Producer · Chablis, France

Guillaume Vrignaud

Guillaume Vrignaud is a grower-producer in Fontenay-près-Chablis, working 14 hectares of clay-limestone soils in and around the village. Chablis made by a committed small grower rather than a large négociant tends to be a different thing from the everyday versions on most shelves: tighter, crisper, more saline and altogether more interesting.

He keeps new oak out of his straight Chablis, which is the right call for this style. The wines show the green-apple and flint character the appellation is known for, with the kind of freshness that comes from cool soils and careful work in the cellar. This is honest Chablis from someone who knows his patch of ground.

Winery at Fontenay-près-Chablis · Chardonnay · £32.95 a bottle