2018 Domaine Raoul Gautherin Vaudésirs Grand Cru Chablis 750 ml

Domaine Gautherin’s 2018 Vaudésirs takes perfect measure of Chablis Grand Cru and delivers a tour de force surpassing our already high expectations for the category. There’s simply nothing like it. And it’s an extremely rare retail find. 

This is only the second time in our history that we’ve offered any Vaudésir. Most of the Gautherin stays in France, and what’s been brought into the U.S. has gone straight to restaurants. 

So while it’s hard to call a nearly 500-year-old Chablis house a discovery, we are blowing the lid off a well-kept French secret. Raoul Gautherin is an absolute pearl. 

Never have we offered a better lens onto what New York Times writer Eric Asimov called “the world’s most distinctive Chardonnay.” Chablis at its best expresses a majestic character that is impossible to replicate in any other region (although many have tried). And while Gautherin may not be the most famous name to American ears, they stand proudly among the best in the game. 

Father-and-son team Alain and Adrien Gautherin joined forces in 2008 and have since transformed the estate into its modern incarnation of top-tier production. They farm holdings in three grand cru climats and three premier crus, nurturing each with the site specificity required to achieve meticulously detailed, high-definition wines.

Of the seven total climats in Chablis Grand Cru, Vaudésir stands apart with a characteristic fleshiness in the attack that grows long and lean on the saline finish. Not every vintage nor every producer finds its way through this essential tension. But in the 2018 Gautherin, we recognized it immediately: noble finesse and delicate power define this wine from start to finish. 

It opens with fresh lemon, green apple, and honeysuckle aromas that expand with the initial weight in the mouth. The supple texture is supremely inviting, evoking bright stone fruit and almond before drawing in gently toward a more classic, penetrating, austere core. The finale erupts like spindrift from a passing wave, salt air clinging to the soft palate. It’s a little hard to explain, but we found an overwhelming sense of hope in this wine, something pure and cleansing that reminded us why we do what we do. 

For Gautherin, Vaudésirs means a balance between opposing forces. They harvest two acres of 50-year-old vines, split between the vineyard’s unique southern (warm, ripe) and northern (steely, cool) exposures. After fermentation, one-third of the wine spends a year in oak, encouraging the grapes’ natural richness and elegant structure—similar to Dauvissat or Raveneau. The rest comes up in stainless steel, allowing for a quieter but more frank expression. The last act is to bring it all together into harmony, blending the various élevages and aging the wine another ten months on its lees. The result defies mere chemistry. 

Some of that magic comes from the strength of the 2018 vintage. Warm without ever getting hot, the season played right into the Gautherins’ restrained style. And their effort has all the hallmarks of a breakout performance.