Thomas Pico’s organically farmed Chablis 1er Cru from Butteaux, raised with long, low‑impact élevage for a flinty, saline, tightly focused style.
The vineyards are farmed with organic principles and the fruit is harvested by hand with careful sorting. Grapes are gently pressed and vinified using indigenous yeasts — ferments and elevage are typically carried out in neutral/old oak barrels and a mix of concrete or stainless vessels depending on the cuvée. The Butteaux 1er Cru is aged in older oak for roughly a year, often followed by further maturation in tank or concrete vats; sulphur use is minimal and bottling is usually after extended élevage, giving a focused, saline Chablis with oak restraint rather than overt oakiness.
Notes on the producer
Domaine Pattes Loup is the project of Thomas Pico, working in Chablis from a number of premier-cru and village parcels (including Montmains, Côte de Jouan, Beauregard and the famed Butteaux). Pico works low-yield, old-vine sites on Kimmeridgian (fossil-rich) soils and pursues a careful, organic approach in the vineyard. In the cellar he favours indigenous ferments, gentle handling (small-lot pressing and careful sorting) and ageing in older oak, concrete and stainless depending on the wine — an approach that emphasises terroir, minerality and tension more than overt new-oak character. His Butteaux 1er Cru is a small-production, highly regarded expression of Chablis and frequently sought after by collectors and restaurants.
