raoul gautherin & fils
The GPS took us to the old Gautherin address in the center of Chablis, to an aging, rundown building just around the corner from Au Fils de Zinc–arguably the region’s top restaurant. Something didn't feel right, so we checked the address in our email from Nathalie Gautherin that pointed to a winery about 500 meters away from the town center, and just off the main road to Auxerre.
Even though the old winery had been abandoned, the new one, constructed in 2017 and looking more like our own warehouse, was marked on the outside with: “Domaine Raoul Gautherin–since 1585.”
What was going on?
Nathalie (the mother) giggled when we brought this up, saying she didn’t want her husband and son to put that sign up, but now appreciates the irony. “What we DO is old”, she argued. “It doesn’t matter WHERE we do it.”
The estate is made up of approximately 16 hectares (about 40 acres), and features parcels in 3 Grand Cru and 7 premier Cru sites. In many ways it is an unparalleled collection of vineyards, and is clearly befitting one of the longest-serving families in Chablis.