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Chablis is a different breed of Chardonnay, one difficult to find anywhere else in the world. It’s quintessentially Burgundy in its viticulture, yet strays so far stylistically from the mainstays of the Côte D’Or in its oenology. Could one be so crass as to compare it to a different grape entirely? Say, Loire Sauvignon? No, too much body for that, and not crisp enough.
As the French say, Chardonnay is used to make Chablis - not the other way around. Chablis isn’t just a place, as much as it’s a etherial laboratory for cultivating the captivating aromas of this clean, sharp, brisk fruit. Chablis makes neutral Chardonnay sing like nowhere else in the world.
In this article, we will be looking at the Grand Cru vineyards of Chablis - Those who do Chardonnay best. What makes the difference, you might ask, between a Premier Cru here and a Grand Cru? For starters, seven names on the bottle. But on the palette is where the subtleties lie.
Primarily of note, is that the Premier Cru sites are south-east facing sites, meaning vines are warmed here in the mornings, and less so in the afternoon. The Grand Cru sites, on the other hand, are on the south-west facing slopes and are able to ripen easier in the afternoon sun during the summer. This generally results in bolder, brasher flavors, noticeable Terroir variation, tertiary flavors, and greater weight. Though some of these distinctions may not be noticeable without age.
Not to say that the Premier Cru in Chablis is not delicious in its own right, but often, Grand Cru here is not all that more dear when compared, especially when looking from producer to producer. In fact, there is often more inter-producer variation than there is vineyard variation, so this is important to keep in mind as well. A lot of sommeliers when shopping for Chablis or even Burgundy in general will often select a producer they like, and buy the whole line to compare vineyard variation.
Back to the topic at had, there are seven different Grand Cru vineyards in Chablis. They are Valmur, Blanchot, Preuses; Vaudésir, Grenouilles, Les Clos; and lastly, Bougros. But wait, there’s more! Interestingly, just to the south-east of the Grand Cru sites, there is bonus Climat that is able to label its wines Grand Cru despite not actually being recognized as Grand Cru Climat officially. This unofficial eighth Grand Cru, is La Moutonne. For the sake of being thorough, we will analyze this bonus Cru, like all the rest.
These Grand Cru vineyards are strewn around the hills just to the north side of the town of Chablis, along with some arbitrary markers by which the Grand Cru are separated from the Premier Cru. A lot of these nearby Premier Cru, thus, share very similar characteristics with their neighbors, often mistaken in blind tastings for Grand Cru.
Valmur is one of the most prestigious vineyards of the seven, and its wines fetch a handsome price. Situated on Kimmeridgeian sea-shell soils, this is one of the only Cru that features north-facing slopes, offering an ocular spectacle of the Grand Cru sites. This vineyard offers its vintners the opportunity to blend several different variations of sunlight, and find the best match to strengthen, or acidify blends. Some areas here are totally protected from the sun, resulting in higher acid, others are not. Notably, this vineyard is recognized for its bold minerality, and razor sharp acid.
I tasted a 2016 Valmur from Alain Gautheron last year, which you can find the tasting notes for here. It was extremely dynamic and interesting, with many of the flavors you would expect to develop on the palette, and it was still young. It was unexpectedly creamy, yet harbored great acidity and strength, as expected. I believe the time in contact with the lees was an extended season, as this wine was yeasty, and lagery as well, with some orange notes of clementine, pineapple, and lemon peel. There was some oakiness of almonds, and a hint of white truffle in the lingering aftertaste.
Blanchot is a Climat to the southern most slopes, this means the area gets far less sun than even Valmur. Most of this area is hidden from the sun online in Valmur, which wraps around the hill neatly diffusing sunlight. This means the wines are light, airy, and complex, with bold acidity, and minerality on the mid-palette. Though, they tend to lack fruit characteristics, which is more of a matter of preference.
One in particular that does not lack fruit characteristics, and is, actually quite generous in that regard is Régnard Chablis Grand Cru 'Blanchots'. Now this is a hard wine to come by, so I had trouble linking the photo, but I eventually did find a place that carries some. The one I had was a 2011, and I drank this wine in 2016, and the green apple flavor was intense. It had the expected minerality, as well as some lychee, and green pepper. This is one that I would honestly compare more to Loire Sauvignon, rather than the typical Chablis, though the body was a bit richer, and I suspect a bit of lees as well considering the phenolic characteristics, less so the taste.
Les Preuses is the northernmost vineyard ton the higher hills, often with sunlight exposure day-long. The fruit here rarely has a problem ripening, and the vines are in the typical Chablis shells, giving them the prescribed minerality. Wines here are often extremely aromatic, and one can expect more secondary characteristics (undertones, from WINE01) to dominate the flavor, particularly floral characteristics, like lily, and perhaps even some vegetal or yeast flavors.
I cannot recommend Julien Brocard Chablis Grand Cru 'Les Preuses’ enough. I love this wine, it may be my favorite from Chablis. This wine is all undertones. Mud, silt, brass; shotgun shells, and even some fresh baguette are the most noticeable characteristics in this wine. It has the overtones of lemongrass, lemon drops, and even some lavender. It’s extremely floral, almost like Gewürztraminer, but lighter, and more drinkable.
Vaudésir is less a climat, and more a small ridge in the topography of Chablis. It lies just to the south of Les Preuses, and occupies the suns attention nearly as long, though with a bit more protection due to the aforementioned topography, causing both a south, and south-eastern facing slope. Many consider this to be the most desirable of the Climat, but I honestly think it may just be a bit overpriced in many cases. That’s neither here, nor there. What is important, is that the soils here are more clay than shells due to erosion. This means cooling, wet soils, all day sun, great acidity, and some interesting fruit characteristics you often don’t find in other climat.
Louis Michel et Fils Chablis Grand Cru ‘Vaudesir' is a decent value wine from this appellation. Palette-wise this is a very complex candidate, and is also extremely age-worthy despite its attractive price. Primary flavors, as in some of the other wines recommended, are complex undertones of Crimini mushroom, wet slate, and pistachio; overtones are traditional orchard fruit: green apple, and pear. This wine is a long finishing wine and is as creamy and easy on the palette as one would expect.
Grenouilles, literally translates to frogs, and it is by far the smallest vineyard of the seven, and the least age worthy. The reason for this is the all-day sunlight which often leads to thoroughly ripened grapes, with less acidity. The vineyard is directly south facing with very forward, non-diffused sunlight. General practice here is not to rest this wine on its lees, so you end up with very fruit-forward, fresh wines with a lot of minerality and few phenols, that are easy-drinkers. They still retain their expected custard-like nature, and orchard-fruit with added flavors of watermelon shell, lychee, nettles, and pinecone
William Fèvre makes a Chablis 'Grenouilles' that is a fantastic reflection of terroir at a very reasonable price of sixty-five dollars per bottle. These are exactly what is to be expected from this Grand Cru site. Its brisk with lemon-lime fruit forward flavors, a solid underbelly of minerality with saline nuttiness, almost like flax seed, or macadamia nut. The acidity packs a solid punch, and this wine also has a bit of lager character to it.
Les Clos is located just to the south of Grenouilles. This beautiful vineyard is the best-known, and far-and-away the greatest in size. The wines here are delightful symphonies, and odes to the incredible vineyards throughout Chablis: a combination of the crème de la crème characteristics of Chablis terrors. Because it is the largest of the Grand Cru vineyards, there is the most terroir diversity from parcel to parcel, meaning growers can blend different areas in the vineyard to achieve optimal flavors, ripeness, and texture. These wines age beautifully, perhaps the best of any of the Gand Cru vineyards, and their flavors are that of Crème Anglais with nutmeg, clove, and allspice; porcini mushroom, seawater, moss; Honeycrisp apple, lemon drop, and key lime.
You want an example of Les Clos to have a grand overall flavor with complex depth, and for that I’d say look no further than Garnier et Fils Chablis Grand Cru 'Les Clos'. This wine has the depth that wines should have from this area, and is excellent value for money as well. This is a heavily mineral-driven wine and displays oyster shell, slate and thyme characteristics, typical Chablis creaminess, with a bit of mustard, sour apple, clementine, and fresh baguette. There is hint of white pepper spice as well. A very interesting wine that will cellar nicely if taken care of.
Bougros is the final of the official vineyards. Its south-facing vineyards are the western-most, and again achieve all-day sunlight leading to riper grapes. It’s also quite a small plot. These wines tend to be a bit more fruit-forward than the other Grand Crus. They still have some good acid, however and display the creaminess and a light clove flavor that has come to be expected in Chablis. The soils here are an amalgamation of cooling clay, and the Kimmeridgian shells that bring minerality and depth of flavor to these fantastic wines.
Jean-Marc Brocard is the classic oyster-clad label that defines this Cru. It’s a more sophisticated wine with some interesting nuance. It premiers first undertones of white rice, honey, maple and peach, then moves into a citrus-burst of sweet lemon-lime, and transitions to a finish of expended shotgun shell, and fresh oyster, with a bite of acidity. It’s a very interesting wine, and is well renown for its incredible vintage variation and fruit character. It develops exquisitely with age, though also drinks well young.
Lastly, the unofficial Grand Cru La Moutonne; this is a monopole vineyard of Dom. Long-Depaquit that divides Les Preuses from Vaudésir, stretching right between the two vineyards. Its slopes are easterly/south-east facing, and it shares a lot of commonality in terroir with Les Peusses, being almost entirely in that vineyard. These wines are aromatic and full, despite not being conventionally Grand Cru in name, they are almost undistinguishable from other Grand Cru wines in many respects. Their more rigid acidity and green orchard-fruit flavors drive the initial palette of these wines.
I can truly only recommend one wine from this Climat, and that is, of course, the fabulous Dom. Long-Depaquit Chablis Grand Cru 'La Moutonne', a truly one-of-a-kind selection, and not just because its a monopole. This wine is the only wine made here by Dom. Long-Depaquit, and as such it needs to be brilliant enough to be a keen emissary for the winery. And I’m delighted to say that it not only is a great wine, it’s also not bad value either - but it is technically just premier cru. The wine is fruit-forward with green apple dominating the initial palette, then it gets mineralic, and some nice saline, to be expected. There is also a lot of brown mushroom in the initial flavor, lily petal, and even some nectarine in the finish. It has strong acidity, and nice floral aromas, as well a whiff of cut grass.
That's all,
~K