We have a beautiful Fourchaume that we just tasted from Dampt Freres yesterday. Established in 1980, the three Dampt brothers and one of their wives work together to make great wines under the Dampt name. Each person has their specialty, from winemaking to vineyard machinery to organic farming. Their collaboration enables them to focus solely on one aspect of the process rather than having one person handle everything, with 2022 being an excellent vintage from this renowned address. Fourchaume’s southwest-facing slopes on Kimmeridgian limestone consistently yield ripe, mineral-driven wines, and the 2022 vintage was warm and dry but balanced, producing concentrated yet fresh wines with good tension. Dampt vinifies the Fourchaume in stainless steel to preserve purity and expression of site, with a brief élevage on fine lees. The result is a precise Chablis with crisp citrus, green apple, and pronounced saline minerality, offering both immediate appeal and short- to mid-term aging potential. It is also a rare wine, and the majority of the production here stays in Europe, with very limited importation to the US. This Domaine is doing great things, and the past few vintages here have gotten nice notes from John Gilman. This is following suit as a lovely example of a classic, terroir-driven Premier Cru Chablis at a competitive price. 

John Gilman 92 points! "I have always liked the Dampt brothers’ bottling of Fourchaume, which I find a bit more defined by its underlying minerality than many examples of Fourchaume. The 2022 version is excellent, coming in at an even thirteen percent octane and delivering a fine bouquet of pear, fresh lime, chalky minerality, dried flowers, a touch of straw and a topnote of beeswax. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, focused and complex, with lovely depth of fruit at the core, fine mineral undertow, a very good spine of acidity and a long, well balanced and classy finish. This is a fine, fine example of Fourchaume. (Drink between 2024-2045)"