Clos de la Chatenière is one of Lamy’s prestige terroirs and historically its best-known wine. The clos is enclosed by dry-stone walls within the larger Chatenière vineyard in St-Aubin. Lamy has 1.25 hectares here, and the vines are 60 years old. For all intents and purposes, this is a monopole, as Lamy is the only grower able to bottle a separate wine from here and label it accordingly. Colin-Morey is the only other grower with a small parcel, which he blends into his La Chatenière bottling. But the walls and location of the clos (apart from the age of vines and farming and winemaking) mean the two wines should not be compared directly. Regardless, this is a high, steep, south-facing vineyard set just back and around the bend from En Remilly and Les Murgers des Dents de Chien. It is worked entirely by hand because of the vineyard’s 40% slope and incredibly rocky soils.
The gradient and south-facing aspect of Clos de la Chatenière ensure the vines receive plenty of light. At the same time, the rocky, limestone-rich soils (20cm of rocky topsoil over hard, compact limestone) give the wines a piercing minerality that perfectly offsets the low-yielding intensity. The 2021 is a wonderful, tightly wound example. Thanks to the frost, yields were down to 15 hl/ha (i.e., crazy low!)