Chablis 2019 vintage preview
Welcomed as a fine vintage, 2019 will appeal both to lovers of ‘classic’ Chablis in all its complexity, and those who favour a more generous, softer style, says
Andy Howard MW. Here he gives a full breakdown of the vintage with views from within the region, picking 35 of his own top wines from the new Chablis releases
Summing up 2019, Louis Moreau, president of the Chablis Commission of the Burgundy wine board (BIVB), said: ‘We have been able to produce a top-quality vintage.’ After recently tasting 225 samples that were shipped to London especially for Decanter, my take is that 2019 is a fine year for Chablis, and that lovers of the wines from this cool northern outpost of Burgundy can buy with confidence.
In broad terms, it can be viewed as a ‘halfway house’ between the higher acidity levels seen in 2017 and the ripe, rounded, less acidic 2018s. But this is an over-simplification – 2019 Chablis is a very complex year as a result of varied climatic factors affecting this marginal wine-producing region.
Chablis has endured some challenging times during the past decade: 2016 was devastated by frost and hail, with frost also seriously affecting volumes in 2017; similarly, 2011 was a year to forget, with high volumes and disappointing quality. Both 2010 and
2014 were great years, the latter appealing more to Chablis ‘classicists’, and this is the year most revered by producers, despite many wines remaining linear and tight. It seems that climatic disruptions are now becoming the norm, but Chablis producers are very resourceful and are learning how to cope with hotter, drier years. 2019 is a much more typical Chablis year than the warm vintages of 2006, 2009, 2015 and 2018.
Value and character
While quality is high, volumes in 2019 were lower than average, largely due to the combined effects of cool weather during flowering, summer heatwaves and low rainfall. Total production in 2019 amounted to nearly 41 million bottles across all appellation levels: a decrease of 9% on 2018.
However, compared with the frost- and hail-devastated 2016, the overall situation is encouraging, with production 50% higher in the key Chablis AP. In addition, cellars had already been replenished following the superabundant crop in 2018, so lower volumes in 2019 are unlikely to seriously affect stock levels in general. There should be plenty of Chablis to buy.
Value-wise, Chablis at all levels remains a great buy. Prices for Burgundy continue to rise, with grand cru and premier cru wines reaching eye-watering levels. For a similar price to premier cru Puligny-Montrachet or Meursault, consumers can choose from a wide selection of the best grand cru Chablis. Premier cru Chablis over-delivers compared with village wines from the Côte de Beaune, while straight Chablis and Petit Chablis also
offer great value and early-drinking pleasure. In 2019, the quality tiers showed through very clearly, and although this is a consistently strong vintage across the region, it’s worth trading up to appreciate the terroir influence that Chablis offers.
All the producers I spoke to believe 2019 is, at the very least, a very fine vintage. Guillaume Michel of Domaine Louis Michel says that ‘2019 has all the hallmarks of a great year’ – a view supported by Jean-François Bordet at Domaine Séguinot-Bordet. At William Fèvre and Domaine Jean-Paul et Benoît Droin, 2019 is regarded as a very promising year, although heavily influenced by difficult periods during