Chablis 2022-2023: Here Comes the Sun King

BY NEAL MARTIN | AUGUST 22, 2024

“Here comes the Sun King…” sang the Fab Four on side two of Abbey Road. I have no allusions to Louis XIV. However, that hymnal song kept playing in my head during the annus horribilis that is 2024, a year that has been soaked by rain, strafed by hail and beset by rampant mildew. That is because my recent trips to Mâconnais, Chablis and South Africa coincided with a rare spell of sunshine. Desperate winemakers in all three regions beseeched me to stay until approximately the end of harvest. Perhaps they planned to install me in their town square or plant me in a vineyard?

To say ‘Chablis has had a rough old time’ is an understatement. Visiting in June 2024, many vignerons were already at their wits’ end after weeks of tragi-comical inclement weather. As I toured wineries to taste 2022 and 2023s, many growers were out saving their 2024s. It was imperative to use every minute of dryness to spray and protect vines. Ironically, the warm conditions formed a perfect environment to ignite fungal spores accumulated over previous weeks. At least you could drive your tractor into the vines. While surveying Les Clos one morning, I lost count of the number of people trundling up and down the slope as if driving in formation.

One silver lining is that Chablis’ cellars are full of barrels after healthy yields in the previous two vintages, and so, at least for now, there is enough Chablis to go around. Producers can plan ahead and potentially hold back allocations of 2023 to supplement anticipated smaller yields in 2024. So, what do the 2022 and 2023s offer in Chablis and also within satellite appellations such as St.-Bris and Irancy?

Looking over towards Chablis Les Clos from outside Benoît Droin’s winery on the outskirts of Chablis ville.

Growing Season

As I did with my Mâconnais report, I reproduce the growing season for the 2022 vintage from last year’s article for ease of reference…

February saw temperatures averaging 6.1°C, around 40% warmer than usual, not quite as much as the Mâconnais in the south, though warmer than the Côte d’Or. April was slightly cooler at 10.7°C, and, indeed, there was minor frost damage at the top of the incline. Eleni and Edouard Vocoret were acutely affected, losing half their normal yield. Heat stormed back in May when temperatures averaged 17.1°C, around 20% hotter than normal. June and July were balmy, though it should be noted that August was not quite as hot as other regions in Burgundy: 21.9°C on average compared to 23.1°C in Beaune. Data shows that 2022 had the warmest average temperatures since the beginning of the 20th century, including 2020 and 2003. The number of days exceeding 25°C was greater than in 2020: 91 days compared to 74, though there were far fewer above 30°C compared to the Mâconnais. Naturally, it was dry throughout the year except for June, which saw 109mm of rain due to storms. Yet that figure plunges to 14mm and 21mm in July and August, boosted by brief showers on August 15 that Patrick Piuze says gave the vines a bit of a pick-me-up. July was extremely sunny with 359 insolation hours, around 50% more than usual. September was actually quite wet, although, by this time, much of the fruit had been harvested.

The impact on the vegetative cycle of the vines is unsurprising. Everything was around two weeks earlier than the 1994-2021 average from June onwards. Interestingly, data shows that sugar levels were lower than in 2015 and 2019, roughly the same as in 2020, with slightly lower maturity indices. Harvest began in some properties in the last week of August and others around September 3. Picking efficiently was paramount as sugar levels were rising rapidly, and the continuing warm temperatures meant that producers had to ensure their incoming fruit was kept cool, lest they risk spoilage. Another factor, pointed out by Olivier de Moor, is that the warmth ostensibly caramelized the humus content in the soils and reduced nitrogen content. This has a knock-on effect as it can inhibit alcoholic fermentation. So, although I often heard the word “easy” spoken by winemakers when describing the 2022 season, it was not straightforward.