Chablis

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The Chablis appellation extends across 17 communes in the Yonne department, east of Auxerre, in the hillside relief bordering the Serein valley within the Côte des Bars.
• The escarpment of the Côte des Bars brings Upper Jurassic sediments to the surface, with a hard limestone named Calcaire du Barrois forming a cliff above a slope of marls known as Marnes à exogyra virgula.
• Beneath the marls, a limestone horizon called the Calcaire à Astartes forms a slight topographic step near the valley floor.
• The elevation change across the scarp face reaches 120 to 130 metres, with altitudes remaining moderate, as the highest point on the plateau does not exceed 320 metres.
• The oceanic climate, slightly modified by continental influences, brings moderate rainfall of 650 millimetres per year at Auxerre, a mean temperature of 10.8 °C, and a fairly high risk of winter and spring frosts, heightened by the relatively enclosed relief.

• Viticulture in the Chablis area is documented from the early Middle Ages, with a monastery founded at Chablis in 510 and subsequently ceded in 867 to the monks of Saint-Martin de Tours.
• A series of court rulings between 1920 and 1932, followed by a judgement of the Auxerre tribunal in 1929, established the foundations of the Chablis appellation, which was granted AOC status in 1938.
• The vineyards are traditionally trained using the taille Chablis, a long-pruning system adapted to the challenging climatic conditions, ensuring a regular and moderate yield.
• Faced with a greater frost risk than in most other areas, growers have developed collective protective methods such as overhead sprinkler systems and parcel heating, supported by an early-warning alert system.

• Chablis is a dry white wine, lively and fruity, characterised by its minerality, gaining in aromatic complexity and finesse with age.
• Wines bearing the premier cru designation may be more fruit-driven or more mineral in character depending on the origin of the grapes, and are wines for the cellar, reaching their peak between 8 and 10 years.

• The white wines of the Chablis appellation owe their lively, mineral character to the cool oceanic climate of the geographical area.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

Dénominations géographiques complémentaires

• Chablis premier cru AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Beauroy AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Berdiot AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Beugnons AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Butteaux AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Chapelot AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Chatains AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Chaume de Talvat AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Côte de Bréchain AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Côte de Cuisy AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Côte de Fontenay AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Côte de Jouan AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Côte de Léchet AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Côte de Savant AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Côte de Vaubarousse AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Côte des Prés-Girots AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Forêts AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Fourchaume AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru L'Homme Mort AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Les Beauregards AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Les Epinottes AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Les Fourneaux AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Les Lys AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Mont de Milieu AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Montmains AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Montée de Tonnerre AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Morein AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Mélinots AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Pied d'Aloup AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Roncières AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Sécher AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Troesmes AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Vaillons AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Vau de Vey AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Vau Ligneau AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Vaucoupin AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Vaugiraut AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Vaulorent AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Vaupulent AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Vaux Ragons AOC (PDO)
• Chablis premier cru Vosgros AOC (PDO)

All appellations in France

Sources

• Product specification (BO Agri, PDF)
• Official INAO text (show_texte)
• INAO product entry
• Official trade body site — BIVB — Chablis