Some of the best bottles I have had from Burgundy have been by negociants: Nicholas Potel (of course), Latour, and Drouhin. The nice thing about these producers, especially Latour and Drouhin, is that you can find their wine at any halfway decent grocery store. I just was able to try the 2003 Joseph Drouhin Chablis (I got to take home the bottle from a tasting at a restaurant and wandered the streets of Seattle with an open container. But since I did not have appropriate stemware with me, I waited until I got home to drink it)

2003 was a mad crazy year in all of France. Roasting heat all summer long, which would especially be a problem in Chablis. Chablis usually gets lumped in with Burgundy, but it is closer to Champagne (geographically). When you have a couple weeks of 100 degree temperature in Chablis, you are normally fucked. Cool climates like that of Chablis produce wines with great acidity, and lower levels of alcohol. So you might think the 2003s would be flabby and boozy. Wrong! I think they are a little off, because I am sure they acidified (added acid to) the wines after pressing the grapes. But the alcohol is only 13% (normally I would like this about 12.5). It was a decent Chablis, had some of the hallmark characteristics of minerality and restrained oak. I wouldn’t spend a lot of money on any 2003 Chablis, so this is interesting to try. If you find any 2000s, grab em, they are gold! For the sake of comparison, I would try to get a 2002 and 2003 and do a side-by-side tasting (same producer if you can). I have a 2002 from another producer that I will be writing about soon. Also a Cab Franc from Italy, something totally new to me.