.... Most of you know what a fabulous experience I had this March in Burgundy, when journalists had a chance to visit the various regions and try wines of many different producers. I really enjoyed my time in Chablis, where I actually got very close to identifying the seven Grand Cru in a blind tasting.

Today Chablis has come to New York, and all my favorite producers are there. More on this later, but below are some links to producers I met in Chablis ....
 

http://awinestory.com/2010/03/hello-from-grands-jours-in-chablis.html

Sunshine so brilliant greeted our arrival in Chablis for this week long "fete" to showcase the treasures of Burgundy it was in direct contrast to the rain and chill of two years prior, where umbrellas and coats were necessary to protect against the winter chill.

One of the hazards of being a wine educator and writer is that as one palate's evolve, so does the price of the wines. It may be a slow progression for some -- a step up from village level Chablis to one from a trusted producer, and before you know it, you are buying first and grand cru.

Yet tasting through the village level Chablis in the 2008 vintage at the Union des Grands Crus de Chablis tasting this past Monday any wine lover would be pleased to buy on this level. It was a treat to see so many producers whose name I recognize from my local wine store standing by their wines, offering pours. And in contrast to two years ago, everyone seemed to speak English -- had my daily hour with Rosetta Stone Language software been in vain?

The wines I tasted were fresh and delightful with very high acidity and a strong mineral content. Depending on the producer and nature of his or her terroir, even the village level wines seemed to have enough balance, concentration of fruit, and acidity to age for quite a while.

As for the crowd, last year I saw Ed McCarthy, author of Champagne for Dummies, from New York but he said he wasn't going to make it. This go round I was pleased to see my friend Becky Sue Epstein along with Elin McCoy, a fellow member of Manhattan's Wine Media Guild.  But where was my friend Panos?

Amanda, a fellow Master of Wine student I tasted with during the Hospices du Beaune, said hello in the room reserved for the Grand Cru Tasting. You probably know there are 7 Grand Cru yet can you identify the differences? Identifying them may be a lifelong process, yet as time goes on and the more Grand Cru Chablis I drink the more the individual terroirs make themselves apparent.

Differences between Grenouilles and Bougros seem easier to note than the other Grand Cru areas. Bougros seems to have a very strong nose and palate of extreme minerality. Les Preuses, specifically Domaine Nathalie & Gilles Fevre, seemed to have a pronounced element of lime and citrus, and curiously, the acidity was not as racing as the Grand Cru Preuses from Domaine Simonnet-Febvre.. Perhaps it could be chalked up to Fevre's forty year old vines.

The entire 2008 vintage across all the Crus was showing quite well, with all wines having incredibly high acidity, solid concentration of fruit, excellent balance between the fruit and acidity and alcohol, and very gentle oak. The AOC that one my vote yesterday was Grenouilles - I particularly liked La Chablisienne Chablis Grand Cru Grenouilles 2008.

I also liked Blanchots, both Domaine Laroche "Reserve de l'Obedience 2008" and Chateau de Viviers which had quite a bit of texture, possibly from battonage and 15% aging in French oak barrels. Laroche was a particular study in balance, very elegant, with a pastry cream sort of aroma. It had been aged 9 months on lees, with 80% in French oak barrels.

Domaine des Malandes Chablis Grand Cru Vaudesir got notes of praise for its balance, finesse, and delicious palate of citrus and pastry cream. Le Clos, as represented by Domaine Servin, struck me as exceptionally full bodied - perhaps due to 100% alcoholic/malolactic fermentation and maturation in oak casks (average age 3 - 4 years).

Also great to see darkly handsome Jean Francois Bordet showing his First Crus - Jean Francois had been one of three Chablis producers who came to New York last fall on a media tour. And I was able to meet in person young Romain Collet, whose wine I wrote about during a Master of Wine related tasting practice.

The buffet was an extravaganza of incredible cuisine from the area's celebrity chefs.

Imagine yourself at a very elegant restaurant, hosting an important client, or trying to impress a date. You both decide on white fish as an entrée, so you are leaning toward a white wine. And since Chardonnay is such a popular grape, and Burgundy, France, such a respected region, you decide to go in this direction.

Yet as your eyes scan the enormous wine list, you see the various regions: Chablis, Meursault, and Puligny-Montrachet (and dozens of others). Maybe you remember ordering wines from these regions before, maybe you don’t, yet either way you feel frustrated that you can’t remember the differences between them.

Of course, you could always call over the sommelier and at the moment, it is probably your best option. Yet in the future you could help recall tasting notes from these wines with some practice.

Recently, I had to taste and compare three white Burgundies from the above-named region in the same vintage for a Master of Wine related exercise. So for this tasting I choose 2007 Philippe Chavy Meursault (from the village of Narvaux), the 2007 Louis Carillon Puligny-Montrachet, and the 2007 Jean Collet Chablis Vielles Vignes The idea was to open label taste the wines, then bag them and see if I (and a friend) could detect the correct wines.

2007 Jean Collet Chablis Vielles Vignes

Before tasting the wines, I did as much Internet research as I could. I had been to Burgundy before and remembered Chablis (mainly because it was February, freezing, and could not find a coat to buy in the charming tiny Chablis village),

So having been there, I could imagine the high acidity, the clean citrus flavors, and other elements associated with very cool climates. The Chablis was as I expected it to be: very high acid, sharp citrus (lemon, a hint of grapefruit), some mild apple, some fresh butter (as opposed to melted), and minerals.

On the Internet, I read Chablis producer Jean Collet’s family began producing wine in the 17th century, and his vineyards are parcels locate on the best hills on both the left and right banks of the river Serein in the village of Chablis. Soil is limestone and marl from (Kimmeridgian and Portlandian). The age of the vineyards is 25 years, and they do a mechanical harvest and use a pneumatic press. The wines are fermented and aged in stainless steel under controlled temperature.

Now I am going to discuss the other wines, yet will compare them to one another and leave the Chablis out of the comparison. True, these wines are all from the Burgundy region, but because the Chablis is stainless steel only, and the others have oak, it is very easy to detect the differences (even by sight, as the above wine is very pale lemon).

2007 Philippe Chavy Meursault & 2007 Philippe Chavy Meursault (from the village of Narvaux)

In terms of sight, you might guess that the Meursault would be darker because of a tradition of oak aging, and you are right. Open label tasting the Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault it was “easy” to detect the subtle differences. The Meursault was characterized by butter, ripe apple, subtle spice (from oak), vanilla, and very rich, ripe, generous, concentrated fruit. It seemed ready to drink, and would not necessarily benefit from additional bottle age. In terms of quality, it seemed very much a premium wine. The Puligny-Montrachet was a little lighter in color, with a medium plus nose of butter and very ripe fruit in addition to aromas of hazelnut and saffron. One could almost detect a pastry cream type of aroma and the biscuit aroma often a result of decomposed yeast cells. On the palate, the “texture” was opulent, rich, generous, supple, and concentrated while the acidity was still medium plus. Very good quality again.

Though the Puligny-Montrachet was $60, it was only a village level wine. The two grand cru vineyards in Puligny-Montrachet are Chevalier-Montrachet and Bienvenues-Batard-Montrachet, and two which are shared with neighboring Chassagne: Le Montrachet itself and Batard-Montrachet. I read that the village wines are “less impressive” than the village wines of neighboring Meursault because the water table is nearer the surface. This means that village producers can not dig the deep cellars ideal for aging and they can not prolong barrel maturation for more than a year.

The Carillon family traces their lineage in Puligny Montrachet to 1520 and it is comprised of 12 hectares of vineyards. The holdings in Puligny (8 ha total) are various parcels located on the Chassagne side of Puligny, within “Enseignere.” On his web site Mr. Carillon writes that the grapes are harvested manually, with the whites barrel fermented and aged in a small percentage of new oak and that some of the Village wine is aged in larger foudres rather than small barrels. Battonaged is practiced. The wines are assembled in stainess steel prior to bottling (which occurs in early spring) 18 months after harvest.

Now the Meursault terroir consists of marl and chalk soil, and the kind of high water table that allows producers such as Phillipe Chavy to carve deep cold cellars. No Grand Cru in Meursault, yet the Premiere Cru vineyards are Les Perrieres, Les Genevrieres, Les Charmes, Le Poruzot, Les Boucheres, and Les Gouttes d’Or. M. Chavy writes on his web site that he cultivates 8 hectares of splintered holdings comprising 30 plots. The various cuvees are vinified separately and may be blended later depending on his objectives. The grapes are harvested by hand as the vines are old and the rows very narrow. It takes 30 harvesters ten days to pick the grapes. Though his father and grandfather used mechanization and sprays, Mr. Chavy decided to revert to ploughing his vineyards, and no longer uses herbicides or insecticides so as to preserve the environment.

In the cellar, Mr. Chavy uses a pneumatic press (ideal for gentle, slow pressing of the must) and stainless steel, temperature controlled tanks.The final phase of vinification and maturation is conducted in oak barrels of various ages and provenances. The wines are aged for 11 month with regular stirring of the lees. M. Chavy writes that he recently purchased a special hi-tech filter so as to avoid stripping the wines of flavor before bottling. A small producer, Mr Chavy has two full time employees and his wife Graziella looks after sales.

So after tasting the wines open label, the idea was to bag them and the next day, pick out the correct wine. Though it was easy to tell the difference open label, the 24 hour lag seemed to have made the comparison between the Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault more difficult. The darker color of the barrel aged Meursault was the best tip.

And there you have it!

Which of the above villages are your favorite, and why?

... so after enjoying Grand Cru Chablis after an excellent presentation on the subject, many of Manhattan's top journalists came to celebrate at the SoHo Grand. Earlier that day there had been an excellent presentation on Chablis wines (read about it here)
 

Sushma and Christian

Above you can see one of the wine makers, Christian Moreau of Domaine Christian Moreau, whom I chatted with extensively during lunch. His great grandfather started the winery. Next to him in a stunning blue dress is Sushma Diwivedi, Account Supervisor for Fleishman-Hillard International Communications who orchestrated the event with others and is responsible for promoting Chablis.

World Wine Guys

Sushma introduced me to the World Wine Guys Mike DeSimone and Jeff Jenssen (Mike has the goatee) who have a piece this month in Wine Spectator.

Christian Moreau,  Chablis Connoisseur in red tie, and Arnaud Valour from the BIVB

Many journalists flinted in and out throughout the evening, as well as sommeliers and people in the trade. Below is a picture of Jean-Francois Bordet from Domaine Seguinot-Bordet whose estate had been in the family for hundreds of years.

Jean Francois Bordet

Ever wondered how to define the difference between Drouhin Vaudon Chablis Grand Cru Vaudesir 2008 and Drouhin Vaudon Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos 2008?

Laurent Drouhin with Honora Horan (center) and Harriet Lembeck at a walk around tasting of the 2008 vintage from the Drouhin family.

At the tasting, I chatted with Mr. Drouhin and suggested we record an audio interview in which we tasted two of his Grand Cru wines, the Vaudesir 2008 and the Cru Les Clos, 2008, and ascertain the differences.

My tasting glasses and my tasting notes on the Drouhin vintage

You can listen to the audio recording here and read my notes below.

shrimp and seafood fabulous - excited to try Oceana for dinner!
 

Tasting notes

Grand Cru Les Clos 08

Delicate nose of butter, minerals, a hint of smoke (flint), very high acidity that will pair well with the seafood shown above.

Grand Cru Vaudesir 08

A slightly floral nose, almost sweet and herbal, with high acidity, citrus, and more minerals on the palate.

Premier Cru Montmains 08

A bit shy on the nose, with elegance, minerals, searing acidity. 

Premier Cru Secher 08

Lots of flint on the palate, very racy acidity.

Chablis Premier Cru

Nose of melted butter and can almost taste the chalky soil on the palate. Notes say "remarkable freshness" and searing high acidity.

Note: The grapes come a blend of various Premier Cru parcels. At harvest the parcels are harvested separately. 

Chablis Reserve de Vaudon 08

This wine has many characteristics of its more aristocratic siblings - lots of buttery richness contrasting with the sharp, high acidity and minerals. Yet it retails for 

Vaudon Chablis 2008

Nose of butter and yellow flowers, minerals and high acidity on the palate, very long finish.