Chablis

Here is a region with a truly ancient viticultural heritage. It is likely that vines came to the region with the Romans, if not before. The early plantings were used to sustain the Roman garrisons, but soon became a holding of the local peasantry who made wine for daily and family use.

As elsewhere, the Dark Ages saw monasteries putting great effort into viticulture, given its important in communion and wider religious significance. It was they, particularly the Cistercian monks, who became a major influence in establishing the economic and commercial interest of viticulture for the region. The proximity of the Seine, accessible via the nearby Yonne, meant that the market in Paris was readily accessible. The wine was exported to England, Flanders and Picardy as early as the mid-15th century. However, in 1568 the town was razed by Huguenots, and the region did not find its feet again until the 18th century.

The ravages of the French Revolution, the Prussian invasions and the Little Ice Age took their toll and, just as the vineyards were beginning to recover in the 1880s, the oidium and phylloxera epidemics struck. Two World Wars would mean that Chablis would not recover until the latter half of the twentieth century.

Chablis has long been abused by New World producers who want to associate their wines to this illustrious appellation. Such licentious practice is largely in the past, but it is important for the amateur to realise that Chablis is a region, not a style.

The principle grape here is Chardonnay, and again this will confuse many who equate the variety with tropical fruit flavours and powerful oak. Chablis makes an altogether different style of wine with this cultivar: Often they are steeled, flinty and refreshing with zippy notes of crisp green apples and citrus. The wines also have much ageing potential, often making the transition from lively youth into a “wet stone” transition period before finally mellowing into a delicate, honeyed maturity. The term ‘pure’ is usually applied to Chablis wines and with good reason – the flavours and aromas are rarefied and direct, and yet in their best expressions are never clinical or overpowering.

Chablis is a fascinating region. It translates the influence of the climate and soil better than almost any other wine region. Here the grape is not the be all and end all, but a sophisticated medium to mirror the earth and the weather; it is in Chablis that we can most clearly see the power of centuries old affinity with a set terroir. When compared with clonal ripe and oaky New World offerings, venerable Chablis has much to offer.

Frost presents a very real danger to the northerly vineyards of Chablis well into spring, and low temperatures in March and April will ravage the season’s new, fragile growth if left unprotected. The traditional means of staving off the frost is to light a series of small stoves, which are typically fuelled by oil. There are, however, alternatives. The most counter-intuitive is the use of sprinkler systems. Far from exacerbating the problem, as might be expected, they actually douse the grapes in a liquid-solid interface at all times. This results in a phase change, where matter exists in two states – in this case ice and water. In this equilibrium the temperature remains at a constant zero degrees Celsius. This temperature does not go low enough to cause any damage, and therefore serves to protect the grape. Another strategy involves the application of electrical heating: When the temperature plummets to a dangerous level, a current is run through a cable trained along the row of vines. The resistance of this cable is such that it generates heat, thereby protecting the vines from the frost.

Located in the northeast France, the Chablis region is considered the northernmost extension of the Burgundy wine region. It is separated from the Côte d'Or by the Morvan hills, with the main Burgundian winemaking town of Beaune located more than 62 miles (100 km) away. This makes the region of Chablis relatively isolated from other winemaking regions with the southern vineyards of the Champagne in the Aube department being the closest winemaking neighbour. Historically the region was considered part of the Champagne province, and indeed the two regions share many climactic similarities. Its northerly location places it on the very edge of sustainable viticulture, possessing a semi-continental climate with no maritime influence so far inland. Summertime temperatures during the peak growing season can get very hot and wintertime can be long, cold and harsh; the frost condition lasts well into spring—from March to early May. Years that experience too much rain and low temperature tend to produce wines that are excessively acidic, while the fruit is too lean is too weak to support it. Vintages that are exceedingly warm tend to produce flabby, lacklustre wines that are too low in acidity.

The region of Chablis lies on the eastern edge of the Paris Basin. The region’s oldest soil dates back to the Upper Jurassic age, over 180 million years ago, and this precious soil is referred to as argilo-calcaire. This same Kimmeridge clay is found across the English Channel in Dorset and is a composition of limestone, clay and tiny fossilised oyster shells. All of Chablis’ Grand Cru vineyards and Premier Cru vineyards are planted on primarily Kimmeridgean soil, which imparts a distinctly mineral, flinty note to the wines; this is testament indeed to the true power of terroir in Chablis, where the grapes serve to translate the nuances of the climate and terroir.