Dan's Papers - August 1, 2008 - Chablis, The Un-Chardonnay

You Don't Have To Go To New Zealand To Find Un-Oaked Chardonnay. Instead, Head To France.

As most fans of the Chardonnay grape know, the current trend is away from big, ripe, over-oaked wines and toward leaner, crisper ones. These bright Chards are now being produced in many regions, yet one of the most famed regions for un-oaked (or gently oaked) Chardonnay is Chablis, in the far northern part of Burgundy. Here oak has never been an integral part of wine production. Perhaps some older barrels were used for ageing or fermenting, but with age oak loses its flavor and becomes simply a container with little impact on the flavors of the wine. Originally, oak was not intended to be a flavor component but was used just to ferment, store or age a wine. Today many winemakers use oak as a chef might a spice rack - high toast, medium or low toast, oak from certain forests, etc. But there is still a large market for white wines that do not see any oak. You only need to look at the amount of Pinot Grigio consumed to realize this.

Most consumers I talk to who prefer Pinot Grigio indicate that they don't like Chardonnay, yet when they taste a fine, un-oaked version they do enjoy them (and sometimes mistake them for Pinot Gris(gio). One reason for this is the relationship between the two grapes. Chardonnay and Pinot Gris (the French name for the 'Grey' Pinot) have the same parents, Pinot Noir and Gouais Blanc, so the flavors do overlap quite a bit. The popularity of un-oaked Chardonnay is spreading around the vinous world, with Australia and New Zealand leading the pack. But here I'd like to talk about the original un-oaked Chard, which is also the underdog and the slighted one: Chablis.

Chablis produces world class wines, but unfortunately they have suffered a great disservice at the hands of Almaden, Gallo, et al. As those jug brand producers pilfered the great Chablis name, that name became associated with cheap white wine, often semi-dry and rather simple in flavor. But real Chablis is from the region surrounding the town of Chablis, France, about 100 miles southeast of Paris, and is produced only from Chardonnay. For wine purposes, the region is within the larger region of Burgundy, yet it is as far from the rest of Burgundy as it is from the distant Champagne region.

The only grape allowed in the specific region of Chablis is Chardonnay, and today there are four different levels of Chablis allowed: Petit Chablis (the lowest in price and quality), Chablis AC, Premier Cru Chablis and Grand Cru Chablis (the highest in price and quality). Though all the levels are in fact AC, or Appellation Controlee (overseen by the Institut National des Appellations d'Origine, the French governing body for wine production), I refer to the simple Chablis as AC to differentiate it from both the more prestigious and less prestigious Chablis appellations.

All these versions in general offer great value for serious Chardonnay at each level. The difference between the levels is mostly about the site of the vineyards, with the Premier Cru sites having better soils and warmer zones, while the Grand Cru sites are all clustered together on a slope overlooking the Serein River and the town of Chablis. The Grand Cru sites are all south-facing and on steep exposures that allow the grapes to ripen perfectly and get a sense of that great Chablis minerality (sometimes referred to as wet stone or flint). While most Chablis is not oaked, there are some producers who use oak to either age or ferment the wines. Domaine Raveneau, Domaine William Fevre and Domaine Dauvissat are top producers who use differing amounts of new oak in their Chablis, but most who do use oak use very little and only for their top wines. Domaine William Fevre once lead the oaky Chardonnay faction in Chablis until the house was bought in 1998 by the Henriot family. Now the oak character is toned down with less new oak used. The traditional thought on oak in Chablis is that oak dampens the classic steely and flinty notes of the wines, but also adds substance and tannin that allow the wines to age more gracefully. I tend to lean towards "less is better" when it comes to oak and find that balance, not oak, is the key to ageabilty.

As Chablis is quite small and has suffered the indignity of having its fine reputation dented by the jug producers, choosing a Chablis is pretty straightforward. There are few wines that don't attain a very good dollar to quality ratio, but seek out producers that are based in the region and own property in the region. They are more conscious of producing wines that will continue to raise the reputation of the region. Drouhin and Verget may be exceptions, but I still feel that supporting the producers struggling in the town and surrounding areas ought to be rewarded by my palate. Along with the producers I have already mentioned look for the following Domaine-produced wines: Defaix, Droin, Louis Michel, Christian Moreau, Brocard, Vocoret and Albert Picq. (Domaine-produced refers to the estate, which means the producers own the vineyard and therefore control all the production.)

What I look for in fine Chablis is dictated by the quality levels and therefore the price. For instance, my expectations for an AC Chablis will be more reserved than those of a Le Clos Grand Cru. So for a simple Petit Chablis I expect to find it costing less than $20 a bottle (closer to $15) and the flavors will represent the Chardonnay grape strongly with notes of green apple and bright citrus. A very good one will offer up steely notes of minerals, flint or wet stone. The main difference between AC Chablis and Petit Chablis will be the concentration and length, more of the characters found in Petit but with more elegance, concentration and better balance. In addition, the acidity in the AC won't be as aggressive and tart.

The Premier Cru Chablis category often represents the finest value, depending on the producer. There are forty sites allowed to be called Premier Cru, but we only see about ten of them in our markets. The finest are Fourchaume (very close to Grand Cru in proximity and quality), Montee de Tonnerre and Montmains. These are wines that can easily be compared to Premier Crus from Beaune, such as Puligny and Chassagne, but at far more reasonable prices. In general, Premier Cru Chablis can be found for $40 a bottle or less in a fine wine store. This versus a Premier Cru from Puligny or Chassagne which today are selling for $60 at the lower tier and pushing $90 for wines from the more reputed producers.

Grand Cru Chablis also offers amazing value when compared to equal wines from Corton Charlemagne and the Montrachet sites. Great Grand Cru Chablis can be found for between $70 and $110 a bottle right now, while similar wines from Montrachet and Corton Charle can't be touched for less than $150 a bottle with the best closer to $500.

At every level, Chablis represents classy food wines, great summer wines and very fine value.

Christopher Miller is the Senior Wine Writer for Dan's Papers "Wine Guides." Mr. Miller is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, an Advanced Sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers, a wine consultant for Sherry-Lehmann and wine educator. He is also the Education Director for Long Island's Sommelier Wine Academy, and has held the position of saucier chef at Schweizerhof in St. Moritz, Switzerland, and that of sommelier at Manhattan's '21' Club. He is teaching a Captain's Course at the Ruvo Restaurants starting in September. Visit his website www.noblewines.com or email csm@hamptonswineclub.com.