For seasoned white wine drinkers, you might even recall the cheeky phrase "Anything But Chardonnay" (ABC) being thrown around. But defenders of Chardonnay will, rightly so, hit you with another phrase: "You haven't tried a proper Chablis!""But what exactly is a Chablis?" you whisper, terrified hands clutching your wine glass, "And why do I need to try it?"

The world of wines is truly a divisive one, arguably even more so than other alcoholic offerings across the globe. Age old arguments like "White or Red?"  by die-hard wine connoisseurs have only contributed to the century-long war that will not end within our lifetimes.

One such skirmish is over the flag of none other than Chardonnay. For seasoned white wine drinkers, you might even recall the cheeky phrase "Anything but Chardonnay" (ABC) being thrown around. The phrase gained popularity in the late 1990s, with many seasoned drinkers lamenting the heavily oaked, buttery Chardonnays that seemed to proliferate supermarket shelves, yet leave one wanting.

But the defenders of Chardonnay might (rightly so!) hit you with another phrase: "You haven't tried a proper Chablis!" "But what exactly is a Chablis?" you counter in a whisper, terrified hands clutching your wine glass, "And why do I need to try it?"

First things first... what is Chablis?

Chablis is a Burgundian region that produces 100% Chardonnay wines

 The Chardonnay grape varietal in Chablis. (Image source: Sébastien Boulard)

Chablis is a wine-producing region located on the northwest end of Burgundy in France. All Chablis wine is made from only a single varietal: 100% Chardonnay grapes. This means that all Chablis wines are white wines, with no red wines produced in the region. 

As such, all Chardonnay coming from any of the Chablis appellations are referred to as Chablis. Long story short, all Chablis is 100% Chardonnay, but not all Chardonnay is Chablis.

How Chablis had restored the reputation of its own white wines

In the middle ages, Catholic monks started to establish a greater economic and commercial interest of viticulture in Chablis. Abbeys and other church-owned interests actively cultivated grapes and produced wine, all the way up to the French Revolution.

Leading up to the 19th century, a spate of fungal infections and pest infestations effectively crippled Chablis's production. Many producers gave up winemaking, the acreage in the region steadily declining throughout much of the early 20th century. By the 1950s, there were only 500 hectares planted in Chablis left.

A turning point came in 1938, however, when the Institut National des Appellations d'Origine created the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) regions for Chablis. This was in part an effort to curb the inappropriate usage of the name "Chablis" on white wines not produced in the region.

By the mid-20th century, popularity of Chardonnay had risen due to better marketing compounded by technological advances. By 2004, vineyard plantings in Chablis reached a little over 4,000 hectares.

Chablis has four main appelations you need to know.

(Image Source: Flatiron Wines)

Chablis is further divided into four main appellations — geographically delimited zones that operate under strict parameters:

• Petit Chablis: The lowest quality of Chardonnay, this class of wine may be grown in any of the communes within the Chablis.
• Chablis: With a more straightforward name, this class of wine is just a step above Petit Chablis, and can be made in select appellation communes such as Fyé, Milly and Poinchy.
• Chablis Premiere Cru: This appellation comprises only 40 Premier Cru Climats (named plots of vinegrowing land), and includes communes (Demarcated area for which certain provisions of the wine law are applicable) such as Chichée, Courgis and Fleys. We enter more premium territory here, and wines made from grapes in this appellation have the honor of attaching "Premiere Cru" to the label of its wines.
• Chablis Grand Cru: The most premium of appellations, it comprises of only 7 climats: Blanchot, Bougros, Les Clos, Grenouilles, Preuses, Valmur, Vaudésir. There are only three communes that can produce grand cru wines: Chablis, Fyé and Poinchy.

Okay... but what sets apart Chablis from all other Chardonnays?

Now we're asking the right questions! A lot of wine lovers argue that Chablis is Chardonnay in its purest form. Where some might complain that typical Chardonnays often fall pray to tasting over oaked or buttery, but Chablis wines are often praised for displaying freshness, minerality and aromatic complexity. 

Here's why you should be giving Chablis a try!

Chablis has a wonderful terroir that plays especially well with the Chardonnay grape varietal.

As some of you might already know from our deep dive into white wine grapes, Chardonnay is a very neutral grape. With such natural neutrality, Chardonnay essentially reflects back the conditions of the terroir in which it is grown in. 

The beauty of this is that the unique terroir (or environmental factors) of Chablis plays especially well with the Chardonnay grape variety. Specifically, Chablis enjoys a cool climate, with long, slow-growing seasons that contributes to the wines' high acidity and freshness. Many vineyards in Chablis are also situated on steep slopes, maximizing sunlight exposure and promoting well-drained soils.

Chablis is also home to soils such as the Kimmeridgian limestone, a chalky soil in some areas has been known to date back to the Jurassic period. The soils are known to have differing deposits of limestone, clay and fossilized oyster shells. Grapes from the Premiere and Grand Cru appellations are commonly grown on this soil, which lends Chablis a distinctive mineral character that white wine lovers often chase, known as as "Gunflint". 

Chablis producers tend to play to the purity of the Chardonnay fruit, avoiding oak barrels in favor for steel-tank fermentation. 

Unlike most Chardonnays across the world, Chablis wines tend not to have those typical oaky, buttery notes, and are instrad known for fresh, zesty profiles with acidity and minerality. This is because Chablis producers tend to eschew the use of oak barrels to age the wine, choosing instead to ferment Chablis in stainless steel tanks to preserve the freshness and minerality of the fruit. 

This is not to say that oak aging is not employed at all in Chablis. Some Premier Cru or Grand Cru Chablis may also be aged in oak barrels, though the focus here is on adding depth of texture rather than to alter the natural flavors and aromas of the Chardonnay grape grown in Chablis. 

Chablis is great at all ages.

Chablis can of course be had when young, especially for those that appreciate higher acidity and minerality.

However, Chablis can benefit greatly from in-bottle aging. Of course, more premium quality Chablis has better potential to evolve. In particular, Grand Cru Chablis can generally age for l over 15 years while many Premiers Crus will age well for at least 10 years. 

Older Chablis can have more intense earthy notes that mellow into delicate honeyed notes if left for longer. Acidity is also known to diminish. 

Chablis has low barriers to entry.

Remember when we said that the wines of Chablis can come from four different appellations? Well, that means that its Chardonnay can range from highly affordable to highly expensive.

But unlike more popular wines hailing from regions like Champagne or Bordeaux, the smaller region means that drinkers have the chance to taste the influence of different terroirs without having to shell out an eye-watering amount. Which to those just getting into wines, is no doubt highly appreciated!

Chablis is highly versatile when paired with food.

Think white wine, and most might immediately turn to seafood or lighter fare. However, Chablis is much more versatile, in some unexpected ways.

Of course, its bright acidity and minerality make it an obvious pairing to seafood. Surprisingly, it is also known to provide a plesant contrast to rich, spicy foods such as Indian cuisine.

It also acts as an excellent agent to 'cut' through heavier foods such as cheese and creams, and in some cases compounds the vinegar kick in salads.

Lok Bing Hong      A budding journalist that loves experiencing new things and telling people's stories. I have 30 seconds of coherence a day. I do not decide when they come. They are not consecutive.