Chablis facing year of consolidation

Chablis needs to consolidate its position this year in the face of a small vintage.

President of the Union des Grands Crus de Chablis, Louis Moreau, told the drinks business: “In small years you have to serve your existing clients first.

“In years like this you just don’t develop other markets and you hope for a return to normal levels the next year and luckily that is what happened with the 2011 vintage.”

Chablis has recently hailed its success in the UK market, which is now almost the same size as the French and there are plans for increased investment over the coming years.

Moreau said that Chablis’ crus continued to perform strongly, particularly in the on-trade, and reiterated the “need” for Chablis to remain in the UK market.

He also talked of the 2010 vintage, which, like its sister appellations further south, was smaller than normal but with high acidity and good structure.

Moreau commented on the three latest vintages, which form an interesting triptych when tasted next to one another.

Moreau said: “2008 was great, very high acidity, followed by 2009 which was very friendly, very accessible. With 2010 we are back to structure and terroir, more acidity. It was a difficult year but interesting, 2011 will be much the same.”