3.1 Chablis

Question 1

What is the terroir for petite chablis?

Answer 1

Higher, cooler vineyards and predominantly portlandian soils (hard limestone with less clay)

Question 2

How is the climate in chablis compared to the Côte d’Or?

Answer 2

Slighly cooler.

Question 3

How is Chablis wine typically

Answer 3

White, dry, most medium bodied, med alc with zesty high acidity, green apple and lemon. Minimal oak. Quality good to outstanding. Mid-price to premium. Generally generate less money than premiom cote d’or, with a few super-premium exceptions.

Question 4

What is the terroir of Chablis?

Answer 4

Kimmeridgian soil and mixed aspects. Vineyards on both Chablis and PC are mainly flat or on gentle slopes, many north-facing sites.
Gives light-bodied wines with high acidity.
PC light intensity
Regular chablis medium intensity

Question 5

How have the trend for chablis drinking been?

Answer 5

Major swings. Early 19th century boom due tue demand in Paris, about 40.000 ha. then shrank plantings due to phylloxera and powdery mildew and also the railway gave parisians cheaper white wines from southern france. Decline in demand.
World War Two was devastating and left 500 ha of vineyards. Recent decades demand have increased and now 5500 ha.

Question 6

What is a Chablis Premier Cru?

Answer 6

40 vineyards have PC-status and are mainly south or south-east facing. Some have Lieux-Dits such as 1er Cru Troesmes.
Bottles can be labeled under small Lieux-Dits or the larger Climat.

Question 7

What is a Lieu-Dits and a Climat?

Answer 7

Climat, named vineyard fixed in AOC. Lieu-dit named piece of land in the centralized land register.

Question 8

What climate does chablis have? What is the main challenge?

Answer 8

Continental with cold winters and warm summers. Main challenge is reaching maturation due to northern site.

Question 9

Why is chardonnay a good grape for Chablis?

Answer 9

Early ripening

Question 10

Mention hazards in chablis

Answer 10

Risk of fungal diseases and rot due to 670 mm annual rain, spread evenly throughout the year.
Also spring frosts and hail storms.

Question 11

What is kimmeridgian soil?

Answer 11

Limestone and clay with a large amount of fossilized seashells.

Question 12

What can be done to fight spring frosts and what are the cons?

Answer 12

Smudge pots - smoky, causes air pollution, requires staff
Sprinklers (aspersion) - cost of installation and maintenance
Pruning choice - later pruning promotes later bud-burst, reducing chance of damage to new buds. Guessing it also delays maturation?

Question 13

How many GC are there in Chablis?

Answer 13

A single GC with seven named vineyards. Lies immediately next to the village of Chablis, facing southwest on the right bank of river Serein. Kimmeridgian soil.
1 % of chablis production.

Question 14

How is a Chablis GC and why?

Answer 14

Richer, and with more concentration due to south facing slopes that give a good maturation for the grapes. Crumbly marl with good drainage and high clay content for water retention give higher quality.

Question 15

What rootstocks are popular in chablis and why?

Answer 15

41B (vinifiera x berlandieri) high tolerance of high soil PH

420A (Riparia x Berlandieri) low vigour and tolerance to high PH.

Question 16

What training system is typical in chablis and why?

Answer 16

Double Guyot, if one cane fails the other may survive frost.

Question 17

What is Taille Chablis?

Answer 17

A multi-armed cordon system, typical in champagne and not chablis.

Question 18

How are the yields in chablis vs Côte d’Or?

Answer 18

Generally higher. Recent years reduced due to frosts and hail. Mainly hand picked in chablis.

Question 19

What is typical for the slopes in the vineyards of Chablis PC and GC?

Answer 19

South-facing and often sited mid-slope.
Slope gives better drainage and protection from frost
Southerly aspect means better light interception and riper fruit
GC also have a belt of trees protecting from wind.
Results in wines with higher concentration, body and capacity to age.

Question 20

What are chablis biggest export markets?

Answer 20

UK
USA
Japan
Sweden
Canada

Question 21

Is Chaptalisation allowed?

Answer 21

Yes, and used in most vintages but the warmest.

Question 22

How is fermentation most often performed in Chablis?

Answer 22

Stainless steel vessels with storage in steel or concrete for a few months.

Question 23

Is Malo applied in Chablis?

Answer 23

Most often yes, wine can also spend time on lees to enhance texture

Question 24

How is Chablis Priced and how is this based?

Answer 24

Domaine and lvl of appellation regulates this. Petit or Chablis AOC usually mid-premium. PC and GC premium-super premium. From revered producers such as Raveneau and Vincent Dauvissat sell for super-premium.

Question 25

How is Chablis relationship to oak flavours?

Answer 25

Generally avoided, but GC and some PC can ferment and age wines on oak. Old oak for Raveneau or Dauvissat. New Oak William Fevre.
Stainless steel and concrete even for GC Brocard.

Question 26

What is Le Syndicqt de Defense de l’appellation de Chablis?

Answer 26

Founded by Fevre in 1993 to combat fraud and addressing environmental issues.

Question 27

What is l’union des grands crus de chablis?

Answer 27

A association consisting of producers owning GC sites. They have a quality charter where members must practice sustainable viticulture and manual harvest.

Question 28

What is the maximum yield in Chablis and it’s sub regions?

Answer 28

Petit 60 hl
Chablis AOC 58 hl
PC and GC 54 hl

Question 29

How is the wine business structured in chablis?

Answer 29

Négociants and Domaines are being blurred as many négociants own land and Domaines sell their own production. Also growers are starting to produce and sell wine themselves.
33% is produced by cooperation La Chablisienne.