Chablis, although a part of Burgundy, has not yet received the memo that the wines should be priced in the stratosphere like their more southern cousins in the Côte d’Or. Except for a few producers, the wines from Chablis remain the great source for bargains in the category of white Burgundy. So, run to your local wine retailer or log into their website and stock up on the 2022s, which are still on the market.
The Chablis appellation, named after an eponymous village, is the northern-most part of Burgundy, lying halfway between Paris and the Côte d’Or. Only white wine is permitted and only from the Chardonnay grape. Chablis’ unique expression of Chardonnay and its claim to fame come from its Kimmeridgian soil, a combination of limestone and clay like the rest of Burgundy, that, in addition, contains fossils of marine organisms, remnants of the area’s underwater position millions of years ago. Producers and wine experts alike insist that the eons of decomposed marine shells embedded in the Kimmeridgian soil impart a particular mineral character, a flintiness, to the wines.
The regional practice of naming wines by appellation rather than the Chardonnay grape of which they are composed can be confusing for some consumers, but the hierarchy of appellations is critically important because it dictates the character of the wine and, importantly, how long to age it before pulling the cork. So, let’s review the unique way the Chablisienne designate their wines.
The basic hierarchy runs—in ascending order—Petit Chablis, Chablis, Chablis Premier Cru, and Chablis Grand Cru.
It is worth committing that lineup to memory for starters, but then there are a few additional complications that need to be understood.
These appellations within Chablis differ from those in the rest of Burgundy. In the Côte d’Or, each Grand Cru vineyard has its own appellation. In Chablis, there are seven Grand Cru vineyards, but only one appellation, Chablis Grand Cru. The Grand Cru bottlings will invariably contain the name of the particular vineyard on the label. Although there are 40 Premier Cru vineyards in Chablis, consumers will generally see the names of only 17 “flag-bearing” ones because, sensibly, the authorities allow lesser-known vineyards, such as Les Epinottes, to be sold under a better-known name, Vaillons.
Below Premier Cru on the quality pyramid are wines designated simply as Chablis, sourced from vineyard sites that still lie on Kimmeridgian soil, but are not positioned well enough to qualify for Premier Cru status.
Last but by no means least, is the Petit Chablis appellation, which encompasses vineyards on Portlandian, as opposed to Kimmeridgian soil, a newer and harder soil. “Newer” is a term that needs to be understood in the context of geological time, as Portlandian soils are only 135 million years old, by contrast to the 150+ million years age of Kimmeridgian soils. Both seem plenty old, yet these soils do differ in composition as well as the character they impart to grapes growing on vines located in them.
The Serein River runs through the Chablis appellation and divides it into the right (eastern) and left (western) banks. The Grand Cru vineyards, running from southeast to northwest, Blanchot, Les Clos, Valmur, Grenouilles, Vaudésir, Preuses, and Bourgros, all lie on the right bank.
It can’t be quite that easy, of course. Avid searchers will also see an “eighth Grand Cru,” La Moutonne, which actually is a plot that lies mostly (90%) in Vaudésir and spills over into Preuses and is owned entirely by the superb Domaine Long-Depaquit, one of the several Bichot estates.
However, circling back to the main Grand Cru vineyards and the wines they produce, most observers consider Les Clos, with its distinct minerality and edginess, to be “the best,” which is an evaluation corroborated by the fact that producers showing a lineup of their wines almost always serve Les Clos last in order.
Vaudésir always rivals Les Clos because wines from that vineyard zone frequently have a touch more weight and depth. But such qualitative distinctions are arguably “hair splitting” when we’re addressing wines of such high potential quality.
Many Chablis Grand Cru wines still retail for less than $100 a bottle. While Chablis Grand Cru bottlings represent the pinnacle of quality, they, like other Grand Cru wines, need at least eight to 10 years of age before they reach their apogee, so keep your corkscrew away from the 2022s.
Premier Cru and village vineyards are found on both sides of the Serein. Since all the Grand Cru vineyards lie on the right bank, consumers might assume that the Premier Crus bottlings from the right bank are superior to those on the left bank. I believe the difference between the wines from the two banks lies in style, not quality. Although it is difficult to generalize, I typically find the Premier Cru releases from the right bank to be more substantial, with a cutting and mineral edge, while those from the left bank seem to have a floral component with a thicker layer of still-delicate stone fruit flavors atop their minerality that rounds them a bit.
With that noted, the individual producers’ style is far more important than whether a particular wine hails from a right or left bank Premier Cru site. So, my mantra—producer, producer, producer—remains paramount in Chablis.
Notable right bank Premier Crus include Montée de Tonnerre, Mont de Milieu, and Fourchaume, while on the left bank look for the sturdy wines from Montmains, the floral ones from Vaillons, and the delicate and fruitier ones from Côte de Lechet. Consumers can easily find top Chablis Premier Cru in the $50 range.
Premier Cru Chablis wines, regardless of which bank they hail from, can be enjoyed sooner than the more famous Grand Cru releases, so consumers would be well advised to select a less prestigious Premier Cru Chablis over the Grand Cru from a similar vintage when at a restaurant. Still, Premier Cru Chablis wines need at least several years of bottle age (sometimes as many as five after the harvest year) to show their optimal level of complexity.
Village-designated Chablis (which is to say, wines sold simply as “Chablis”), especially from top producers, often stand as fabulous bargains. Almost all sell for a bit less than $40 per bottle, and many can be found in the $25 to $30 range. Those from the 2022 vintage offer the most enjoyment for current drinking, delivering more pleasure now than their more prestigious siblings. But don’t overlook the racier village Chablis from the cool 2021 growing season or the fleshier ones from the warmer 2020 vintage. The 2022 vintage seems to combine the characters of 2021 and 2020, offering most Chablis releases from 2022 a harmonious balance between delicate stone fruit qualities and vivifying minerality. Whatever they may lack in complexity and depth by comparison to the more elite Cru wines—and many don’t lack much—they make up for by dint of favorable pricing and early drinkability.
This brings us to Petit Chablis. Many producers dislike the appellation name because it seems to explicitly diminish the wines. Though they are indeed different than Chablis wines with loftier pedigrees, they are hardly without virtues of their own. Generally speaking, they deliver more fruitiness and less minerality compared to village Chablis wines from the same producer. And yet, from top producers, they are immediately engaging, ready to drink, fresh, and an excellent introduction to Chablis. Even though they come from Portlandian, rather than Kimmeridgian, limestone soil, they still convey a mineral quality that complements their delicate fruitiness. Petit Chablis will never be confused with an opulent New World Chardonnay-based wine.
My list of favorite Chablis producers is long and gets longer every year as younger vignerons split from their family’s domaine and set off to make their own wines. I indicate my very favorites with an asterisk (*) in the following list:
Domaine Barat
Samuel Billaud*
Domaine Billaud-Simon (now owned by Faiveley)
Jean-Marc Brocard*
Julien Brocard*
La Chablisienne (one of the top wine co-operatives in the world)
Domaine Jean Collet
Clotilde Davenne
Domaine Jean-Paul and Benoît Droin*
Domaine Drouhin-Vaudon* (the superb Drouhin estate in Chablis)
Domaine de l’Enclos
Domaine William Fèvre*
Domaine Gueguen
Domaine Roland Lavantureux
Domaine Long-Depaquit*
Domaine des Malandes
Domaine Louis Michel*
Domaine Christian Moreau*
Domaine Charley Nicolle
Domaine Oudin
Gilbert Picq & Fils
Domaine Pinson Frères
Patrick Piuze
Domaine Isabelle & Denis Pommier
Domaine Servin*
Simonnet-Febvre* (owned by Louis Latour)
Domaine Gérard Tremblay*
Domaine Yvon & Laurent Vocoret*
Eleni & Edouard Vocoret
Those of you who remember Chablis from a couple of decades ago will notice how climate change in general has transformed Chablis at all levels. More than one producer told me something to the effect of, “Now we can make wine with ripe grapes.” The current Chablis wines are softer, with rounder edges, but they still retain minerality and verve. There’s added fruitiness, perhaps at the expense of a cutting quality in some cases, making the wines more accessible at a younger age. That said, they are still a unique and exquisite expression of Chardonnay and remain the bargain category for top whites from Burgundy.
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E-mail me your thoughts about Chablis at [email protected] and follow me on Instagram @MichaelApstein
February 12, 2025