Didier and Pascal Picq ( Chablis ): "We are draconian in our vineyard work."

Q: Didier Picq, you settled here very young, in 1976 with your father, and you, Pascal, two years later. The Chablis region wasn't what it is today…

Didier Picq: In 1976, most of the production was still sold to local wine merchants. Then came 1981, an average year, with frost and falling prices… We had a fifty-hectoliter tank left in the cellar. We decided to bottle it and that same year began selling wines in the USA through a subsidiary of Crédit Agricole. After that, we worked to raise our profile, continuing until the mid-1990s, and from that point on, we bottled 100% of our wine at the estate.

Q: What were your technical priorities at the beginning?

Pascal Picq: Our father was draconian in his work in the vineyards and, to give just one example, but a telling one, plantings were done primarily through selection massale and sometimes in clone form, but of high quality. Today, on our fourteen hectares, we only have about two in clonal selection.

DP: You can't cheat when you put your name on a bottle.

Q: You don't use any oak barrels. Since the beginning?

DP: No, I did some trials between 1986 and 1990. Some customers liked it, but not us, so the oak barrel was banned from the cellar from the beginning of the 1990s. We have magnificent stony, mineral terroirs and masking them with wood was heresy.

Q: What has changed the most in your thirty years as a winemaker? Chablis ?

DP: Climate, above all other technical parameters. If there's one thing we consistently lacked even twenty years ago, it was ripeness. We have to take responsibility for what we do, and anyone who claims to have never chaptalized their wines…

PP: It still happens, but it's much rarer. The approach to ripeness has changed, and we pay much more attention to it since 1996. That year, the grapes had an alcohol content of 12 or 12.5 degrees, but they weren't ripe. Today, we don't just rely on analyses; we taste the berries, the seeds, the juice, we look at the appearance of the grapes… We monitor all of that closely.

Q: Has the evolution of equipment and techniques also allowed for the refinement of wines?

DP: Undoubtedly, a good pneumatic press, a sorting table… Since 2005, we've been sorting all the grapes on a table to avoid crushing them and to control what goes into the press. All of this is a step in the right direction; however, when you see the rudimentary conditions under which wines were produced in the past and how they are preserved, it raises some questions.

PP: The vine gives back everything you give it, and if the work in the vineyards has always been draconian at domaine We are more precise today than we were thirty years ago, in terms of size, bud removal, soil analysis and doses of amendments, etc.

DP: The plant is the most important thing, and you're not going to make great wines by investing fortunes in ultra-modern equipment. I don't believe that for a second. The precision of the work in the vineyard is the key; 90% of the quality of the wine is in the bottle.

Q: Were you tempted, and was it possible in the 1970s-1980s-1990s to Chablis Why plant a lot of vines to have thirty or forty hectares?

DP: The domaine It's grown from four or five hectares in the early 1980s to fourteen today. We often talk about it, and if we had to do it all over again, we'd probably stay at seven or eight hectares. We go to the vineyards as much as our guys do, and we're really demanding about how we work; it wouldn't be sustainable with thirty or forty hectares.

Q: Have your customers' expectations changed?

DP: Yes, today they want to taste the wine, but also go and see the vineyards, which was not the case before.

PP: You need to be transparent about what you do, and that doesn't pose a problem for us.

Q: You are still less concerned by the star treatment that is taking over the major appellations of Côte-d'Or, by the crazy prices of certain bottles?

DP: Nothing to do with it; to live happily, live hidden, and that's more relevant than ever. That being said, we must recognize that what's happening in Meursault Puligny-Montrachet… is beneficial for Chablis We kind of "followed the trend," remaining reasonable I think, but we never imagined we'd be able to sell Premier Cru wines for €30 a bottle. Now, we get a lot of requests from people who say they can no longer afford to buy wine in the Côte-d'Or. So I have the feeling we've reached our limit, but oh well…

Q: What will be the major challenge of the next thirty years?

PP: The climate! The vines already struggle to withstand extreme weather, and it's going to get even more complicated if this trend continues. As for the "new" grape varieties, before there was Sacy everywhere that never ripened, but perhaps with global warming…

DP: I have the same impression. We can manage many things, but not the climate. This year, we have historic mildew pressure; in 2019 and 2020, it was heat and drought. And next year, in fifteen years?

Photographs: Domaine Gilbert Picq and Sons

Reference points

Headquarters: Chichée (Chablis region – 89)

Domaine of 14 hectares, 100% in chardonnay .

Key designations: Chablis villages and Premier Cru Vaucoupin and Vosgros.

The tasting

Chablis - Villages Above the Quarry 2017

There cuvée It comes from two plots planted in 1970 and 1971, totaling two hectares. "The vines are well-established on very stony soil; this results in good balance, and for me, the 2017 vintage is a model of its kind," comments Didier Picq. Fresh aromas of yellow fruit and flowers, on that iodine background that we love in wines from Chablis An archetypal mouth, rich, taut, with a superb "shell-marine" background.

Chablis - Villages Vaudécorse 2015

The one-hectare plot was planted in 1980; it has a typical, homogeneous Kimmeridgian soil: "Thirty centimeters of fine soil on a pile of very well-draining stones," explains Pascal Picq. Aromas of candied citrus, flowers, and spices... The wine is full-bodied, rich, and smooth, while maintaining a beautiful balance and a very pure, saline finish.

Chablis Premier Cru Vaucoupin 2012

THE domaine The estate cultivates 60 ares in a single block, on a steep slope, in this area geologically and geographically close to Vaudécorse. This 2012 vintage is the "wow" wine of the tasting, with a brilliant golden color, ripe and precise aromas of candied lemon, orange tart, and white flowers, with a hint of sea air. The palate is concentrated, revealing the sweetness of juicy, luscious fruit, the freshness of citrus, a beautiful length, and great finesse.

Chablis - Villages Old Vines 2010

There cuvée This wine represents the production of three plots (90 ares in total) planted in 1951, 1953, and 1955. Aromas of candied fruit, yellow fruit, and turmeric... The wine is dense and extracted, with a slightly tannic character and a beautiful balance. Decant and/or cellar for a few more years.

Chablis Old Vines 2007

A challenging vintage, in which the old vines exhibit aromas of sweet flowers and saffron, a light, rounded, and luscious attack on the palate, evolving towards a more austere finish. The wine remains enjoyable nonetheless.

Chablis - Villages 2004

“The grapes were sometimes shriveled, not always fully ripe, so we did some sorting, but the vintage convinced us to buy a sorting table,” explains Didier. The wine reflects this very challenging vintage, with a certain rigor, and one is almost tempted to wait a little longer. You never know…

Chablis Premier Cru Vaucoupin

A change of pace with the beautiful and abundant 1999 vintage. A lovely, evolved golden hue. A soft, delicate nose of spices, flowers, and mineral-iodine notes… A superb palate, with a patinated, luscious fruitiness, both sweet and fresh, an ethereal quality, and a beautiful saline finish.

Chablis - Villages 1998

A lovely, complex nose, sweet, aniseed, spicy, orangey, with a hint of iodine… Plenty of substance, dry extract on the palate, tension, and mineral purity in this well-defined wine. A delightful surprise!

Chablis Premier Cru Vosgros 1997

A vibrant golden-orange robe. Aromas of candied fruit, spices… The palate is straightforward, pure, juicy, precise, saline, typical and very pleasant with its still juicy fruitiness.

Chablis Premier Cru Vosgros 1994

To say that 1994 was a "complicated" vintage is a gross understatement. Nevertheless, this wine has aged beautifully, with those pleasing spicy-saffron aromas returning, complemented by notes of dried fruit. The palate is light, juicy, pure, and possesses a delicate minerality.

Christophe TUPINIER

Publishing Director