Winegrowers frustrated after more flooding hits Chablis

ere’s a misnomer if ever there was one – the river Serein (or serene), a tributary of the Yonne, once again burst its banks at the beginning of April, affecting wineries in the Chablis region. This is the second time in just three weeks, explains a despondent Arnaud Nahan, who heads up the 35-hectare Domaine du Chardonnay in Chablis. “Everyone is fed up after the second flood”, says the winegrower as he once again cleans up his buildings, where fortunately the consequences are limited despite the water level rising to as much as 70 cm overnight on April 2.  “Everything has been protected. All the washing and labelling equipment has been lifted up. The only damage was to the engine on the hopper which got wet because we can’t lift it”, he adds.

Although Nahan is used to the Serein bursting its banks, he says there hasn’t been any major flooding since 2013. He hates wasting time having to clean up, which prevents him from vineyard management work like lowering the canes, and not being able to prepare orders or ship them due to the fact that the transport company cannot access his winery because of the state of the roads.

Although he hopes this is the last of the flooding, he is apprehensive about the forecast of more rain next week. Remembering an old winegrowers’ proverb, which says that leap years are ones of “all or nothing”, he says, “I’ve got the feeling it’s going to be a challenging season. I’m not a medium, but for the moment, the weather is struggling to pick up”.