The unremarkable French village that makes the perfect white wine

Chablis is – at first sight – a fairly ordinary village in northern Burgundy. It has 2,500 inhabitants and two specialist andouillettes shops. On a fine day, the creamy, pale stone of its houses, walls, bridges and mills glows in the sunlight. 

It’s a peaceful place to walk around, or sit and drink café au lait, but you probably wouldn’t come here unless you were interested in one thing: wine.

Chablis is famous for making one of the most perfect white wines in the world: an expression of chardonnay so crisp, lemony and saline – or, as some like to say, “mineral” – that many people refuse to believe it can be chardonnay at all. 

It’s a taut and refreshing style that no other wine region has been able to emulate (though one or two individual producers have made good attempts). 

Of course you already know about the wine. But Chablis as a weekend break destination? If you enjoy food and drink, you won’t be disappointed.

In Au Fil du Zinc and Les 3 Bourgeons (see below) Chablis has two restaurants that are excellent for both their menus and their wine list. And you will never be far from your hotel, so you can walk from wine cellar to hotel to restaurant and back to hotel without worrying about how many glasses you’ve drunk. 

The gentle countryside around is networked with footpaths and trails through vineyards and forests, over the famous Kimmeridgian and Portlandian soils, allowing you to take just enough exercise to work up the appetite for another meal. 

Have a look at chablis-wines.com for details of some of the best walking trails, ranging from a 60- to 80-minute stroll to 20 miles. At the very least, it’s worth popping just out of town to see the contours of the Grand Cru and Premier Cru vineyards.

In Chablis itself, don’t miss the elegant Gothic church of St Martin, rebuilt at the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries. It’s locked but pop into the tourist office and you can borrow its gigantic key and let yourself in.

In terms of wine visits, as is often the case, it’s often the bigger domaines that have the most capacity to handle tourists, but you can try wines when you’re out at lunch or dinner. 

Besides those producers already mentioned in this piece, look out for wines from Gilbert Picq, Eleni & Edouard Vocoret, Bernard Defaix, and Daniel-Etienne Defaix among others. 

Where to taste and buy

Domaine Long-Depaquit

The heart of this domaine was, from the 12th century, the property of the Cistercian monks of the Abbaye de Pontigny. 

The vineyards were bought by the Depaquy brothers who are said to have retired to Chablis “for their health” shortly after the French Revolution, and when the brothers died the land passed to a nephew, one Monsieur Long. For the past four decades the domaine has been part of the Albert Bichot estates. 

It’s the second biggest producer of Grand Cru wines (the most expensive category of Chablis) after William Fèvre, with around 10 per cent of the Grand Cru area. Domaine Long-Depaquit is also the only producer of La Moutonne – the mighty monopole vineyard that sits mostly within the Grand Cru of Vaudésir with a small part in Les Preuses. 

Try: Long-Depaquit La Moutonne – a monumental Chablis, intense and rich, begins to taste of washed-rind cheese as it ages.

Practicalities: The tasting room in the former orangerie is open to the public. You can drop by for a tasting during opening hours; for a cellar tour it’s best to make an appointment. Open Mon-Fri 9am-1pm and 2pm-6pm. See website for weekend times, which vary (albert-bichot.com).

Domaine Jean-Marc Brocard

Jean-Marc Brocard is the son of a farmer and trained as an engineer, then became interested in wine when he met his future wife, whose father was a vigneron. He planted his first small plot of land 45 years ago, in the village of Préhy, to the south-west of Chablis village. Now Domaine Jean-Marc Brocard is a big player, using grapes from about 200 hectares of land and supplying wine to the likes of M&S. Jean-Marc’s son Julien is now chief executive and his interest in sustainable viticulture has brought an increasing proportion of the estate into organic and biodynamic production.

Try: Chablis Jean-Marc Brocard Sainte-Claire, which is made from grapes grown in vineyards that are managed according to the principles of biodynamics.

Practicalities: A swishy tasting room in the middle of the vineyards in Préhy offers three different tasting/tour options with prices starting at €7.50 per person. Book an appointment through the website (brocard.fr).

Domaine Besson

This up-and-coming family domaine is in transition between the third and fourth generation, with Adrien Besson taking charge of the vineyards while his sister Camille looks after the winemaking side. 

Camille is young and understated but very focused and quite a dynamo – “It’s been my passion since I was young,” she says, “There was no question in my mind that it was what I would do.” When Camille officially started here in 2013 after completing her oenology studies, most of the production was being sold in bulk, with just 10,000 bottles being sold under the Besson label. “My goal was to increase that to 100,000 bottles in five years,” says Camille. She has. And she’s also making excellent wine, including a superb Petit Chablis which, as she says, “Is a wine full of pleasure to drink with friends.”

Try: Domaine Besson Petit Chablis 2017 is very good – a neat, lemony soufflé of a Petit Chablis. 

Practicalities: Visits by appointment, Mon-Fri, 8am-12noon and 1.30pm-5pm (domainebesson.com).

Samuel Billaud

The wines of Samuel Billaud are a joy – precise, savoury and luminous as Chablis should be. 

Billaud is a sixth-generation wine producer and worked for the family company, Billaud-Simon (now owned by Faiveley) but struck out on his own to found this eponymous estate. 

He makes wine from his own as well as bought-in grapes, and when he made the move to be independent began to work differently, for instance using wild yeast rather than adding yeast. This small producer, tucked under the old walls of the town (you can see a fragment of it from the courtyard) is really well worth a visit.

Try: Don’t miss the excellent Petit Chablis – so grown-up it tastes better than most straight Chablis. I am also a fan of Samuel Billaud Chablis Grand Terroirs 2017 – an archetypal Chablis that you can also buy here in the UK. Stockists include Waitrose, Berry Bros & Rudd and Lay & Wheeler.

Practicalities: Book tastings in advance. No charge. Open Monday to Friday 9am-12noon and 2pm-6pm, weekends by arrangement (samuel-billaud.com). 

Maison Simonnet-Febvre

I’m sure no one would get tired of Chablis but if you want to try some of the other wines made in northern Burgundy, visit the tasting room of Simmonet-Febvre. Owned by the Beaune-based Louis Latour since 2003, it is a big producer of Crémant de Bourgogne, the sparkling white wine, and it makes it all here in Chablis. 

“Our offer is large but logical,” explains my tasting guide, “as the grapes all come from vineyards in the wider area.” Other wines to taste here include Sauvignon de St Bris, Irancy (a light red) and Coteaux de l’Auxois. 

Try: The Simonnet-Febvre Crémant de Bourgogne is light, creamy and breezy – and a much more attractive sparkling wine proposition than most prosecco.

Practicalities: Opening times vary frequently, so check the website which is updated weekly (simonnet-febvre.com).

Getting there

Chablis is a little under five hours’ drive from the ferry and Eurotunnel terminals at Calais, or about three hours from Paris Charles de Gaulle airport – served by EasyJet (easyjet.com), Vueling (vueling.com), British Airways (ba.com) and Air France (airfrance.co.uk).

Getting about

Chablis is small and many producers have a base in the village itself, so you could easily put together a weekend walking between them. But it’s a shame not to get out to the vineyards, so why not try an e-bike? e-bike wine tours organises panoramic tours by electric bicycle or scooter, from about €25pp (£22). See e-bikewinetours.com.

Where to stay

Hostellerie des Clos

An elegant four-star hotel with a French country feel, at the edge of the village of Chablis. The hotel has a spa so if you finish wine visits early you can pop in for a massage or pedicure. Double rooms from €79 (£68) (hostellerie-des-clos.fr).

Hôtel du Vieux Moulin

The interior of this old millhouse in the heart of Chablis has been transformed into a contemporary hotel with five rooms and two suites. Owned by Domaine Laroche, and a free wine tour is included in the room price. Doubles from €125 (larochewines.com).

Domaine Jean-Marc Brocard

This estate owns several self-catering options including a house in Saint-Cyr-Les-Colons that can accommodate up to 18; two apartments and a house with walled garden in Chablis itself; and two more houses in the wider area. Enquiries for rentals and prices (brocard.fr).

Where to eat

Les 3 Bourgeons

A small place whose simple café-style tables belie the quality of the food. Don’t be fooled by the traditional-sounding menu: classics such as oeufs en meurette and boeuf bourguignon have been reinterpreted by the lightness of touch of the Japanese chefs. And you can drink Chablis from the likes of Alice and Olivier De Moor, Vincent Dauvissat and Thomas Pico for a song. Three courses from €30 (les-trois-bourgeons.restaurant-chablis.fr).

Au Fil du Zinc

Fabien Espana took over here five years ago and has transformed it into a destination restaurant. Good relationships with local growers ensure a jaw-dropping (Chablis and Burgundy-centric) wine list, both in terms of price (low, not high) and starry bottles (think Raveneau; Mugnier; Sauzet and so on). The food’s good too – the chef has worked at Atelier Joël Robuchon in Paris. Three courses from €32 (au-fil-du-zinc.restaurant-chablis.com).