Domaine Jean Dauvissat Père & Fils

The Domaine was founded in 1955 in the tiny village of Milly, a six-minute drive from "downtown" Chablis, by Jean Dauvissat. Fabien Dauvissat is the grandson of Jean and the current owner and winemaker for the Domaine. There is no relation to Vincent Dauvissat - there are five different Dauvissat families, with four producing and selling wine. Fabien took over for his father in 2009, who was selling wine in bulk at the time. He had two specific goals when he took over the Domaine. The first was to overhaul the farming from conventional to organic. The second was to rebuild the brand and expand its export markets.Production: Today, the Domaine owns 22 HA in Chablis over seven communes and 53 different parcels. They believe that their vines present a comprehensive reflection of the appellation with both banks of the vineyards made. They produce about 45k-60k bottles annually.
Viticulture: Fabien stopped using pesticides in the vineyards when he took over in 2009. He started working organically in 2014 which was motivated by preserving the health of his vineyard workers and family. He didn't want to put his teams' health at risk by using chemicals. He applied for organic certification in 2018 and is already working biodynamically. He is going for Demeter certified as soon as he is able. They currently have ten team members working the vines with an effort to work in biodiversity. They work with horses and plant various vegetables and legumes in and around the vineyard.
Vinification: The philosophy of the vinification is to work as naturally as possible in the cellar in order to showcase the nuances of their terroirs. Grapes are harvested at optimal ripeness and sorted in the winery. The grapes undergo natural yeast fermentation separately by parcel in stainless steel tanks. Sulfur is minimally used according to the biodynamic calendar. There is an extended 1 to 2-year lees ageing. Almost no wood is used except for Cuvée Claire.