By Dave Preston
Guru of the Goodlife™
It has been many years since any but the cheapest, most industrial American producers stopped abusing the respected name of “Chablis” by attaching it to cheap, bottom shelf jug wines. It’s a shame that we have created “labels” for wines that are truly great quaffs at their origin. I think that came about when the expanding wine experience in this country was in its youth.
The village of Chablis gives its name to one of the most famous white wines in France. Chablis is located at the north of the Burgundy region. Chablis wine is made of Chardonnay grape. Over there people called it Beaunois, taking the name from the close-by wine region of Beaune. Chardonnay grows on a limestone soil rich with fossils and oysters. A long time ago, a sea covered Burgundy and Chablis. Producers took a high profile French varietal and found a way to mass produce it and hung their hats of the grape’s image in France, creating a trend. It’s all about marketing, isn’t it? But an awful lot of consumers - even some savvy wine enthusiasts - remain a bit wary of the real, authentic Chablis because the memory lingers.
Take my word for it: The real thing from France - grown, produced and bottled in the northern most satellite of Burgundy that bears this historic name - is just about as good as Chardonnay gets.
Chardonnay, of course, is the signature white-wine grape of Burgundy from stem to stern, and a wine lover could devote a lifetime to parsing out the differences among the whites of Burgundy alone, from Meursault to Montrachet and on and on.
But Chablis, owing to its granite soil, its northerly location and, not least, to a long tradition, boasts a special character all its own: Clean, lean and acidic, enhanced with a noteworthy minerality that speaks of stone and chalk. Historically, it rarely shows oak character, aging in steel or large, old-wood vats, allowing the transparency of pure cool-weather Chardonnay to show through.
The higher levels of Chablis - those from vineyards designated Premier Cru and Grand Cru - can be amazing in their complexity, seriously age worthy and, alas, quite expensive. But even the simple, basic Chablis appellation often show good regional and varietal character for a price that, if not downright cheap in today’s economy, is more than competitive for its style. My tasting notes are below.
CHARACTERISTICS: A fine Chablis is light, transparent straw color. Fresh cooking-apple aromas and a distinct hint of rising bread dough and even lemon grass. Fresh-apple flavors, tart and dry, are nicely shaped by crisp, fresh-fruit acidity. In the mouth Chablis delivers aromas of vanilla, lemon and linden. When older, Chablis has a golden color and is more spicy. (12.5 percent alcohol enhances its status as a dinner wine.)
FOOD MATCH: The wine’s apple character make it a particularly fine match with pork, specifically a natural and pasture-raised local pork chop, pan-seared and oven-roasted. It’s also recommended with grilled fish but is also a good companion with Tandoori and even curry.
VALUE: Sadly, genuine Chablis can still be a hard sell for those familiar with the American imitation as a cheap jug wine, inoffensive at best. In the age of the strong Euro, however, $20 is not unusual for even the basic Chablis ... and the price is frankly competitive at this quality level.
WHEN TO DRINK: Conventional wisdom holds that simple Chablis is best drunk young while its fruit is fresh, but there should be no harm in keeping it on its side in a cool place for a year or so.
Here’s a tip: if you’re looking for the most bang for the buck when buying wine…there’s a glut of inventory for most distributors in Nevada. Talk to your favorite wine merchant about “quantity” buying and you’ll find a great opportunity. If you’re thinking about six or more cases, you can really make a deal and get a steal! And there you have it…do make it a point to go out and live the Goodlife! Cheers!
(Dave Preston is a local radio and TV personality who has been a food, wine and entertainment writer for 25 years. You can reach him at dave@guruofthegoodlife. com)