Les Sechets
⏳ Drinking Window
2023 - 2030
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Fresh oysters, grilled sea bass, roasted chicken with herbs.
✨ Technical Specifications
Hailing from the left bank of the Serein River, the Premier Cru 'Les Sechets' is a prized sub-climat of Vaillons, celebrated for its thin, stony soils rich in Kimmeridgian limestone and fossilized oyster shells. Patrick Piuze coaxes an incredibly tense, saline, and crystalline expression of Chardonnay from this wind-swept slope. The name 'Sechets' hints at the dry, parched nature of the stony soils, which force the vines to dig deep for nutrients. In the cellar, Piuze employs a hands-off approach, fermenting the juice with wild yeasts in old, neutral oak barrels to ensure the wood never masks the vineyard's intense mineral core. The result is a wine of striking purity, vibrating with citrus zest, wet stone, and a distinct sea-breeze salinity that pays homage to Chablis's ancient marine heritage.
🍾 About the Producer
Founded on July 1, 2008, by Quebecois vigneron Patrick Piuze, this boutique Chablis négociant-vinificateur has emerged as one of the region's most uncompromising champions of terroir. Following pivotal stints at Olivier Leflaive, Maison Verget under Jean-Marie Guffens, and Jean-Marc Brocard, Piuze established an innovative model grounded in long-term contracts with premier growers. Operating without owning vineyards, he works exclusively with old vines situated within the historical, unexpanded boundaries of Chablis. Sourcing from Kimmeridgian and Portlandian limestone slopes on both banks of the Serein River, Piuze mandates hand-harvesting, non-interventionist viticulture without chemical inputs, and early picking to preserve tension and saline freshness. Vinification is rigorously artisanal: vertical basket pressing, native yeast fermentation, and aging in neutral French oak barrels (four to eight years old) for cru bottlings or stainless steel for village wines, always bottled unfined and gently filtered. Signature releases include single-terroir village cuvées such as Les Bas de Chapelot and Plateau Cornasse, alongside premier crus like Butteaux, Forêts, and Montée de Tonnerre, and benchmark Grand Crus including Les Preuses and Blanchots.
🍇 Grapes
Chardonnay
🍷 ABV
12.5-13%