One Hillside, Seven Climats
The grands crus of Chablis are gathered on a single hillside, on the right bank of the Serein, directly facing the town, between 100 and 250 metres in altitude. They are divided into seven climats of modest size: Les Clos (the largest, nearly 26 ha), Vaudésir, Bougros, Blanchot, Valmur, Les Preuses and Grenouilles (the smallest). To these is added "La Moutonne", a historic lieu-dit straddling Vaudésir and Les Preuses, sold as a grand cru under the monopole of Château Long-Depaquit.
This exceptional concentration — barely a hundred hectares — explains the rarity and prestige of Chablis grands crus.
The Terroir: South-West Exposure on Kimmeridgian Limestone
The grand cru hillside combines every advantage. Its south-west exposure ensures optimal sunlight, decisive under this cool climate for bringing chardonnay to perfect ripeness. The brown topsoil covers a thick layer of Kimmeridgian limestone — that clay-rich Upper Jurassic limestone studded with Exogyra virgula fossil oysters, which gives the wine its mineral depth.
The shelter of the hillside and its slope also favour drainage and partly limit the spring frosts that threaten the vineyard. Nothing here is left to chance: it is the meeting of a soil, an exposure and a microclimate.
The Style of the Wines
Chablis Grand Cru shows a golden robe with green glints and a concentration far greater than Chablis or a premier cru: a deeper nose and palate, combining a sharp minerality with notes of ripe fruit and, with ageing, a well-integrated oakiness. Acidity, always present, structures a wine of great length.
These are wines for very long cellaring — ten to fifteen years and often much longer — best served slightly less chilled (12 to 14°C) to release their complexity. At the table: foie gras, lobster, spiny lobster, fine fish, poultry in cream sauce. One of the greatest dry whites in the world.