Though born far from the sea, Petit-Chablis nevertheless has a tang of ozone about it which calls for oysters, raw fish, and prawns (raw, grilled, or in sauce). It also makes a willing partner for small river fish (fried), grilled sardines, and numerous other fish species. But above all it is its frisky and energetic character which constitutes its charm. In the same way, it lends definition to tripe sausages (andouillettes) and snails (escargots). Goat’s cheese is perfectly at ease with its roguish appeal, as are pressed or hard cheeses such as Gouda or Gruyère. Its freshness and simplicity make it an ideal wine for summer salads or as a pre-dinner drink - try serving it with savory puff pastries (gougères).
Village Appellation of the Chablis wine-growing district (dept. of Yonne) in the north of Burgundy.
Producing communes : this appellation may be grown in any of the communes within the delimited area of the Chablis wine-growing district.
The vineyards of the Petit-Chablis appellation lie on either side of the River Serein. This AOC was instituted in 1944. It is one of the jewels in the crown of the Chablis district which, lying in the northernmost department of Burgundy, forms the « golden gate » to the region as a whole. A Chardonnay wine through and through, « Petit » Chablis has, in fact, nothing « little » about it.
These carefully selected terroirs occupy the higher portions of the winegrowing slopes or the edge of the plateau. The soils are brown and derived from hard limestones, with patches of sandy silts. Altitudes : mostly between 230 and 280 metres.
Grapes were pressed immediately after the picking, the juice was settled, the fermentation started with the addition of selected yeasts in stainless steel tanks under controlled temperatures (18°C) to preserve as much fruit as possible.
In order to get a suppler wine, we let the malolactic fermentation begin 10 days after the alcoholic fermentation; it ended in the end of November. The wine is then aged on partial lees for 4 to 5 months.
Nature certainly set a challenge for the winegrower and the winemaker with this vintage.
It began with very warm temperatures at the end of February which led to an early bud break.
The historic frost in April then destroyed young shoots that had emerged too early, significantly affecting the future harvest. Changing weather continued to characterize the vintage through to the harvests.
There were spells of rain from May to mid-August, obliging winegrowers to be constantly on the alert. The only periods of relative calm were during flowering, which took place in good conditions for the formation of the future fruit, and the véraison (colour change), which benefited from the return of the sun from mid-August.
The vagaries of the weather contributed to the development of outbreaks of disease, which were contained thanks to the tireless efforts of our winegrowers. In spite of this, considerable sacrifices had to be made to ensure a high level of quality, and rigorous sorting of the fruit in the vineyard and on arrival at the winery was necessary.
This vintage also required a major technical effort. The vinifications had to be carried out with meticulous attention and precision with a particular care over the extraction of colouring matter, the balance of the structure and the aromatic expression of the red wines, and of the freshness, balance of acidity and aromatic potential of the white wines.
PDF file