Chablis! Chablis! Chablis!

We will keep yelling Chablis until you try these producers, then you'll be joining in. With all the price rises seen in Burgundy, we have found two fantastic Chablis producers that buck the pricing trend. Both Chantemerle and Pierrick Laroche have produced wines that exhibit the best qualities of the region; freshness, purity and the distinct saline edge. From Petit Chablis, through AC and to Premier Cru, there's a wine here for everyone.

Chantemerle Chablis 2020

chablis, france

$55

Discussion here revolved around value for money, especially considering the way prices are going in Chablis/Burgundy in recent years. No price rise here for three years in a row providing drinkers with an excellent product at an increasingly attractive price. Oyster shell, brine, white-fleshed stone fruit - a really enjoyable AC wine with plenty of 'Chablis' definition. Despite the warm year it keeps it's shape nicely providing a long and drawn-out delivery of flavour. - Ches Cook, FWC.

Chantemerle Fourchaume 1er Cru Chablis 2020

chablis, france

$69

"Gee whizz, this is bloody terrific" (Ian Cook on the Fourchaume 1er Cru).

The 2020 Fourchaume 1er Crus Chablis is an intense, rocky and mineral expression of Chardonnay, true to what excites us most about the region. The saline bite to the fruit is piercing, with power driving from front to back. It's a discernable step up from the village wine and here you really know you're drinking at the business end of the Chablis spectrum. It's powerful yet controlled - an all-encompassing wine that is great to drink now or over the next decade. - Ches Cook, FWC.

Pierrick Laroche Petit Chablis 2020

chablis, france

$42

The domain has nearly 12ha of Petit Chablis, classified as such because the limestone tends to be the younger Portlandian rather than the older Kimmeridgian, and as such typically occupies higher sites (Portlandian overlies Kimmeridgian) and has less clay. Pierrick is convinced that his largest parcel of Petit really ought to be classed as Chablis; it makes wine like Chablis and indeed is surrounded by AOC Chablis vines.

Nice shape to this: long and linear, with slight (and to be clear, very enjoyable) austerity through the middle. Wet peddles, a twang of fresh acid and the sensation of rushing water. Delicious, expressive Petit Chablis. – Ches Cook, FWC.

Pierrick Laroche 'Chatillons' AC Chablis 2019

chablis, france

$59

Fruit here is taken from old vines planted in the 1970s and although it’s a village wine, it certainly drinks like an impressive Premier Cru. There’s so much intensity and definition here: it’s all gushing water, sea salt, crushed rock and minerals. It sees a touch of old oak (whereas the previous wine is all stainless steel) and this gives a touch more body and expanse. A very good wine and one that will be long-lived if, you have the patience. But why wait? – Ches Cook, FWC.

Pierrick Laroche Chablis Fourchaume Premier Cru 2019

chablis, france

$90

The domain farms 1.1ha in this lieu-dit of Fourchaume. Pierrick’s vines average 25 years with some up to 35 years old. Vinified in stainless steel with 25% matured in older barrels.

Long chiselled and fine, the 2019 Fourchaume seems tightly coiled compared to the other wines in this release. It ideally needs either some time in the cellar or some time in a decanter before serving, if drinking it young. But there is plenty to like already: sea spray, lemon pith, a mineral core – all the hallmarks of serious Chablis. Highly recommended. – Ches Cook, FWC.