The appellation, named after the town of the same name and classified in 1938, is located to the north and delimited from the Burgundy wine region in what is known as Basse-Bourgogne in the Yonne department. To the southwest of it lies the Saint-Bris area, which was included before the appellation regulation. Chablis is separated from the Côte d'Or by the Morvan mountains and is much closer to Champagne than the other Burgundian areas. The Romans were already cultivating vines here in the 2nd century and later the monastic orders of the church took over the cultivation. The Cistercian Abbey of Pont igny, whose monks are said to have introduced the Chardonnay here, earned particular merit. At one time, this was the largest wine-growing area in France, with 40,000 hectares surrounding the town of Auxerre. Sales difficulties and damage caused by phylloxera led to a switch to other agricultural products.
![]()
I have great respect for the scope and quality of the wein.plus encyclopaedia. It is a unique place to go for crisp, sound information on terms from the world of wine.
Dr. Edgar Müller
Dozent, Önologe und Weinbauberater, Bad Kreuznach