Wines merely designated Chablis come from anywhere in the appellation and usually are the wines of growers who own small vine plots. Next come those Chablis designated as Premier Cru, about 30 in all from a total of 1,750 acres, generally marketed with the word Chablis followed by the vineyard name-such as Chablis-Monte de Tonnerre. All come from a total of 247 acres, far less than the individual acreage of many boutique wineries in California. At the top are the seven Grand Crus: Blanchots, Les Clos, Grenouilles, Vaudesir, Les Preuses, Bourgros and Valmur. In the whole region of the vine-a mere 3,750 acres-there is a fairly broad spectrum of quality production. In short, all French Chablis is pure Chardonnay wine. By law, it is the only grape permitted under French appellation controlee regulations. Today’s vines were brought to the region in the 12th Century by Cistercian monks from abbeys near Beaune, thus the moniker Beaunois, which is used by natives instead of today’s more broadly known title, Chardonnay. It flows into the Yonne, which flows into the Seine, a route that allowed the golden, often green-hued wine to reach the French court in centuries past. Forming the bulk, and properly so, were the best of the French wines and their California counterparts.įor all its fame, Chablis is a sleepy little village on the banks of the Serein, a river so small that it is sometimes barely a trickle. In two days of silent tasting, a panel of 16 experts examined the properties of 92 wines-broken down into five categories-that included, for a change of pace, some vin ordinaires from both France and California.
Their selection is not-or should not be-merely a choice of “red” or “white,” as was proven at the 12th Annual Los Angeles Times Wine Tasting. Sipped and savored from simple French bistros to elegant California restaurants, Chablis and Beaujolais are wines of greater complexity than many people realize. Yet the name has been appropriated by wine makers in every one of the world’s wine-producing lands to describe any dry (or even sweet-edged) white (or pink) wine. Properly speaking, Chablis is the wine of Chardonnay grapes grown on the chalky hills in and around the French village of Chablis, a separate area of Burgundy, 110 miles southeast of Paris.
On the other side of the spectrum stands Chablis, the most famous white wine in the world, with the most imitated, faked and misunderstood title in the lexicon of wine.
The only red wine to be served cool, its countless variations of mellow, fruity flavor are welcome at any time of day, whatever the occasion, from the romantically intimate to the merriest of feasts.
0 kommentar(er)
