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How Chablis came in out of the cold
Ice was the added ingredient that made Chablis the coolest Chardonnay in the world
CHABLIS is a French wine with a huge reputation; it is also a small town in the north of France. Growing conditions are tough and achieving ripeness – a core objective of modern winemaking – can be difficult.
Consequently Chablis wines lack fruitiness. Minerals, a hint of butter and acidity are the traditional attributes.
The ancient vineyards of Chablis were part of a vibrant wine region, supplying Paris with vast quantities of easy drinking red and white wine.
Then the railways arrived and Paris turned to wine areas in the south of France, where production was easier and prices cheaper. By the mid 1950s Chablis wine production had plummeted.
Conversely, its reputation as a quality wine area had grown during this period. Wines from certain vineyards had always attracted higher prices, these areas were studied, the geology identified and four grades of wine classified.
But being well to the north, frost was a problem and grape growing a struggle.
Technology intervened again, this time for the better – vineyards were heated or vines sprayed with water, when the frost arrived the young shoots were safely cocooned in an icy igloo.
Consistent production was assured and the phenomenon known as global warming, has made life even easier for Chablis winemakers.
By the beginning of the 1980s wine writers were becoming a force in the marketing of wines.
Their stories of determined wine-makers surmounting overwhelming difficulties and producing great wines, struck a cord with discerning wine drinkers all over the world. Chablis was back and production soared.
How much of this success is due to media hype? Chablis was about land, the correct grape grown in unique soil then fermented and aged in large wooden vats.
But this traditional process has been abandoned in favour of modern fermentation methods and stainless steel tanks.
The grape-growing area has been greatly expanded and yields have been increased to satisfy the market. Is Chablis still special, or just a less fruity version of new world Chardonnay?
We asked six members of our wine testing panel to sit down with three bottles of Chablis, a large bowl of seafood and a basket of homemade bread.
• Pictured on the left: Petit Chablis, George Tremely, 2005, £8.99 City Beverage Company, 303 Old Street, EC1.
This is the lowest class of Chablis wine, rarely seen in the UK and usually dismissed as weak and unassuming. This bottle is said to represent the traditional taste of Chablis, decidely dry, delivering a mouthful of stones and steel.
• Centre: Chablis (Fourchaume) premier cru, Les Vaux Sereins, 2004, No16, Nicolas, Rue du Dunkerque, 9e, Paris
Top ranked premier cru Chablis, from the Fourchaume area in the heart of the Chablis region and produced by the leading co-operative. Locals describe this as a feminine wine, while wine from the nearby Montmains area is considered masculine.
• Right: Sainsbury’s, taste the difference, Chablis, 2005, £8.49, Sainsbury’s, Camden Road, NW1.
Produced by Bouchard, a top Chablis supplier and recommended by several UK wine writers. This wine claims the fruity taste of melons.
The Verdict
The wines were tasted blind, first without food.
Initially the panel declared the Sainsbury’s taste the difference the best wine, strong tasting and well balanced, they felt this must be the premier cru.
But soon opinion began to change. One taster detected a pub wine taste and an unpleasant edge.
“This is an English supermarket wine” she declared correctly. Following a lively debate most of the panel agreed.
When the wines were consumed with food, five of the panel opted for the Fourchaume premier cru from Paris.
It was richer, with a more complex palate, and enhanced the food’s taste, while the Sainsbury’s wine tended to overpower it and the Petit Chablis made little impact.
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