Chablis

The northernmost outpost of greater Burgundy, the Chablis appellation claims its fame from its Kimmeridgian soil - a grey marl with limestone and a multitude of tiny, fossilized oyster shells – which dates back to the Upper Jurassic age and gives the Chardonnay based white wines, from Chablis, a distinct steely saline freshness. Portlandian soil is the other type found in Chablis, it is not so rich in clay and fossils and produce more fruity wines with less finesse and mineral notes than those produced on Kimmeridgian soil. 

It was the Medieval church, notably Cistercian monks, who, in the 12^th and 13^th centuries, established viticulture in Chablis. By 1537, the wines were renowned throughout France. Fast forward some centuries to 1955, after the World Wars, when the Chablis vineyards were reduced to just 550 hectares. However, by 1970, thanks to especially the introduction of frost protection methods for the vines (which due to the marginal climate are particularly vulnerable to frost events in the spring), production began to grow again.

The town of Chablis and 19 surrounding villages make up the roughly 5,800-hectare Chablis appellation and are located over 100 kilometres to the northwest of the heart of Burgundy. Chablis is in fact closer to the southern Champagne vineyards and those of Sancerre in the Loire Valley, than to the rest of Burgundy.  The climate of Chablis is semi-continental with no maritime influence, and winters are long and cold.

The appellation has four ranks of which the top is Grand Cru Chablis and covers 105 hectares spread over 7 vineyards located on a southwest facing slope just outside the town of Chablis. Premier Cru is the next rank which covers 784 hectares spread over 40 vineyards (roughly subdivided into 80 sites, some of which can use the more famous vineyard names). Further down the ranks we find the Chablis commune appellation and then finally Petit Village. All the Grand Cru and many of the Premier Cru vineyards are on Kimmeridgian soils, while the outlying vineyards of Petit Chablis are all on Portlandian soils.

The Chardonnay grape variety is made in different ways in Chablis but always with a recognizable austerity and flintiness. Some producers prefer to vinify only in stainless steel thus preserving the purest flavour of Chablis with a firm core of acidity and mineral gunflint character; whereas other producers ferment and/or mature the wine in barrel – mostly using older barrels, which adds a level of complexity to the wine.

Young unoaked Chablis is a very good aperitif, but also works incredibly well with raw oysters, poached or cold poached fish, sushi/sashimi, salads, and also white poultry dishes and goat’s cheese. Richer, oak-aged styles of Chablis tend to go well with meaty white fish dishes such as halibut, dover sole, monkfish, Chilean seabass and similar, while also working well with meaty seafoods like lobster and scallop, but also goes well with chicken in creamy sauces or with mushrooms, and hard cow cheeses.

Grand Cru vineyards

There are seven official grand cru vineyards in Chablis, covering 105 hectares of land which are spread over a southwest facing slope just outside the town of Chablis. Here, we currently focus on three of the Grand Cru vineyards: Les Clos, Vaudesir and Les Preuses.

 Les Clos Grand Cru

With 26.96 hectares, Les Clos is the largest of Chablis’ seven Grand Cru vineyards. This is the crown prince of Chablis’ Grand Cru  – not only in size – but also for the wines produced. It would be rare, perhaps unique, for a producer of Les Clos to claim any of his other wines to be consistently superior.

The wines produced tends to be the fullest bodied expressions of Chablis Grand Cru and has incredible intensity, purity and depth. Les Clos benefits from being decanted a little while before consumption and can also benefits being served in burgundy glasses.

Les Preuses Grand Cru

Les Preuses forms a wedge between Bougros and Vaudesir, at the northern end of the Grand Cru slope. The slope is gentle at the bottom of the hill but becomes increasingly steep towards the top. This is one of the smallest Grand Cru vineyards, with 11.4 hectares, and the aspect is west to southwest facing thus catching the warmer afternoon sun and producing a fuller bodied style of Chablis. Les Preuses is known as being rounder and less aromatic, with less gunflint minerality than the other Grand Crus.

Vaudesir Grand Cru

Vaudesir covers around 15.5 hectares and is located in a natural amphitheatre, with a south facing slope enjoying optimal ripening conditions and a north facing slope which is cooler and thus has later ripening fruit. Vaudesir’s soil is rich in clay, with the subsoil a classic Kimmeridgian marl limestone.

Vaudesir is a wine of significant body and power, with high stony gunflint minerality and always balanced by incredible nerve and freshness.

Premier Cru vineyards

There are 40 Premier Cru vineyards in Chablis – in total covering 784 hectares – the lesser known of which can use more famous umbrella vineyard names on the label if they so desire (famous umbrella vineyard names are Montmains, Fourchaume, and Valmur). Here we currently focus on four Premier Cru vineyards: La Foret, Vaillons, Butteaux, and Montee de Tonnerre.

La Foret Premier Cru

Also spelled La Foret or Foret, this Premier Cru is located on the western side of the Serein River on a south-facing hill just outside of the town of Chablis. It lies in between the Premier Crus of Butteaux and Montmains and is thus part of the larger 118-hectare umbrella vineyard of Montmains. La Forest is stonier and shallower than the other vineyards and has a south-east aspect which means that the wines are exposed to the less intense morning sun and are leaner in body than wines from south-western aspect vineyards.

Butteaux Premier Cru

Butteaux is the southernmost part of the larger 118-hectare Montmains umbrella vineyard and has south-eastern aspect thus producing wines with leaner body than those from the south-west facing vineyards. The Butteaux vineyard in itself is 40 hectares and is generally regarded as producing more structured and powerful wines due to its higher proportion of white clay in the soil. ‘Butte’ is French for ‘top of the hill’ and Butteaux is indeed the highest portion of the larger Montmains umbrella vineyard.

Butteaux in the hands of producers such as Francois Raveneau, has the ability to produce some of Chablis’ most profound Premier Cru wines.

Vaillons Premier Cru

With 129 hectares, Vaillons is one of the largest Premier Cru vineyards in Chablis. Located south-west of Chablis town on the western side of the Serein River, Vaillons has south-easterly aspect – the slope ranges from steep in the west to a more gentle incline in the east – and produces more floral and delicate wines than those from the other side of the river.

Vaillons is made up of 8 climats – all premier crus in their own right but which can also be blended together and labelled as Vaillons;  and including a 15 hectares Vaillons climats at the top of the southeast facing slope between Chatains in the west and Sechet in the east. The soil is chalky clay with tiny marine fossils – the clay and limestone content varies across the terroir. At the southern end, Vaillons is separated from Montmains premier Cru by a small strip of flatter land which is classified as basic Chablis

Montee De Tonnerre Premier Cru

Just east of Chablis town and on right bank of Serein River, we find the 42.5-hectare Montee de Tonnerre Premier Cru vineyard. Located just south of the Grand Cru vineyard slope and with a similar southwestern aspect, the wines from Montee de Tonnerre are fuller in body and have more intensity than other Premier Cru vineyards.

Montee de Tonnerre can be divided into four separate climats – the largest and most well-known is Chapelot, the others are Cote de Brechain and Pied d’Aloup) – each of which can choose to label under the specific vineyard name or under the larger umbrella name Montee de Tonnerre. The 6 hectare Montee de Tonnerre climat runs along the Chapelot climat’s northern side. The soil is a varying proportions of Kimmeridgian marly limestone and blue clay.

Montee de Tonnerre produces mineral and intense wines and is one of Chablis’ most highly regarded premier cru vineyards.

We offer some of the great Chablis from the following producers: Just click on any of the links below to find them:

• Domaine Christian Moreau Pere & Fils
• Domaine Francois Raveneau
• Drouhin-Vaudon
• Domaine William Fevre
• Jean-Paul et Benoit Droin
• Rene et Vincent Dauvissat-Camus
• Samuel Billaud