Tribut | Laurent
When Laurent Tribut married Marie-Clotilde Dauvissat, the daughter of René Dauvissat, he joined the family´s winemaking tradition. Long ago the Dauvissat´s had purchased excellent A.O.C. Chablis vineyards adjoining their own premier cru, to give their children the opportunity to become viticulturalists.
Laurent, Marie-Clotilde, and their children live only a few miles from René Dauvissat, in a large, restored farmhouse, with vineyards behind the property. Laurent is a goodnatured man whose love of the vineyards is expressed in careful viticulture, using the minimum application of fertilizers and phytosanitary treatments.
In addition to 7.907 acres of A.O.C. Chablis, which is a superb parcel of kimmeridjian soil adjacent to Dauvissat´s own vineyards, Tribut owns the following premier cru vineyards:
Chablis Beauroy 2.471 acres
Chablis Montmains 0.494 acres
Chablis Côte de Léchet 1.235 acres
Yields are kept to 50 hectoliters per hectare, and the harvest is done by hand.
The climate in the Chablis region is mostly influenced by the continental climate of the Saône region. The prevailing winds are southerly and southwesterly. They bring rain with them on about 150 - 170 days per year, with a total precipitation of 700 to 850 mm.
The average annual temperature is around 11ºC. It is not uncommon for the region to experience minimum evening tempertures of -20ºC or -25ºC in January, and evening temperatures below 0ºC at the end of April and the beginning of May. Favorable daytime temperatures of above 10ºC begin in mid-April and end around the beginning of October.
For years, Laurent Tribut´s wines were actually made in the Dauvissat cellars, in the same manner and spirit as the now legendary Dauvissat wines. Recently, however, Laurent moved his cellar to the town of Poinchy, just outside the town of Chablis. He carried with him the traditional Dauvissat styles of hand-harvesting and fermentation. The fermentation is in cuves, a percentage is aged in wood, fining five or six weeks before bottling, light filtration at the time of bottling. The wine is 100% estate-bottled and sold throughout Europe, Japan and the United States.
Tribut´s wines are immediately appealing, crisp and lively, with lovely fruit, lemony aromas, spicy apple flavors, good balance, with a silky finish. His A.O.C. Chablis is a point of reference for the appellation, while his premier cru wine is Chardonnay with all its complexity and toasty, citrusy flavors in harmony.
Available Wines
