Domaine Christophe et Fils

Sebastien Christophe is the man of mystery in Chablis. He’s come from nearly nowhere and has quietly been climbing the ladder of Chablis stars. His winery is out of town and next to Petit Chablis vineyards that are up-slope from the Grand Crus and a few of the famous premier crus he works with.

He started with a small half hectare parcel of Petit Chablis from his family and decided to make a run for it. After finishing winemaking school, he started to vinify this tiny parcel. Slowly he has acquired pieces of land as well as renting pieces that he farms entirely. Today, he has three premier crus on the right bank of the Serein river, Fourchaume, Mont de Milieu and Montée de Tonnerre.

Despite being such a young estate the quality and exacting nature of his work has meant that his wines are eagerly sought out and quickly sold out despite him being completely unknown by the media. His success has come completely by word of mouth!
As a man Sebastien is energetic and quizzical, perhaps even restless but it is easy to see he has that special 'je ne sais quoi' found in all the best winemakers. Every aspect of his viticulture and vinification is thought out and effected with precision.

There is nuance and fine detail in his wines that please and tease and they are nicely concentrated thanks to Sebastien's understanding of the importance of low yields.

Sebastien conducts the alcoholic and malolactic fermentation in steel, and ages the wine in steel (with a mix of older barrels for the 1er Crus). He looks for elegance, length, purity and minerality in his wines and has extremely exacting standards with the result that the quality is sensational. PWS