HAS Chablis The winegrowers are preparing

Issue 174 of Bourgogne Aujourd'hui includes several buying guides: Burgundy wines, Mâcon wines, and wines from the... Yonne , Chablis at the top; find below the full article dedicated to them.

Let's be careful not to push the war metaphor too far these days, but anyone who has experienced a frosty night alongside winemakers fully understands the harshness of these sleepless nights and the stakes, which can be quite simply vital for some estates. No one risks their life on these frosty nights, but the life of their business, sometimes, yes… So, the last two vintages have clearly filled the cellars, to Chablis As everywhere in Burgundy, and some winemakers even describe 2023 as having "walls of golden grapes reminiscent of 2000." That's all we can wish them, we'll see, but it's also very clear, walking through the vineyards, that 2021 is still very much on people's minds and the winemakers are preparing, knowing full well that spring will return soon… "Between 2003 and 2016, frost had disappeared from our slopes. Everyone let their guard down about protecting the vineyards, but since 2016, the threat has returned almost every year. So I invested €100,000, including a generator, to protect 1.5 hectares with heating cables, a wind turbine covering three hectares, candles, and water sprinklers in the…" premier cru The Dead Man. This represents a total of 300,000 euros of investment spread over the last few years and eleven of the thirty hectares of the domaine are now protected. I wanted to be able to ensure a fairly significant minimum production in case of a setback. With the frost, we lose some of the harvest, that's one thing, insurance is there to compensate, but we also lose customers and it's a double blow," explains Cyril Gautheron, winemaker in Fleys.

80-90% success rate with heating cables in 2021

And the frost protection works! Didier Séguier, director of William Fèvre, can attest to that. “After the 2003 frost, I realized that refilling the fuel oil tanks after every night of frost didn't align with the environmental approach I wanted to implement, so we took inspiration from what Moët & Chandon had done in Champagne by installing 2.5 hectares of heating cables in the vineyards as early as 2004.” grand cru Vaudésir. After the 2016 frost, we extended the technique to other vineyards. The heating cable is very effective on the small buds, one to three centimeters in size, at the beginning of the growing season. It dries the plant, and we know that a dry bud can withstand very low temperatures. Today, we protect 16 of our 70 hectares with the various known techniques. In 2021, I had an 80-90% success rate with the cable, 60-70% with sprinklers, and about 50% with candles.” And the installations of heating cables are multiplying in the vineyard, as is the collective approach implemented in premier cru The Tonnerre ascent (Chapelot locality) is being undertaken by seven winegrowers. They joined forces in a cooperative (CUMA) to finance the protection of ten hectares, which has been progressively operational since spring 2022. Each grower purchased their own cables (approximately €80,000 excluding VAT per hectare), and the transformer was jointly financed for €230,000 excluding VAT, with the entire investment amortized over 20 years. However, the technology has its limitations: the distance from the electrical grid necessitates the use of generators, and the grid's power capacity is also a factor; at least in the near future, the new installations may indeed need to be connected to generators.

A bonus for the best terroirs…and for cutting-edge winemakers

Returning to our tasting, the results of which are published on the following pages, nothing was spared in the vineyards of the... Yonne in 2021! The frost, the subsequent rains, and, to add insult to injury, the Yonne In mid-September, just before the harvest, the region suffered more severe weather than southern Burgundy, resulting in a sometimes very rapid deterioration of the grapes' health. The vintage will not be remembered fondly, and it grants in blanc a clear premium for the best terroirs and… for leading winemakers. In the grand crus, premier crus of Chablis , some beautiful areas of Chablis and other vineyards of the Yonne The best bottles made from perfectly ripe grapes now display an elegant, fresh, and luscious style, very pleasant to drink in their youth. These ultimately well-balanced wines will age beautifully.
Text: Christophe Tupinier Photography: Thierry Gaudillère

Reference points

Department :

Yonne . Chablis grand cru : 101 hectares (ha).

Chablis premier cru : 772 ha.

Chablis : 3,716 ha.

Little- Chablis : 1,257 ha.

Burgundy and identified Burgundies of the Yonne (red and white): 713 ha.

Bourgognes, Coteaux-Bourguignons: 883 ha.

Crémant of Burgundy: 258 ha.

Irancy : 208 ha.

Saint-Bris : 172 ha.

Vézelay: 78 ha.

Christophe TUPINIER

Publishing Director