Chablis 2020: Full vintage report and top-scoring wines

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Analysis of individual appellations and their top-scoring wines coming soon:

Grand cru Chablis | Premier cru Chablis | Chablis | Petit Chablis | Top-value Chablis (coming soon)

Following on from the super-concentrated 2019s and the softer, peachier style of 2018, the word most heard during my recent visit to Chablis was ‘classic’.

While 2020 may not quite have the linear acidity of 2014, there are a lot of similarities with 2017, another classic year. Although 2020 was a very early vintage, it was not a particularly hot one and managed to avoid the dramatic heat spikes of 2018 and 2019.

My high tasting scores suggest that this is a vintage which can be rated at least four stars, with a wide incidence of five-star wines.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for the top-scoring Chablis 2020 wines

Domaine Seguinot-Bordet’s Jean-Francois Bordet, President of the BIVB Chablis commission, says ‘it was a very classic vintage’. Olivier Bailly of Domaine Billaud-Simon echoes that verdict, confirming ‘2020 is a classic vintage more like 2014 and 2017 than 2018 or 2019’.

Vincent Dauvissat, whom I visited while he was dashing around in the cellar moving wines between barrels, stopped long enough to describe the year as a ‘magnificent’ vintage.

On a visit to Domaine Francois Raveneau, Isabelle Raveneau confirmed the general view, noting that 2020 was ‘more classic than 2019’, although she believes 2019 was still ‘a fine year which was very concentrated and had great density, as it was only half the yield’.

Recipe for success

Following the reduced crop in 2019, and the exceedingly difficult 2016 vintage (devastated by bouts of frost and hail), the weather in 2020 was generally kind to Chablis producers.

Winter saw plenty of rainfall to boost water reserves and the mild start to the year encouraged early budburst, although producers feared the worst when temperatures plummeted at the end of March and early April.

Bailly said he had spent seven nights in his vineyards lighting frost-protection candles (bougies), but fortunately damage was slight and only affected the lowest sites.

A warm April was followed by soaring temperatures in May, which encouraged a rapid, successful flowering.

Summer was warm and dry, with July experiencing virtually no rain. However, due to ample water reserves, few vines were adversely affected, the main impact being smaller grape sizes which boosts concentration but reduces the potential yield at harvest.

Occasional showers in August freshened up the vines, with some localised hailstorms affecting the villages of Béru and Beines on 12 August.

The growth cycle was completed 15-20 days earlier than normal in the past 20 years, with harvest starting on 24 August and finishing within three weeks. Alcohol levels are generally between 0.5 and 1 degree lower than 2019, with higher levels of tartaric acid in the grapes – all the ingredients for a fine Chablis vintage.

Raveneau said their harvest began on 28 August, the second earliest after 2003, although she felt it was ‘a completely different year in the vineyard’.

She described 2020 as an ‘easy’ vintage, not because shortcuts could be taken, but because producers had sufficient time to make careful decisions about what to do, and when. For her, the objective is simple, ‘to produce the very best wine we can make from the healthiest raw material’.

At Domaine Louis Moreau, Louis Moreau agreed that 2020 gave producers plenty of time to make the best choices in both the vineyard and at harvest time – the opposite of what happened in the difficult 2021 growing season.

Chablis: know your vintages

2020 Early but high-quality vintage with typical Chablis drive and freshness. Along with 2017, the best since 2014. A vintage to buy, and to keep the top wines carefully for drinking over 5-10 years.

2019 Some spikes of heat, but the grapes were very concentrated giving Chablis wines with weight and the acidity to support the ripe fruit. Best sites will keep many years.

2018 Big harvest with a dry, hot summer leading to ripe grapes which lacked a bit of concentration but had plenty of fruit purity. Stone fruit characters more evident, less classic, relatively early drinking.

2017 A fine vintage, plenty of acidity, floral and mineral notes, and a lot more drive and intensity than in either 2016 or 2018. Vintage to keep.

2016 Beset by frost and hail damage – very low yields as a result. Decent wines were made but acidity quite low; all but the best premiers crus and grands crus need drinking.

See all 180 Chablis 2020 tasting notes and scores

Quality across the board

In 2020, it appears that overall quality is not only high, but also homogenous across quality tiers, vineyard sites and both banks of the Serein river.

Petit Chablis was very successful with many wines showing an attractive stone-fruit character combined with freshness and approachability. The wines will provide some excellent short-term drinking before many of the best Chablis are ready.

Nearly all of the Chablis AOP tasted showed a distinct step up in concentration, with more pronounced acidity, apple (sometimes pear) fruit notes and a distinctly mineral edge. Although there is a thirst for youthful Chablis among consumers, this is one dry white wine that will benefit from careful ageing.

Premier cru Chablis adds more ageability and a lot more terroir influence, with the top climats showing very strongly. Montmains and Vaillons were impressive, while on the right-bank of the Serein, Mont de Milieu and Vaulorent shone, the latter showing why it is regarded by many as comparable to Chablis grand cru. As expected, the wines from Montée de Tonnerre lived up to their lofty reputation. Consistently good across every producer tasted, these will be wines to enjoy after a few years’ bottle age, and then over the next decade.

Oliver Bailly advises that the premier cru wines from 2020 should be aerated in a decanter for at least an hour if they are broached within the first two to three years following the vintage.

Chablis grand cru delivers extra levels of concentration, excellent long-term ageing potential, power and additional layers of texture via a greater use of oak. Les Clos and Les Preuses were perhaps the most memorable of all the wines tasted.

The top performers

The must-buy wines of 2020 range across many appellations, producers and sites. The wines of Domaine William Fèvre are stunning across the board. The effort put in by managing director Didier Seguier and his team to extract the maximum expression of individual terroirs is very impressive, with the results clearly evident in the glass.

A tasting of Samuel Billaud’s range showed why he is now considered another Chablis superstar.

And it is no surprise that Domaine Francois Raveneau and Vincent Dauvissat are producing the finest Chablis on the planet. Raveneau’s Les Clos was my wine of the vintage, but I would be extremely happy to be the owner of a single bottle of the Chablis or Petit Chablis, as these wines are also stunning.

Chablis – Decanter vintage ratings

2020 ****

2019 ****

2018 ***

2017 ****

2016 **

2015 ***

2014 *****

2013 **

2012 ****

Chablis: the facts and figures

As with other wines from Bourgogne, Chablis has seen strong growth in both revenue and volume in the past six months. According to the BIVB, white wines in 2020 accounted for a record 64% of the volume of wines produced in Burgundy, with Chablis the engine room for the region.

The UK remains a key market for the wines of Burgundy and has regained its position as the leading export market for Chablis, with revenue up by 9% and volume up by 13%, compared to 2019.

Sales have been driven mostly by Petit Chablis and Chablis, benefitting from higher production in 2020. Overall volumes in 2020 were up 16% compared to the average over the past five years.

Chablis has a total of 5,771ha under vine, with the Chablis AOP accounting for 66% of the planted area. Petit Chablis represents 19% and premier cru 14%, while grand cru comprises 102ha, just 1% of the total area.

Overall

2020 is a very fine vintage which is not easy to compare to other years. Although very early, the dry weather and absence of heat spikes meant that grape quality and health was exceptional.

Yields were slightly impacted by the dry weather, but this only appears to have added to the vitality of the wines.

Demand for Chablis is high and consumers should undoubtedly take the opportunity to stock up on 2020 and enjoy it over the next decade, as the wines represent fantastic value compared to many wines from the Cote d’Or.

The only shadow is that cast by the 2021 vintage. Where 2020 was kind to producers, 2021 presented a universally challenging growing season and yields will be no more than 50% of a normal year. Bulk prices are already rocketing and this will impact the price of bottled wines in 2022.

On a more positive note, early reports suggest the quality in 2021 is remarkably good considering the viticultural challenges, but the absence of volume will take its toll.

Andy Howard MW’s top-scoring Chablis 2020 wines:

The following wines all scored 94 points or above

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