One of my favorite wines in all the world is Chablis. I recall discovering the unique character of the wine decades ago and found its piercing acidity and nuanced character elementally appealing. While I can understand why not all wine lovers share my passion for Chablis, I find that there are many like-minded souls who do have a similar inclination. Other wine writers over the years have commented on the unique and almost diametrically opposed elements of Chablis:
“It [Chablis] is in no sense a tender, charming or kind wine, to the uninitiated, tasting it may almost come as a shock….Despite its initial lack of charm, age gives it incomparable freshness, finesse, depth and suppleness.”
-Hubrecht Duijker, The Great Wines of Burgundy (1977)
“Chablis sends one rummaging for descriptive phrases even more desperately than most wines. There is something one can so nearly put a finger on. It is hard but not harsh, reminds one of stones and minerals, but at the same time of green hay; actually, when it is young, looks green, which many wines are supposed to. Grand Cru Chablis tastes important, strong, almost immortal.”
-Hugh Johnson, The World Atlas of Wine (1971)
Chablis – the word is almost synonymous with wine. Even though its name is well known, Chablis is not always well understood. Its name has been misappropriated by producers throughout the world, particularly in the US, to describe most anything vaguely vinous and white (usually). True Chablis, however, is as distinctive as its pretenders are common. Chablis is a dry white wine grown in the eponymous village near Auxerre in northeastern France. Prior to the phylloxera epidemic at the end of the 19th Century, Chablis was just part of a vast swath of some 40,000 hectares of vineyards, providing wine for the citizens of nearby Paris. Phylloxera, combined with a new railroad that brought easy access to competing Languedoc wines plus the upheaval of two World Wars reduced the vineyard area to around 500 hectares after a brutal freeze in 1945. Chablis has rebounded, however, and there are now 5800 hectares of vineyard in production.
There is a hierarchy of Chablis vineyard sites that generally plays out qualitatively, quantitatively, and economically. The top echelon is the Grand Cru, followed by Premier Cru, then “village” Chablis, and finally Petit Chablis. The Grand Cru vineyards of Chablis rise steeply from the village and the valley of the Serein River. These south-facing slopes, underlain by Kimmeridgian clay-limestone soils, provide a habitat for Chardonnay vines unmatched in the world.
The legend of the Kimmeridgian has assumed mythical proportions in wine circles and the mere suggestion of Kimmeridgian origins brings knowing nods among wine aficionados. There is a presumption here of absolute quality that the facts do not support. The term Kimmeridgian is a geologic label that is applied to rocks of a specific age. The actual components of Kimmeridgian formations can vary substantially from place to place. The surface exposures of the rocks span hundreds of miles and it is easy to understand that the landscapes and weather during Kimmeridgian times were no more uniform than they are today and that we should expect noticeable differences over great distances.
Kimmeridgian time encompasses five million years – from 157 to 152 million years ago – of the fifty-million-year span of the entire Jurassic Period. The world was a very different place then. The rocks and distinctive fossils that comprise the Kimmeridgian were first described at the village of Kimmeridge, on the south coast of Great Britain, which is the northern edge of what we now call the Paris Basin. It was named the Kimmeridgian Clay, because the clay component is primary there. The clay in that part of the world and to the north is rich with organic compounds and as it was buried and compressed into rock, those organic compounds became the source of the prolific oil fields of the North Sea.
On the French side of the Paris Basin during Kimmeridgian times, the conditions were quite different. The area that is now northern France was a shallow sea, teeming with aquatic life. Conditions in the shallow waters were more turbulent and the resulting rocks show clay beds interspersed with more limestone and fossil components than those across the Channel. The Kimmeridgian rocks here are overlain by Portlandian limestone – a younger formation with less clay that forms a harder caprock for the Kimmeridgian. The happy result for wine drinkers was a rock sequence yielding soils with a composition and water retention capacity that vitis vinifera vines love. The Grand Cru vineyards of Chablis all rest upon this happy environment.
To be precise, there is only a single Grand Cru appellation for Chablis. There are seven geographic subdivisions or climats recognized within the Grand Cru, and we see these famous names on labels: Blanchot, Bougros, Les Clos, Grenouilles, Les Preuses, Valmur, and Vaudésir. All share the same general south-facing aspect and the light-colored soil that the Kimmeridgian bedrock yields. Grand Cru Chablis accounts for only 1.5% of total Chablis production.
Premier Cru Chablis comes from more favored vineyards on both Kimmeridgian and Portlandian soils. There are 40 climats for Premier Cru Chablis. A curiosity of the appellation is that 17 of these are “flag-bearing” climats, allowing some neighboring climats to be sold under the usually better-known flag name. Thus, vineyards like Butteaux and Forêts can be sold under their own name or under the Vaillons flag.
The best of the Premiers Crus are those that share the same exposure as the Grands Crus. Many suggest that wines from Fourchaume, Montée de Tonnerre and Mont de Milieu are the finest of the lot. The better exposure of Premier Cru vineyards allows the grapes to ripen more fully. They should have greater intensity of aroma and flavor than simple Chablis wines. Premier Cru Chablis accounts for 13% of Chablis production.
Chablis is the basic appellation of the region. Wines with the Chablis appellation come from the widest range of vineyards from a variety of sites, mostly grown on Kimmeridgian and Portlandian soils. Not surprisingly, these wines show the widest range of quality and style. They can vary from light, tart wines from lesser vineyards, vintages, and producers to surprisingly full-flavored, classically structured wines from good vintages and/or producers. When well made, they can be among the best values of all Chablis bottlings and comprise 65% of Chablis production. Interestingly, a single cooperative winery, La Chablisienne, accounts for about 25% of all Chablis sold – all while maintaining a high-quality standard.
Chablis is one of the purest renditions of the Chardonnay grape. It is most often vinified without any oak aging, or with only the mildest of wood influence. The styles range from crisp, clean, bright, and lively with notes recalling tart green apples and lemon to soft, supple and rich. The pervasive stylistic element of Chablis at all levels is the high acidity that one encounters in the finish, plus the flavor components that can best be described as steely, minerally, flinty, or stony. Premiers and Grands Crus can sometimes exhibit enchanting aromas of honey, nuts, herbs, and oyster shells that truly set this Chardonnay apart from all others. Well-aged Premier and Grand Cru Chablis can be a real treat to any wine lover willing to wait for the high-toned acidity to soften and allow other flavors to emerge.
Chablis is arguably one of the best buys of Burgundy. While there are a few producers that command hundreds of dollars for their offerings, most of what Chablis produces is quite affordable. A glance at the current US market reveals that you can find a Grand Cru Chablis from Les Clos, Vaudésir or other sites for $85 or less. Bâtard-Montrachet – a Grand Cru white from the Côte d’Or – costs around $300 a bottle. Similarly, a Premier Cru Chablis from Fourchaume or Vaillons and others can be found for $40, while a Premier Cru from Meursault or Puligny-Montrachet will ring up for $100-$125 or more.
One wine constant through all the years has been Chablis. The wine world has moved through fads and watched the hottest new things come and go, but Chablis has stood steadfast and remained comfortably consistent. When one is present in the Grand Cru vineyards, there is a sense of uniqueness of place – an understanding that this impressive, yet still pastoral setting is the source of striking and distinctive wines that the world has loved for centuries. The combination of spare ground and capricious weather make the wine of Chablis very difficult to produce and impossible to replicate. In some vintages, the grapes simply cannot reach ripeness. When conditions are right, however, the best wines of Chablis are without peer. If you have ventured elsewhere, come back to the constancy of Chablis. You’ll find it refreshingly the same.