Chablis and the Auxerrois, Burgundy’s northern vineyards

The seven grands crus, Blanchot, Bougros, Les Clos, Grenouilles, Preuses, Valmur and Vaudésir, face the town from the right bank of the Serein, between 100 and 250 m up: 99 hectares in all, about 1.5% of Chablis wine, on limestone and marl full of tiny fossil oysters. Chablis Premier Cru counts 40 climats around them.

Around Auxerre, the Grand Auxerrois gathers four smaller vineyards: the Auxerrois, the Tonnerrois in the valley of the Armançon around Tonnerre, the Vézelien around Vézelay, and the Jovinien. Irancy makes only red wine, from Pinot Noir and a little César, a grape said to have come with the Roman legions, and Saint-Bris is the only place in Burgundy where Sauvignon is grown. Across the Grand Auxerrois, Chardonnay and Aligoté make the whites, Pinot Noir and Gamay the reds.

In Chablis, La Chablisienne, the cooperative winegrowers founded in 1923, receives visitors in its tasting room. North of the town stands Pontigny Abbey, founded in 1114 as the second daughter house of Cîteaux; near Auxerre, the Caves Bailly Lapierre age their Crémant de Bourgogne in former underground stone quarries, and Noyers-sur-Serein lies about half an hour south of Chablis.

Mid-way between Beaune and Paris, Chablis is far enough from Beaune for a long day of its own: our long-day wine tour covers it, with tastings, lunch and time in the vineyards, and the tastings are paid to the domaines directly.