The story of Chablis and its vineyards is of cycles of slow recoveries after violent setbacks, both human and viticultural.

It is likely that vines came to the region with the Romans, if not before. As elsewhere, the Dark Ages saw monasteries putting great effort into viticulture for communion wine, and the proximity of Auxerre meant that the market in Paris was readily accessible.

There are records in the mid-15th century of Chablis wine being shipped to England, Flanders and Picardy. But in February 1568 the town was razed by the Huguenots, and the region did not really recover until the 18th century. Then came the ravages of the Revolution, the Little Ice Age and Prussian invasions. Just as the vineyards were being built back up, they were hit first by mildew in 1880, and then by phylloxera.

Again the region recovered, producing over 160,000 cases per year in the 1930s, but it took a heavy toll in World War II, and barely 5000 cases were produced in 1945. Production recovered to over 100,000 cases by 1949, but the vineyards were devastated by the late frosts of 1957 and 1961. Many were not replanted. gnu