1er Cru Côte de Léchet - France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru (3/23/2021)
– popped and poured –
– tasted non-blind over 3.5 hours –

NOSE: initially, tight-to-moderately expressive; no reduction or sulfur, but for a hint of matchstick; nothing particularly noteworthy on the Nose – just standard Chablis, and on the shy side.

BODY: medium bodied; medium golden yellow color.

TASTE: high acidity; good mineral; an apparent hint of TCA (a thought I’d later dismiss); fairly lean on the fruit; that slight TCA note did seem to be gone at the 3 hour mark, so who knows what that was/is — maybe TCA, maybe not. Overall, somewhat of a frustrating bottle.

sorry to hear. 05 has been exceptional.

I have one more waiting in the wings; will be interesting to see if that one shows better. I actually accepted these in lieu of a couple '05s I ordered; sounds like a bad deal for me.

That sucks. Been through almost two cases of ’05 Defaix and haven’t found issues with any bottles. Haven’t had any ‘06s though. Hopefully your other bottles are in better shape

I had one of these earlier this week, it’s definitely not as ripe as the 05. I still enjoyed the hell out of though. No flaws or anything like that.

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I have this in my glass right now! (I’m a bit late to the game due to missing my 2020 Spring visit to Chablis due to lockdown in France).

It’s definitely showing younger than the 2005 did at the same age, which is a bit of a surprise given the often rather exotic vintage—even if the site and winemaking go a long way towards explaining that. To me it’s on the same level, though, and with more to come in the future, offering up a very classic aromatic profile and lovely cut & texture on the palate.

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Good to hear. Just grabbed some more from The Bottle List offer this week.
Great value in these wines.

hard to resist the price . . . right behind you.

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Had the ‘06 Vaillon on Mother’s Day and it was fabulous, perfectly mature, yellow fruits and salty edged, jasmine, just right.