Chablis sales recover in the UK following five-year dip

Chablis sales in the UK have gone up for the first time in five years according to Paul Espitalié, winemaker and general manager of Simonnet-Febvre, and president of the Chablis Commission. 

Speaking to db at a Fells tasting of the 2024 vintage of Simonnet-Febvre this week, Espitalié said that after several years of sales dropping in the UK as prices had risen and supermarket sales stalled, UK sales of Chablis had risen for the first time in five years.

According to the official stats, exports to the UK fell 4.7% in volume terms in the first seven months of 2024, compared to the same period in 2023, down to 1.67m bottles, with value exports also dropped, down 7.8% to €17.5m.

However, sales in 2025 have recovered, Espitalié said.

“The 2023 vintage, where production was large, had helped, as it meant that producers could reduce the price,” he explained.

The challenges of the 2024 growing season – with flooding, excessive rainfall, frost, and hail resulting in “no respite for the crops”, the BIVB said at the time – has seen yields fall by as much as 50% overall, and though there are fewer wines to sell, prices have only risen “a little” Espitalié said, in the main remaining relatively stable. The 2025 vintage meanwhile, which was reported as showing “strong potential” is already on the horizon, with volumes “more closely aligned with market needs”, according to the official BIVB vintage report.

“I am confident about Chablis in the UK for 2026,” Espitalié told db.

UK growth

The growth comes in the wake of the Bourgogne Wine Board (BIVB) ramping up its marketing in the UK. In 2025, it launched a consumer campaign using social media and partnerships with festivals such as Taste of London and music events. This highlighted Chablis as a versatile option for younger consumers that can be enjoyed by the glass in a pub or other casual settings, rather than something best suited to formal dining.

Communication has also focused on the next generation of winemakers, both those coming into the region from outside it, those taking over from parents, or making wine under their own labels, to better reflect the fresh dynamic in the region.

As well as the UK turnaround, Chablis sales have continued to grow the US,  which is now Chablis’s most important markets Espitalié said. Although the most recent data is not yet available, in 2023, sales had grown to 36.8 million Euros by value, up 19% on the previous year, and the US is also the region’s second largest in volume terms, at three million bottles, up 6.7% year-on-year.

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