Exploring Chablis
The Heart of Mineral-Driven Chardonnay
When we think about wines that have a strong, distinctive, established identity, Chablis easily springs to mind. It’s the benchmark as far as Chardonnay produced in a steely, ‘mineral’ style goes, coming from the very north of Burgundy in France.
You probably already understand that, like most French wines, Chablis is named after the place where it’s grown. To name a wine Chablis, it must be made from 100% Chardonnay grown in that region. One of its defining features is that it’s generally made without the obvious influence of oak. Being less adorned with the flavours associated with oak barrel ageing like other Chardonnays, a sense of place shines through in the glass. The wines express the region’s cool climate and cool limestone predominant soils. They’re invigorating and energetic, like a crisp, clear winter’s morning in a bottle.
With its current global popularity, we’ve started to get the impression that Chablis has become considered a bit of a commodity. But like any wine, the quality varies greatly depending on the vineyards and producer. It’s something we’re prompted to highlight having got our hands on wines from a few of the region's top producers. Before we delve into more on Chablis as a place, we thought we’d address a couple of FAQs -
Is Chablis always unoaked?
No. Most Chablis producers do choose to make wines that don’t display the obvious sensory characteristics of oak, and so inert vessels like stainless steel tanks are an obvious go to, but some producers use oak barrels in various formats for ageing. In fact, producers are more inclined to use oak ageing for their top wines. Putting aside the flavour that oak imparts, by virtue of being a porous material, oak allows a small exchange of oxygen over the course of time in barrel. This develops flavours and builds depth and texture in the wine. Rather than using a lot of new oak barrels, which impart more flavour, it’s commonplace in Chablis to use seasoned, or old oak to still allow the purity of variety and place to show through.
What does the word ‘mineral’ mean when used to describe Chablis?
Some in the wine trade view ‘mineral’ as an overused descriptor, but we find it a helpful way to sum up the nature of Chablis, as well as other whites and reds. Minerality presents itself as wet stone, flint, oyster shell, chalk, hot earth or petrichor characters. It has a textural expression too, like the way the acidity in Chablis feels chalky, rather than just citrusy. In short, all these associated flavours pertain to rocks or fossils, rather than fruit, herb, spice or savoury characters. It’s important for us to note that while minerality may have palpable sensations, the grapevines themselves don’t directly draw up these minerals from the soil, despite whatever specific limestone, schist, quartz or volcanic soils they may be grown on. We use the word mineral to describe a wine’s taste, rather than describe the literal composition of it.
Chablis - The Place
Located 180 kms to the south east of Paris, Chablis is considered a cool climate wine growing region, about half way between the main part of Burgundy to the south, and Champagne to the north. On slopes by the Serein River and its tributaries, there are 5,800 hectares of vines planted. For context, the Marlborough wine region is about 5 times larger.
The area was completely under water a few million years ago, which explains the Jurassic, calcareous limestone soils that are famous in the area, namely Kimmeridgian and Portlandian limestone. This very free draining soil type continues west through France and the south of England, most notably forming the White Cliffs of Dover.
Winegrowing in Chablis was established by monks, who clearly loved a drink because they are integral in the history of many great European wine regions. Making wine in the region hasn’t been an easy ride, and that’s putting aside world wars, and the devastating loss of vineyards to phylloxera in the 1800s. Being at the northern reaches of wine growing in France, the vineyards are very prone to Spring frost, just as fragile buds are forming on the vines. With our changing and more extreme climate, Chablis has also had summer hail to contend with. This has caused enormous damage, reducing yields in recent years.
Chablis Classification
Over centuries, Chablis’ best vineyards have been clearly identified and form the heart of the region. This heart consists of 7 Grand Cru vineyards on one slope facing south west, across the Serein River from the village of Chablis itself. The Grand Cru wines account for just 1% of the region's production and are the most age worthy, definitive, complex (and expensive) expressions of Chablis.
There are 70 Premier Cru vineyards that may not garner the same acclaim as Grand Crus, but are still highly favourable sites producing amazing wines in the right hands. Some of these are adjacent to the Grand Cru vineyards on the same south west facing slope. If not, most of them share some aspect towards the south, benefiting from more sun exposure.
The rest of the wines are classified as either village Chablis (what we just call Chablis) or Petit Chablis. Radiating out from the Grand Crus, village Chablis vineyards are closer to the centre and tend to be part of Chablis’ original layout, whereas Petit Chablis forms the newer and outer parts of the region, or the less favourable north facing slopes.
Drinking Chablis
When deciding what to eat with Chablis, consider the nature of it - its austere and mineral, with racy, linear acidity, and a lack of bold fruit aromatics. It’ll come as no surprise that we think shellfish is a perfect accompaniment. Beyond that, consider the richness of what you’re eating. Richer, cream based dishes are probably asking for fuller styles of Chardonnay to match them. Keep your Chablis for more paired back, simple, cleaner dishes.
As you’d expect, Grand Cru and Premier Cru wines are generally better quality than village Chablis and Petit Chablis wines. That said we’ve had village Chablis from great producers that have been well and truly more engaging than some Premier Cru wines. It’s very producer dependent. When it comes to choosing Chablis, we suggest you consider the occasion. While Petit Chablis might not provide the most complex, serious drinking, it can be just the ticket for a low key lunch with mates. If you’re in the position to be enjoying Grand Cru and Premier Cru wines, we’d suggest these will age better, and are more suited to moments when you can really savour them. At By The Bottle, we always choose Chablis producers that punch above their weight regardless of whether it’s Petit, Village, Premier Cru or Grand Cru, so don’t hesitate to ask for suggestions - hello@bythebottle.co.nz