Domaine Hubert Lamy Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Clos de la Chatenière Vieilles Vignes 2022

Clos de la Chatenière is one of Lamy’s prestige terroirs and historically the domaine’s best-known wine. It’s a genuine clos surrounded by dry-stone walls, sitting within the larger Chatenière vineyard in Saint-Aubin. Lamy has 1.25 hectares here, and the vines are 60 years old. Chatenière is a high, steep, south-facing vineyard set just back and around the bend from En Remilly and Les Murgers des Dents de Chien. It is worked entirely by hand because of the vineyard’s 40% slope and incredibly rocky soils. For all intents and purposes, this is a monopole, as Lamy is the only grower able to bottle a separate wine from here and label it accordingly. Colin-Morey is the only other grower with a small parcel, which he blends into his La Chatenière bottling. 

The gradient and south-facing aspect of Clos de la Chatenière ensure the vines receive plenty of light. At the same time, the rocky, limestone-rich soils (20cm of rocky topsoil over hard, compact limestone) give the wines a piercing minerality that perfectly offsets the low-yielding intensity. The 2022 is a finer, more ethereal example of this vineyard, with great harmony between the fruit and mineral elements of its persona and a finish that is rocky, powdery and sculpted as though from rock. In short, a great Clos de la Chatenière!