This was great, Bob. I knew a little about Chablis, and the basic Chablis level has been a favorite of mine for several years. You have broadened my understanding and my interest with this video. I will hunt for a Premier Cru. Cheers.
Regular old Petit Chablis from William Fevre has everything you want in Chablis. Intensity, minerality, it’s all there. Tasted in WF’s boutique, right in the town, I had a tough time justifying the price jump up to the more expensive wines, not that they weren’t better, but were they 3-4x the price better? Nope. Recommended!
@@bobpaulinskimasterofwineI’ll be back in Chablis in June, and will be tasting at WF, Bienvue Baptiste, and lunching at Chablis Wine Not, so perhaps I can share some more notes then.
The producer that got me hooked on Chablis is Daniel Etienne. His premier crus are ridiculously good and some of the oldest vintages I’ve seen released. For example, current vintage for his Vaillon Premier Cru is 2010!
Great video as always, Bob. Appreciate the clear breakdown of the classification and the recommendations of producers and approx price points. Would love to hear more about your career in wine & journey to becoming a MW another time.
Hi Nick, thanks for the good word. I’ll soon be posting a video on the MW program, specifically about the three days of blind tasting and how I passed it.
Hi Bob, thank you for a terrific Chablis breakdown. A fascinating & beautiful region and town. The Grand Cru vineyards are quite close to the township which added so much to the atmosphere as they seemed to appear in between the buildings here and there. We actually visited for the first time today, and tasted at a couple of places with assistance of a wonderful guide. Ok, so Domaine Laroche Petite Chablis 21’ surprised me. It was our first wine of the day, but the freshness & purity of the fruit really spoke - green apple & bright lemon citrus, and perhaps subtle mineralogy, wet stone, etc. 100% stainless steel which at first seems jarring but it makes a lot of sense for these wines. I bought a bottle of it, and a 1er Cru from Côte de Léchet for the seemingly terrific value they offered. Our palates are subjective of course, and it may just be preference / time of day, but that Petite for an early drinking fresh & vibrant Chardonnay was right on the money. Merci beaucoup! Cheers 😊
Hi James, thank you for the good word on the video. Laroche has long been a solid source for Chablis, but I don’t recall ever tasting their Petit Chablis. I need to search it out. Chablis is a great place with so many excellent places to dine. Im sure you’ll have a great time. Cheers.
A great video for a great wine - thank you! I find the La Chablisienne 'Chablis' from their old vines to be a very well priced and extremely tasty non premiere/Grand cru. For the price I have this as a staple in my collection. I am glad it was the first house listed on your list above. I can pick it up for $33 Canadian ( about $24 USD) at our liquor store. Cheers and keep up the great work. We appreciate it.
Your good word on the video is much appreciated. Glad to hear you’re a La Chablisienne fan. Aside from making good wines, they’re good people as well. Ate like a king while visiting that town!
I've had one or two 1er Cru Chablis but still haven't been blown away. But Chablis in general produces wine I like. (Drinking Van Volxem Altenberg Alte Reben 2014 while watching)
I’m an ABC guy. Always Buy Chardonnay. 😄😄😄. Great video. I love 1er cru just like you. I love the non-oaked one best. I’d take a 2014 1er cru over just about any grand cru in the last decade. Great overview!
I have had a bottle of La Chablisienne Premier Cru, I know it's a wine cooperative and they most likely blend premier cru grapes from different vineyard sites. I thought the fruit character was better than a regular Chablis but I am not sure if it's really at the level of a single vineyard Premier Cru site from a reputable producer like Fevre-Fevre. But that bottle from the cooperative was much cheaper than any Premier Cru I have seen, they most likely can produce at a lower cost by doing more volume than anybody else.
A few years ago, I visited La Chablisienne, they produce both single vineyard Premier Cru and blended versions as well. It’s one of the better co-ops in France, but I agree with you that better examples typically can be found from top estates.
Fantastic video. Great presentation, concise but extremely informative. My favourite Domaine is Gilbert Picq, none of their wines see oak. The 1er Crus are superb, while their Chablis VV quite often rivals a 1er Cru.
Thanks for the kind words. About 30 years ago, I sold Gilbert Picq at my wine shop, loved it then, love it now. Excellent source and one of the better priced as well. Cheers!
Perhaps you can present the Greek 'Assyrtiko' wines of Santorini, which resemble Chablis in their pronounced minerality, bright acidity, crispness, and elegance. The Assyrtiko wines of Santorini are the definition of 'terroir' wines, and are unique in the world for the 'basket vine' form of growing the grapes. I believe the viewers would have an interest in these distinctive wines.
Hi, thanks for the comment. I’ve been to Santorini a couple of times, big fan of Assyrtiko. I had planned a video of Santorini, but I had a problem with the video. I’ll do a piece on Greece before too long.
With Petit Chablis, very specific producers will make ones that are worth trying (but will have their own variations). The top producers make something that is village level or better, some potentially rivaling bottom tier producer 1er's, and have aging potential (eg Rene et Vincent Dauvissat's though has a lot of cheese rind aromas in the beginning, but now much harder to find since the amount sold on the market is less compared to before) but these end up being very expensive. It's harder to find unoaked 1er Cru since it's never stated on the label and you have to dig into the producer's website or importer's notes, and these tend to be far more savory and austere in their youth or even within 3 years of bottle age (The Vau's tend to be unoaked, like Brocard's Vau De Vey, or Vaulingeau, or Kirkland Costco's Chablis 1er 2017 was a blend of Vau de vey and Vauligneau and tasted unoaked, but 2018 and after they didn't say which climats they blended from). The 1er cru climats bottled by many producers of really good quality always have some form of oak in it (neutral and some new), for example you likely won't find an unoaked Montee de Tonnerre (unoaked also meaning no neutral oak / old oak). Foret, maybe e.g. Louis Michel's is unoaked but not sure. Grand Cru no oak, that's a very tough one, maybe one of the Billaud Simon's Grand Cru's (forgot which one) and Servin's Blanchot is unoaked which is also rare.
Hi Ken, thank you for the detailed comment. Over the years, I’ve had at least 25 different Petit Chablis. A few have been solid bottles, but scarcely processed classic Chablis character, in my view. I completely agree with you on the need to dig into the producer’s website or importers notes to clearly know what you’re getting. I’m not a fan of overt oak in Chablis. The wines lose their identity. Much different than Meursault which has the weight and structure to support it. I believe Louis Michel range is still made without an overt oak. I’ve recently had the 2020 Kirkland Premier Cru, seemed to be unoaked or maybe kissed an oak toothpick at the most.
Another banger! This video made me think about the time I was given a Chablis (I forget which level) and a Montrachet side by side to try, out of 6 of us, 2 of us (myself included) preferred the Chablis over the Montrachet (I'm pretty sure these were high level bottles based on who was attending). It was almost weird like we're the outcasts lol. You'd think that it would be understood that people have different palates but damn everyone else who preferred the Montrachet made it seem like the Chablis didn't come close *shrug* I thoroughly loved it for its crisp, awesome acidity and freshness and the energy it gives on the palate.
Thank you. When Chablis is spot on, it can standup to anything in Burgundy. So works the worst that can happen? The two that picked the Chablis had less to share with the others! 😂
Thanks, great overview of Chablis. I'm like Carl, ABC...but for me its more like "anything but chardonnay" 😏. Chablis and other French chardonnay (some great ones from Loire, too) are about the only ones I seek out. The Chablis I have enjoyed the most are the "un-California" styled ones--little to no oak, and same for malolactic fermentation. I find them so fresh and vibrant. Appreciate the list you provided--an affordable, good Chablis is one of my "white whales". Will definitely seek some of them out.
Of course, the common ABC is anything but Chard, anything but Cab. I drink quite a bit of Chard, especially styles that are brighter and fresh. Chablis is at the top of that list. Thanks for posting a comment.
Hi Bob, thank you for this nice video! It would be nice to have a video in the future where you talk about minerality as part of the taste in wine. I understand it's a controversial topic and it would be nice to hear your point of view on it. Thanks
Thanks, Bob. Love Chablis but it can be annoyingly inconsistent. I tend to stick with Premier Cru these days: I find Grand Crus too fat, woody and expensive, and basic Chablis not always much of a bargain. I have two bottles of 2012 PC left from a half case, which will probably be drunk this year. I love white Burgundy and drink a lot of Auxey-Duresses, St Aubin, and the various Macon appellations. Cote d'Or premier crus tend to be slightly out of my reach, except for the occasional special occasion bottle.
Hi Steven, cool regions can be variable and that’s certainly Chablis. The 2019s and 2020s tasted are showing well, with the latter more like the benchmark standard. I agree on the Grand Crus, too steep for me based. I’ll stay with the Premier Crus.
Thanks for the comment. I’ve had Moreau Naudet, very good wines, especially the Premier Cru. I remember a Montmains that was superb. I know they’re an organic source, perhaps biodynamic as well. I don’t recall ever having the MN Petit Chablis. Cheers!
i struggle to understand how the grand cru system of Chablis work. I always read in every book that there are so many grnad crus in Burgundy, and 7 of them are in Chablis. But this Master Sommelier told me that there actually is only 1 grand cru in Chablis. That Les Clos is the only grand cru vinyard, and that the other six are only grand cru climates. Do you maby have an explenation?
Hi Alfred, the MS is taking you down a false path. Calling them climats is not correct, they are more than just plots. It’s true there are seven GC, all are contiguous. There is a discernible difference between each, especially with some aging.
@@bobpaulinskimasterofwine so, as it says in every wine book, that 7 of burgundys grand crus are in Chablis?. but why are people always talking about "climates" when it comes to chablis grand cru?. This Master Somm was so confident in telling all the students that there is only 1 grand cru in Chablis, and that only wine nerds really know this. And all the other 6 are something else. Or maby like the whole grand cru erea of chablis is named actually Les Clos.... I just want to understand properly :) warmest regard,s
My best two Chablis I ever had is 2006 Domaine William fevre grand Cru Les clos and 2011 Vincent dauvissat la forest 1er both I had it this year. You have any experience with any of the producer ?
@@jasonhu2219I’ve had wines from both sources, both are excellent. If you’re not playing the daily quiz on my community tab, be sure to check it out, especially the question on the 13th.
Hi Bob! Great video as usual. I was wondering as someone who doesn'y have much space for storing or cellaring wines if spending extra on premier cru Chablis is worth it?
It’s kind of you pass along a good word. If you don’t a decent, consistently cool, dark place to store your wine, the chance of a letdown is much higher. White wines are more fragile well in comes to aging them. That said, PC Chablis is good when not aged as well!
Yes. Chablis is a very marginal area for attaining ripeness. 2014 is a vintage with excellent ripeness, very good acidity as there was excessive heat and the season was long enough for phenolic maturity. A fine vintage.
Do you have any recommendations on where I might be able to look to purchase some of these in the states? Thank you for your regular and great content!
@@bobpaulinskimasterofwine I live in Utah which is always a challenge, but I can order online and ship them to Evanston Wyoming where I go to pick them up. Thank you very much!
@@bobpaulinskimasterofwine In particular I wonder if you had a source for Fevre-Fevre, I wasn't able to find them on many online retailers. Thanks again
@@solvingforr Hmm, I don't know much about the wine retailer world in Utah. Perhaps online is your best option. Someone like K&L in San Francisco has an excellent range. Wine.com is another option.
1er in French is pronounced premier. I was under the impression that Chablis, due to climate change, has lost its place for creating wines with the best expression of Chardonnay, Currently you have to look at Germany and north Italy to find the very best of Chardonnay wines.
Hi Rob, thank you for posting a comment. In my opinion, Chablis is still the ideal expression of Chardonnay. As for the impact of climate change, the currently released 2020 vintage shows delicate character as it was well within the range of a cooler vintage.
I’m a bit intimated by the classifications at my knowledge level. I drink more Chablis than just about anything because I absolutely love the steeliness, but don’t touch the 1er or few Grand crus I’ve got, because I see conflicting guidance on when to enjoy them (e.g. some say never to open a Grand Cru within a decade of vintage).
Hi Andrew, wine should never be intimidating. In terms of aging the wines, it’s all about personal preference. Better Chablis will often be transformed at around the 8 year mark. Many with pick up a roasted nut character, some develop butterscotch aromas. If that appeals to you, age them, if not, don’t do it. Don’t over chill the wine, (around 12/13C). If you open them very young, many will benefit for aeration, a bit like red wines.
@@bobpaulinskimasterofwine thank you! I would love the study of those characters, even if they’re not my favourite to taste, so I’ll try to exercise patience on the better bottles I have.
That is one option, but the fruit will not have phenolic maturity. You’ll retain acidity, but the aromatic and flavor compounds will not be properly developed.
@@bobpaulinskimasterofwine you can mix and match, you can harvest first batch early for acidity and second batch later for phenolic maturity. I did a same thing but with mix of grape varietals, harvested same time but it had mix of early ripening and late ripening grapes. as a result I got acidity but I also got flavors.
@@Ruirspirul I reckon if you did that you'd be muddling (or altogether suppressing) vintage factors and some terroir as well. My interpretation of the overall Chablis (and red Burgundy) philosophy is: don't push too hard toward an ideal structure if it's going to mask the story the wine can tell. The approach you suggest seems a lot more like Bordeaux to me: blend the hell out in search for structural excellence and house style.
@@juanmanuelmunozhernandez7032 wait you think guys in Chablis dont blend? most of French winemaking is based on blending. they blend vineyards, they blend wood and stainless fermented juice, they blend barrels etc…
@@Ruirspirul by all means! Indeed most winemaking involves extensive blending, as most wine is produced in mid- to large-volumes and site declaration is rather uncommon anyway. What I mean is simply that adding an extra layer of blending (for ripeness in this case) would be more in tune with the Bordeaux style, where their overall philosophy is a lot friendlier with all kinds of blending.
