Agnès Gleizes — Chablis

Agnès Gleizes

A small Chablis producer. Chablis sits well north of the rest of Burgundy, closer to Champagne than to Beaune, and the wine is Chardonnay grown on Kimmeridgian limestone — a seabed of fossilised oyster shell that is the reason Chablis tastes like nothing else made from the same grape.

Three wines, three tiers

The range we carry is unusually easy to read, because it is one wine at each level of the appellation: Chablis Vieilles Vignes from old vines at village level; Chablis 1er Cru Les Fourneaux, from the right bank of the Serein; and Chablis Grand Cru Bougros, from the seven-vineyard Grand Cru slope above the town.

What to expect

Chablis is dry, high in acidity and generally made with little or no new oak — which is why people who dislike Chardonnay often like Chablis. Village level drinks on release. Les Fourneaux and Bougros are built to be cellared, and Grand Cru Chablis in particular is usually closed for its first few years.

Serving

Serve at 10–12°C, not colder — over-chilling flattens it. Grand Cru is worth a proper white-wine glass rather than a flute-shaped one.