Postcard from Chablis: The 2018s & 2017s

BY ANTONIO GALLONI | JANUARY 30, 2020

With Neal Martin recovering from heart surgery, I decided to pinch hit in Chablis for Vinous. I found a lot to like in the 2018s and 2017s, wines from two very different vintages. The 2018s are open-knit and fleshy, while the 2017s are built along much more classic lines. I also came across a number of new and/or newly revitalized domaines making truly noteworthy wines, something that doesn't happen every day in Chablis. All of that made for a fascinating week of tastings for this article.

Estate Manager Cécilia Trimaille at Domaine Long-Dépaquit. Her first vintage here, 2018, bodes extremely well for the future.

I started covering Chablis when I was at The Wine Advocate and then continued in the early days here at Vinous, before handing off coverage to Steve Tanzer and then Neal. I continued to visit Chablis in the intervening years, but more for my own personal interest. This was my first immersive trip since 2015. It was the first time I had approached a region with both a certain amount of experience, but also some distance. That time away allowed me to return to Chablis with a fresh perspective that was so different from anything I had ever experienced that it made me think maybe it is something we should do from time to time in other regions. When I look back at 2019, the week I spent in Chablis was one of the most enjoyable stretch of days of the entire year. So, let’s move on to 2018 and 2017, two very different vintages.

Walled-in vineyards at the Château de Béru, one of Chablis’ re-born estates.

Looking at the Young 2018s…

Two thousand eighteen was a totally different beast from the chaotic and traumatic 2017 and 2016 that preceded it. Warm temperatures, dry weather and record-high yields are the story. “We had a lot of rain early on, then no rain until harvest,” Estate Manager Cécilia Trimaille told me Domaine Long-Dépaquit. “We observed some signs of stress in our younger vines, but the older vines were not affected by the heat and drought,” she added. “We started picking on August 30,” Isabelle Raveneau explained. “It was our second earliest harvest. Only 2003 was earlier,” she added. “It is a sunny, warm year,” William Fèvre Winemaker Didier Séguier elaborated. “The key in years like this is to pick early. In the end, 2018 is a ripe year, like 2015 or 2009, but without the excesses of 2003.”