Best Value Chablis 2018
(Image credit: Credit Unknown)

There’s no doubt that the quantity is there for Chablis 2018 with the year seeing one of the largest crops ever, but this is a distinctly mixed vintage.



Quality is variable with balance and concentration depending on yields, picking dates and vinification techniques. While there are some distinctly ordinary wines – a problem of bitterness in 2018 due to thicker skins and machine harvesting – there are patches of excellence with some offering great value for those looking to buy Chablis 2018 en primeur.

With a mixed vintage, it is even more important to chose carefully. And with prices of some of the top wines soaring above £50/$70 mark, value can be even trickier to find. Prices are not out yet for this vintage with the Burgundy En Primeur campaign expected in early 2020 – so we’ve based price benchmarks on 2016 and 2017 vintages of the same wine.

All the wines are below £25/$40, some of which were rated between 94-96 points, and have been highlighted as ‘top value’ picks from a selection of the best scoring wines. Produced by a mixture of co-operatives, emerging domaines and established producers they showcase well-priced bottlings that have elegance, freshness and the classicism of Chablis in 2018.

Well worth adding these wines to the My Wines section of the website as a reference point for when they are released.


Best Value Chablis 2018


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Domaine Jean-Marc Brocard, Chablis, 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre, Burgundy, France, 2018

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Domaine Bernard Defaix, Réserve, Chablis, 1er Cru Côte de Léchet, Burgundy, France, 2018

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Domaine Thierry Hamelin, Chablis, 1er Cru Beauroy, Burgundy, France, 2018

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Tim Atkin MW
Decanter Premium, Decanter Magazine, Burgundy Expert

Tim Atkin is an award-winning wine journalist, author, broadcaster, competition judge and photographer. He joined Decanter as a contributing editor in 2018, specialising in Burgundy.

Aside from Decanter, he writes for an array of publications, including Harpers, The Drinks Business and Imbibe, plus his own website, TimAtkin.com.

Alongside Oz Clarke and Olly Smith, he is one of the Three Wine Men, who organise wine tasting events across the UK.

He has won over 30 awards for his work in journalism and photography. Notably, in 2018 he won his sixth Roederer Award as Online Communicator of the Year.