Situated in Davayé, at the foot of the rock of Solutré, the Chavet family have 12 hectares under vine, 10 of which are in the appellation of St Véran. The current custodian, Christophe, is the sixth generation of Chavets to manage the Domaine. The vines, which average around 30 years old, are planted on stoney, clay-limestone soils facing south-east to south-west. The planting density is an unusually high 8,000 vines per hectare. After a combination of machine and hand-picking, a stringent selection and gentle pressing, the wine is simply fermented in cuve at around 18 °C for 6-7 weeks. Once the alcoholic and malolactic fermentations are completed, the wine spends a further 4-5 months in cuve, sur lie, prior to bottling the following spring. The resulting wine is fine, crisp, clean, fresh and minerally with excellent intensity and personality – rather like Christophe Chavet!
