MADE IT TO DESSERT WITH A VOUVRAY

In August 2020 the French Winophiles are having a bit of a free-for-all in the Loire Valley! Jill Barth is hosting this month, don't miss her invite post. The options in the Loire are endless. Red, whites, rosés, sparkling wines, pétillant naturel, dessert wines, the Loire offers it all. We were to select whichever wine(s) we fancied, and we've got quite an inspiring list from everyone. Check it out below, and then join us on 15 August at 8 AM PST to talk about Loire wines on Twitter under #winophiles.

• Muscadet is Not Muscat, Gabure Bigourdane, and (Our Version of) Faire Chabròl | Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Thierry Michon and Domaine Saint Nicolas – Biodynamic Loire Wines |Savor the Harvest
• Savennières and Vouvray: Two Tastes of Loire Valley Chenin Blanc | The Swirling Dervish
• Sweet Wines from the Loire | Avvinare
• Made it to Dessert with a Vouvray | Keep the Peas
• A Vineyard Visit: Organic Clos du Tue-Boeuf with Thierry Puzelat and his Sauvignon Blanc paired with a savory summer tart | Wine Predator
• Turkey and Cabbage Skillet Recipe with Pouilly-Fumé | Cooking Chat
• Enjoying Summer Food with Chinon Wine and a Fun Book | A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Cooking to the Wine: “Brendan Stater-West Saumur Les Chapaudaises and Chicken Thighs with Apples and Onions | Somm’s Table
• Summer Sipping: B&G Chenin Blanc and Crispy Baked Pork Chops | Our Good Life
• Montlouis-sur-Loire – 2 Rivers, 3 Zeros and some delicious sparkling wine | Crushed Grape Chronicles
• Exploring the Loire Valley From My Balcony with #Winophiles! | The Quirky Cork
• Funky Loire Pet Nat was born for goat cheese pizza | My Full Wine Glass
• A Crémant de Loire, a Vouvray, and a Rosé D’anjou – I’m all set for the summer | Chinese Food and Wine Pairings
• Touraine Chenonceaux in the Loire Valley – Where Wine and History Reign | Grape Experiences
• Wine Thirsty? That’s No Problem in France’s Loire Valley | L’Occasion

LOIRE WINES + VOUVRAY

The Loire Valley wine region is along the Loire River and stretches from north central France to the Atlantic coast. The region has tremendous natural beauty, gorgeous châteaux, and a long history of winemaking, since the Romans planted grapevines there in the 1st century AD. Loire wines at one point were considered the most prestigious, even more than Bordeaux. A majority of the wine is white, although red wine from Cabernet Franc is also made in some areas. After Champagne, Loire is the second largest region for sparkling wine - crémant. It is also a very diverse wine region that offers exceptionally food friendly wines that are a true expression of their terroir and varietal due to no oak aging. It is a truly vast and varied wine region, sure to have something for every palate!

Each area in Loire has distinct characteristics and is known for certain wines. Almost all ~5,500 acres of Vouvray AOC, near the city of Tours, for example, are dedicated to the Chenin Blanc grape. Chenin Blanc is a high acid grape known locally as Pineau de la Loire and is believed to have originated in the Anjou wine region of Loire sometime in the 9th century. From there it eventually migrated to Vouvray. Vouvray white wines (Chenin Blanc) are categorised as sec, demi-sec, and molleux, and doux depending on acidity and residual sugar. Vouvrays from good vintages have aging potential, although they are also excellent without significant aging. Whatever the style of Vouvray wine, the one common characteristic amongst the wines is freshness/crispness.

For all that the region contributes to French and global culture, the Loire Valley was added to UNESCO’ World Heritage list in 2000. It is an area of France worth visiting regardless of any distinctions. 

THE WINERY + THE WINE

DOMAINE DU VIKING

In the early part of the 20th century, most of Vouvray (like much of viticultural France) was worked by farmers in polyculture. Cows, sheep, and grain were raised alongside vines. Such was the case for the land belonging to Lionel and Francoise Gauthier, the owners of Domaine du Viking. Francoise’s grandparents owned just 2 hectares of vines in the early 1940’s along with animals and grain crops. As is still the case in many areas of France, winemaking was primarily for family and local consumption. Until August 11, 1944 when Francoise’s grandfather, Maurice, was killed by Nazi soldiers after being caught trying to blow up some train tracks. His son, Francoise’s father, was suddenly in charge and in an effort to keep the family afloat, converted all of the land into vineyards. The family haven't looked back since then!

Most of the Domaine's 13 hectares are not on the famous chalk (tuffeau) soils that make up over 90% of Vouvray, but on the hard flinty soils of the northern tip of the appellation. Soils that produce crisp, mineral, and age-worthy Vouvrays.

As shown in the Google street view shot I took, the winery is more of a garage, although they do host tastings there. Domaine du Viking is also quite well known for its sparkling wines, made with the expertise acquired through Marcel L'Homme, the third generation of a family of farmers and vine growers.

2017 Domaine du Viking Vouvray Tendre

13.5% ABV | SRP $14

100% Chenin Blanc

Soil: 

Flint soils of Reugny rather than the more typical tuffeau soils further to the south and west in Vouvray

Vinification: 

Grapes from 50-60 year old vines, hand harvested and hand sorted, pressed and fermented by native yeasts. Aged in tank for at least 12 months before release.

Colour: 

Medium yellow

Nose: 

White flowers, lemon zest, baked apples, a faint earthiness

Palate: 

Sweet white flowers, lemon zest, baked apples, a faint earthiness, and a delightful stony minerality on the finish. Off-dry with a juicy acidity and pleasant amount of residual sugar without being cloying. Medium body and finish, overall a really delicious wine after 3 years in bottle... could perhaps be fine for a while but I'm not sure it would benefit greatly from further aging. 

Pairing: 

We had a very late lunch so we weren't hungry at dinner but by the time 9.30 PM came around we were a bit peckish so we decided to make it a light meal. We enjoyed this wine with two different but similar cheeses... a Fromager d'Affinois Brebicet from Rhône-Alps and a geo-rind MonS Mary dans les Étoiles cheese. Along with a black cherry-charred scallion relish (recipe below), a slathering of raw honey, a sunflower seed loaf, and a baguette.

The MonS Mary dans les Étoiles is a gorgeous goat's milk cheese with a rind of Geotrichum candidum (a mold-like yeast also used in Loire cheeses). It is a creamy cheese with a fresh citrusy, savoury vegetal flavour. The Brebicet is a sheep's milk cheese with a similar consistency to Brie but slightly more pronounced aromas. Can best be described as a sheep's milk Brie.

Black Cherry-Scallion Relish

makes 1 cup

- 4 scallions, cleaned

- 1 tbsp chopped green scallion tops

- 1-1/2 cups black cherries, pitted and quartered

- 2 tbsp olive oil

- 2 tsp white wine vinegar

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1/2 tsp pepper

1. Put the scallions in a cast iron pan, and heat until charred and softened but not mushy. Remove from heat, let cool. Halve each scallion and dice.
2. In a medium bowl add the salt, pepper, vinegar, and oil. Stir to mix well. Add the scallions, scallion greens, and cherries. Mix well.
3. Taste and adjust salt, pepper, vinegar to taste.
4. Serve with cheese and sliced baguette.

A BIRTHDAY AND A VOUVRAY

THE PRELUDE

This month in December the #winophiles are in Vouvray, Loire Valley, France. The Loire Valley is one of France's largest wine making areas but don't let the size sway your opinion. The Loire Valley and it's various AOCs are nothing to sneeze at. Some of the top wines come from there... Muscadet and oysters for a breakfast snack, anyone?! And that's just one example of the specificity of the Loire and its wines. Vouvray, as another example, is mainly about Chenin Blanc... chances are that unless you're really looking under every stone in Vouvray, that is exactly the grape you'll find bottled even though Arbois is very much allowed. Read an intro to Vouvray and the #winophiles here, where our December host Jeff Burrows offers a primer on it all!

Things have been a bit frenzied around here - in the best way possible. Besides work and contracts and proposals I've been designing our new master bathroom and it's been most fun. From the 3D model I made to help visualise the design to picking out the tile, finishes, light switches, and designing a half-wall to hang a barn door, it has all been fun. I've always done my best work with a tight timeline and this was no different.

THE BIRTHDAY

In the middle of all that, I had to come up with something special for my better half's birthday. Those who don't know him don't know that as blasé as I am about my birthday, he's the polar opposite. Questions about birthday gifts begin at least 6 months in advance, and questions about plans for the day and the champagne we'll drink start floating about a quarter year in advance. Needless to say, the pressure is on! Last year we went on a terrific bourbon country road-trip with friends. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do this year since we'd had a barrage of parties, eating out, networking things, and other scheduled events. I couldn't bear the thought of yet another eating-drinking-hobnobbing event at a restaurant, winery, or hip tech company office. Besides, we're off to Paris for a few days in January and Death Valley after that, so that's plenty of doing for the first quarter of the new year!

So we opted to have an evening in. No fussy meal or going anywhere, just a fun evening at home with a fire, music, conversation, books, sparkling wine - and since I had to plan a meal - Laura Chenel garlic and herb chèvre, and potato crisps. As we were in mid-December, the wine of course, was on trend with the December #winophiles Vouvray topic. Bubbly French wine generally means a cooler vintage workaround if you're a winemaker, but for most of us it means celebration! We started with a half-bottle of champagne and for after I'd selected a sparkling Vouvray. Domaine du Petit Coteau Vouvray Brut, to be exact. Both wines were a hit with the birthday guy... as evidenced by the one lonely photo of the evening!

THE WINE
SRP: $15

At the beautiful organic - and rather compact - Domaine du Petit Coteau, the wines are made exclusively from Chenin Blanc in varying degrees of sweetness, generally dependant on the location of the grapes. The grapes for this wine were harvested from vines planted in the classic Vouvray sandy clay soils over tuffeau.

We had a Brut, with less than 12 g/L residual sugar, and it was splendid with the salty crisps and the creamy-salty chèvre with a whisper of garlic. Who said crisps and chèvre isn't a full meal?! The wine is dry and juicy with overt notes of just-ripening yellow pear, honeysuckle, and caramelised apples with a medium finish. It is not too complex but it is a delight in any season!

THE SOIL

Mono Lake, July 2019

For the geology afficionados, tuffeau is not related to the other stone tuff, but it *is* related to tufa, that poetic stone best known for forming eerie spindly towers in Mono Lake in the Eastern Sierras of California. Tuffeau is not quite as smooth as chalk, the other calciferous grape-vine friendly stone, but instead it has the old skeletons of millions of microscopic organisms from the ocean beds of many eras ago. Because of those inclusions, tuffeau is far more porous than, say, a dense stone like granite. And also has far, far less compressive strength compared to granite, which, among other reasons, makes granite a favourite stone for the base of a building. So I wouldn't recommend a steel-framed skyscraper with a tuffeau base but of course, tuffeau is a fine stone for other types of buildings. And also wine!

Do see what my #winophiles friends are sharing about Vouvray this December!

• Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares “Pairing a School Assignment with a #Winophiles Project: Moqueca + Gautier Vouvray Argilex 2012”
• Lynn at Savor the Harvest shares “Why I Chose This Wine as A Holiday Favorite”
• Robin at Crushed Grape Chronicles shares “The Multiple Expressions of Vouvray!”
• Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm shares “Creamy Clam Dip with a Sauvion Vouvray“
• Lauren at The Swirling Dervish shares “Monmousseau Ammonite Vouvray: Gussying-Up an Ad Hoc Holiday Feast“
• Gwendolyn at Wine Predator shares “Carême Organic Vouvray and Lunch at Chateau de Pray“
• Nicole at Somm’s Table shares “Champalou Vouvray Brut and a Very Lazy Cheese Night”
• Jane at Always Ravenous shares “Vouvray with an Indian-Inspired Dinner”
• Linda at My Full Wineglass shares “Dry and Delicious Vouvray for Easy Weeknight Dinner”
• David at Cooking Chat shares “Spicy Lentil Soup with Wine Pairing”
• Susannah at Avvinare shares “Vouvray’s Singular Moelleux Wines”
• Payal at Keep the Peas shares “A Birthday and a Vouvray”
• Liz at What’s in That Bottle? shares “Va-Va-Va-Vouvray! Get to Know These White Wines from the Loire”
• Jeff at Food Wine Click! shares “Vouvray Pairs with Cream”

AUDE: ALIVE IN MORE WAYS THAN WINE

This month in May the #winophiles focussed on Languedoc-Roussillon in southern France, hosted by LM Archer. A lucky few of us received samples from Gérard Bertrand, who makes biodynamic wines at his Demeter certified winery in the Aude department of Occitanie in Languedoc-Roussillon.

The present-day region of Aude has done a lot: been inhabited since 1,500,000 BC, site of Europe's oldest human skull, lived through the usual European tumult of the Greeks, Romans, even Arabs for a while, but also benefitted from the "civilisation" part of each of these groups who brought viticulture, agriculture, cuisine, art, architecture, and cultural diversity.

The Greeks planted the first vines in Aude in the 1st century, but the industry really only caught on in the early 19th century. Around the same time as the French architect and theorist Viollet-le-Duc (1814-1879), who was not a formally trained architect but spent more than half of his career restoring Gothic-era castles, cathedrals, and public buildings, including the Notre Dame de Paris and the city walls of Carcassonne in the Aude. He is considered one of the first theorists of current architecture and historic preservation practices, a proponent of using restoration materials that inform the function of the structure rather than simply duplicating what was there. His theories of honest structural integrity and creative interpretation over exact replication made him a controversial figure and he continues to be so, hotly debated by all of us in historic preservation and engineering. When designing replacements for the statues at the top of the Notre Dame de Paris, he precociously designed Saint Thomas to resemble himself. The statue is there for all to see!



A third of the land in Aude is now planted with grape vines, although Aude/Languedoc-Roussillon might not be the first wine region you think of in France. But vintners like Gérard Bertrand are bringing more of a sense of place to the wines there, and making creative wines "of the land" through biodynamic practices rather than recreating what was already being made there. Much like V.-l.-Duc's writings and practices that inform but aren't the same as our evolving approaches to restoration and theories of historic preservation. E.g. in the reconstruction of the Notre Dame de Paris roof that will never be rebuilt to what was there when it burnt - which was already not original - but rather it will be rebuilt to remind us of what was there while also being foremost a roof. Considering how much Aude has lived from prehistoric man to V.-l.-Duc and forward thinkers like Gérard Bertrand and his biodynamic ways in the single largest wine growing region in the world, we can agree that Aude and Languedoc-Roussillon continue to be alive in more ways than wine!

2018 GÉRARD BERTRAND "CIGALUS" BLANC

According to the GB website, "Cigalus enjoys a hot, sunny Mediterranean climate (described as “semi-arid with temperate spring variants”) ensuring early ripening of all the grape varieties. This arid climate (low rainfall) is offset by the very deep soils (sediments deposited by the Aussou, a stream at the edge of the estate) which store the winter rains for longer but which are less fertile due to the presence of a slightly chalky sandstone in the subsoil, dating back to the Campanian (secondary era, prior to the emergence of the Pyrenees). LABEL DEMETER"

WINE: The wine, a blend of chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, and viognier, is a beautiful pale gold colour with lightly viscous tears, aromas of ripe citrus, citrus peel, white stone fruit, toast, honey on the nose. On the palate the wine is supple and silky with an unctuous mouthfeel and notes of butter in addition to the same aromas as on the nose. See the Tech Sheet for the winery's biodynamic approach to this wine, and other information.

PAIRING: We paired the wine with acciughe al verde, or anchovies in green sauce. The salty anchovies and the herbal sauce are a match made in heaven for a wine like the Cigalus Blanc. The acidity of the wine walks with the brininess of the anchovies and the oak aging helps tone down each bite while the citrus enhances the light fruity olive oil and the salty fish. Fun Fact: This classic Piemontese snack is a hark back to the days when salt was smuggled through France and Italy in creative ways including by hiding in layers of anchovies under the pretext of preserving them. The heavily salted anchovies that we desalinate before using today, were a way to smuggle salt in to Italy where it was in demand amongst the rich. Salt was the truffle of the 18th/19th century! 

We also had a delightful tuna ceviche which went splendidly with the wine. The occasional heat of the green chiles de arbol in the ceviche was a nice surprise soothed by bits of avocado. Fun Fact: Chiles de arbol are commonly used dried in Mexican cookery but in regional Indian cuisine they are used in all their green splendor in all manner of ways including just biting into them with a meal. It's hard to believe that chiles came to India relatively recently, through the Portuguese via Spain via Mexico where they are native. Potatoes and tomatoes are equally foreign ingredients that are now well integrated into all types of Indian cuisine.

Check out the other #winophiles thoughts on Languedoc-Roussillon wines!

• Michelle, Rockin Red Blog: Celebrating Biodynamic Viticulture and the Beauty Of the Languedoc With Gérard Bertrand
• Lynn, Savor the Harvest: This Biodynamic Wine Is a Summer Pleaser + Saturday Culinary Concoction
• Wendy, A Day in the Life on a Farm: New Wine Paired with an Old Favorite
• Camilla, Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Lemon-Caper Halibut + Gérard Bertrand 2018 Cigalus Blanc
• Linda, My Full Wine Glass: Languedoc Wine Meets Middle Eastern Lunch
• David, Cooking Chat: Savoring a Special White Wine from Southern France
• Pinny, Chinese Food and Wine Pairings: Exploring Languedoc-Roussillon with Chateau Millegrand Mourral Grand Reserve Minervois + Chinese Charcuterie Board
• Robin, Crushed Grape Chronicles: Exploring the Grand Terroir of Gérard Bertrand with Tautavel and La Clape
• Jeff, FoodWineClick!: Butter Roasted Fish with Gérard Bertrand’s Cigalus Blanc
• Jane, Always Ravenous: Chicken Korma with Gérard Bertrand Cigalus Blanc
• Cindy, Grape Experiences: The Wines of Gerard Bertrand: Expect Joie de Vivre with Every Sip
• Susannah, Avvinare: A Wine from Gerard Bertrand: A Larger than Life Figure
• Deanna, Asian Test Kitchen: Gerard Bertrand Rose Paired with Subtly Spiced Shrimp
• Cynthia & Pierre, Traveling Wine Profs: Comfort Food and Sunny Red: Gérard Bertrand Côtes des Roses with Senegalese Mafé and Fonio
• Jill, L’Occasion: A Name To Know: Gérard Bertrand
• Gwendolyn, Wine Predator: Bertrand’s Biodynamic Cigalus Paired with French Sausage
• Liz, What’s in that Bottle: Get to Know the Winning Wines from Languedoc Icon Gérard Bertrand
• Nicole, Somm’s Table: Cooking to the Wine: Gérard Bertrand Grand Terroir Tautavel Grenache-Syrah-Carignan with Saucy Lamb Loin Chops
• Rupal, Syrah Queen: A Commitment To Languedoc – The Biodynamic Wines Of Gerard Bertrand
• Payal, Keep the Peas: Aude: Alive in More Ways Than Wine
• L.M. Archer: The Hedonistic Taster: Gérard Bertrand 2018 Cigalus Blanc

LIVING OFF THE LAND: KING ESTATE PINOT NOIR + MUSHROOM PÂTÉ

This month (May) the Wine Pairing Weekend group is focusing on biodynamic wines from Oregon, and more specifically, from the Willamette Valley, OR. OR has the most number of certified biodynamic wineries in the US: a hefty 30%+!

So chances of finding a biodynamic wine from there are large. Or not, depending on how closely you look. Demeter, the largest certifying organization for biodynamic products, maintains a list on their website here. But if you're expecting a comprehensive list of wineries sorted by country, region, etc. prepare to be disappointed. You can certainly take the long-hand approach and narrow it down by crop, etc. but it's as I said, long-hand. So I took the other approach: went to the store, picked up bottles, looked up the wineries to see if they're biodynamic, narrowed down options, picked one because that's all I had time for to taste, pair, and write about hours before leaving town!

Demeter was established in Europe in 1932, and Demeter USA in 1985. According to their website, "Demeter USA is the only certifier for Biodynamic farms and products in America. While all of the organic requirements for certification under the National Organic Program are required for Biodynamic certification, the Demeter standard is much more extensive, with stricter requirements around imported fertility, greater emphasis on on-farm solutions for disease, pest, and weed control, and in depth specifications around water conservation and biodiversity." It is really the only biodynamic certification I have ever heard of in the US, probably also because Demeter own the Biodynamic trademark.

I chose a 2016 King Estate Pinot Noir because of the region, the winery, the grape (they are the self-proclaimed Kings of Pinot), the size, and the fact that before they were Biodynamic, they were Organic. No cutting corners here! At 1,033 acres, King Estate is the largest Demeter-certified biodynamic winery in the US. But they make sublime wines, even the ones that are not Pinot Noir.

THE WINE: Short story because no time to decant and see how it develops!

A gorgeous deep ruby with a pretty pink rim, notes of ripe red fruit - strawberries, raspberries, red currants, cherries - plus sweet vanilla, black tea and a faint hint of wet forest leaves on the nose and palate. The acid and tannins work in unison on the palate with just enough of both to keep you coming back for a sip. The finish is medium+ but really you're not waiting too long between sips with this wine anyway!

Overall this wine is an utter delight, especially at 13.5% abv and $26.

THE FOOD: We paired the wine with one of my favourite Pinot pairings: pâté. But I wanted a vegetarian mushroom pâté and our local Whole Foods - my go-to spot for all kinds of pâtés - was out of their mushroom version. Since it was a last minute decision to participate this month, I was at a construction site the whole day, and had to battle traffic both ways, I was really looking for a quick pairing with no cooking. But no mushroom pâté to be bought and I wasn't in the mood for meat so I had to make it myself. It was actually not that hard or time consuming and except the mushrooms I had everything in the pantry already so I ultimately ran out of excuses for me and just made it. I also added to the mix a truffle Gouda and a Talleggio. We loved all of it with the wine!

The Wine Pairing Weekend group has a whole slew of terrific pairings to inspire us all! Check them out here:

• David of Cooking Chat has prepared Salmon, Farro and Mushrooms with Winderlea Pinot Noir
• Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla is celebrating with Simple Pleasures, A Birthday Cheeseboard, & Keeler Estate Vineyards' 2017 Terracotta Amphorae Riesling
• Jill of L’Occasion writes about Peace, Bread, Land and Wine: A Meal With Brooks Winery
• Jennifer of Vino Travels will share Biodynamic Wines of the Willamette Valley with King Estate
• Lori of Dracaena Wines will present Continuing the Biodynamic Legacy
• Jane from Always Ravenous pairs Wild Alaskan Salmon with Herbed Ricotta and Oregon Pinot Noir
• Pinny of Chinese Food and Wine Pairings combines Biodynamic Grüner Veltliner and Pinot Noir from Johan Vineyards Plus Surf ‘n’ Turf Dinner
• Linda of My Full Wine Glass shares Ode to Oregon: Johan’s Biodynamic Expression of Place
• Gwendolyn from Wine Predator will present Our land is our life and our life is our wine— Cooper Mountain Pinot Paired with Duck
• Deana from Asian Test Kitchen has whipped up Oregon Orange Wine Sparkles with Indian Curry
• Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm discovers Dammit!! These are some great wines from Willamette
• Lauren of The Swirling Dervish will tempt us with Pork Loin, Mushrooms, and Fiddlehead Ferns Meet Biodynamic Pinot Noir from Bergström Wines
• Martin of Enofylz Wine Blog brings us A Taste of Cooper Mountain Vineyards at the Table
• Jeff of FoodWineClick! is pairing Biodynamic Willamette Valley with Brick House and Harissa Chicken
• Payal of Keep the Peas is presenting Living off the Land: King Estate Pinot Noir + Mushroom Pâté
• Rupal of Syrah Queen is sharing Maysara Winery - Iranian Immigrants Achieving The American Dream
• Jade of Tasting Pour will share Thai Green Curry Rockfish and Montinore Estate Gewurztraminer

CHABLIS: A TALE OF TWO SOILS

If Eminem were rapping about white wine, he might have said: 

May I have your attention, please?

May I have your attention, please? 

Will the real Chablis please stand up? 

Chablis... so much to be said about it and evocative of so many personal meanings and  memories. Including perhaps utter shock at the discovery that Chablis is just... chardonnay!  A grape originally from Burgundy, France. Chances are, that if you were drinking "chablis" through the early 2000s, etc. it was literally any white wine that someone wanted to call chablis because it sounds more legitimate than calling it White Wine. It did not *have* to be Chablis from the Chablis AOC in Burgundy - you know, the real Chablis - or even Chardonnay, which no one seemed to think was an important distinction. All this because after reeling in the aftermath of WWs I and II, powdery mildew and phylloxera, Chablis faded into the background for a long time. The vineyards eventually made somewhat of a successful comeback but the casual misuse of "Chablis" continued unchecked around the world. In 2006 luckily, things were cleaned up and a regulation was passed that restricted the name Chablis to wine produced in the Chablis AOC in Burgundy, France, a stone's throw from the charming village of Chablis, and where chardonnay is the only grape used to make Chablis. That's the Chablis we're exploring with The French #winophiles this month (April).

Source: National Academies of Sciences, 
Engineering, Medicine

Now that we know, let's get into it... a nerdy topic very dear to me: masonry, stone, and all things related. Such as geology, which really is just a time-lapse of the life-cycle of stone. It tells the story of how each type of stone, soil, mass of mineral dust was born, how it lived, and how it has continued to shape-shift its way through millions of years. It tells the story of the carbon cycle. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

TERROIR
Terrior - climate and soil - informs the flavour of all edible things including coffee, cacao, and wine. Non-aromatic grapes like chardonnay which aren't loaded with beautiful fruit and floral notes especially rely on terroir and vinification for the final outcome, i.e. what you smell and taste in the wine. Chardonnay is native to Burgundy and, dare I say, the best expression of the grape comes from wine made there. Especially in Chablis, a northerly cold region of Burgundy where the ancient seabed has formed two distinct sedimentary soil types: Kimmeridgian (clay + limestone) and Portlandian (weathered limestone). Both named after stages of the Jurassic epoch and both formed from heated and compressed remnants of ancient molluscs and shellfish. 

Portlandian, Kimmeridgian, Portland stone, Portland cement, limestone, ancient Roman tabby concrete - all same but different, all requiring thermal decomposition of molluscs. Created by heating (burning) shellfish shells, mixing with  more shells, sand, and water, poured into moulds if you're making something like a wall, or left free-form in nature. A basin of limestone marl starts near the Isle of Portland, Dorset in England (where Portland stone originates and where Portland cement was invented), and runs all the way down through Champagne, the Loire Valley, and Burgundy.

Tabby Walls at Ft. Livingston, LA (Source: P. Vora, personal collection)

(Fun Fact: to see Portland stone, visit the UN headquarters in NYC or Buckingham Palace, London. To see dramatic shell-studded tabby walls, see the photo to the left or snag a visit to Ft. Livingston, Grand Terre Island, LA - I worked on that partially submerged structure after the BP oil spill in 2010 and it remains my most challenging and fascinating project.)

Grapevines love limestone soil - it offers an abundant source of plant-accessible calcium carbonate, greater nutrient uptake by the vines, excellent water retention and drainage capacity, so less irrigation and less chance of water-logged soils. All factors which work in favour of chardonnay, a grape with early bud break that thrives in a cool climate. But despite the apparent similarities between Portlandian and Kimmeridgian, both soils have a remarkably different effect on the grapes.

THE WINES
I decided to compare the effect of the two soils by tasting a Petit Chablis (Portlandian) and a 1er Cru Chablis (Kimmeridgian). Paired both with oysters on the half-shell and a spiced ginger-infused mignonette. I also paired the 1er Cru with a classic Bengali (east Indian) dish of red snapper in a mustard sauce, shorshe maach.

 

2016 DOMAINE L. CHATELAIN PETIT CHABLIS: A simple wine with a medium finish, citrus on the nose and palate, delicious minerality. Crisp, refreshing, and easy to drink. Excellent with fresh, briny local oysters from up the coast. 13.5% ABV, $22

2017 DOMAINE L. CHATELAIN 1ER CRU CHABLIS: A bright citrus and lemon curd base with white flower, green apple, and pear overlays followed by a flinty finish and a soft mouthfeel to balance the acidity. This was an excellent pairing with both, the oysters and the mustard fish. 13.5% ABV, $35

If you need more inspiration to try a Chablis, see what the other French #winophiles are saying about their Chablis adventures:

• Cam at Culinary Cam Brings Us “Cracked Crab, Cheesy Ravioli, and Chablis”
• Robin at Crushed Grape Chronicles writes about “Mont de Milieu Premier Cru Chablis from Simonnet-Febvre and Pochouse”
• Gwendolyn at Wine Predator Shares “Chablis is … Chardonnay? Comparing 2 from France, 1 from SoCal Paired with Seafood Lasagna”
• Liz at What’s in That Bottle Shares Chablis: the Secret Chardonnay
• Deanna at Asian Test Kitchen Writes about “Top Chablis Pairings with Japanese Food”
• Jennifer at Beyond the Cork Screw Has “French Companions: Chablis and Fromage Pavé”
• Payal at Keep the Peas writes about “Chablis: A Tale of Two Soils”
• Jane at Always Ravenous has “Pairing Chablis with Marinated Shrimp Salad”
• Jeff at Food Wine Click! shares “All the Best Food Pairings with Clos Beru Chablis”
• Jill at L’Occasion writes about “Metal Giants: Windfarms and the Chablis Landscape”
• Susannah at Avvinare writes “Celebrating France with Chablis and Toasting Notre Dame”
• David at Cooking Chat writes about “Sipping Chablis with Easter Dinner or Your Next Seafood Meal”
• Pinny at Chinese Food & Wine Pairings writes about “A Delicate Pair: Jean Claude Courtault Chablis and Sichuan Peppercorn-Cured Salmon”
• Nicole at Somm’s Table writes about Domaine Savary Chablis Vieilles Vignes with Scallops and Brussels Sprouts Two Ways”
• Kat at Bacchus Travel & Tours shares “The Delicate Face of Chardonnay: Chablis”
• Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm Brings Us “Chardonnay? White Burgundy? Chablis!”

WHITE WINE, RED WINE, BLACK WINE, CAHORS!

The title is a riff on the old nursery rhyme Round and Round the Garden which ends with "One step, two step, three step, bear!". Definitely unrelated to Cahors or any other wine, really. But it was on my mind and so here we are.

"France vs. Argentina" is what this blog post *should* be titled because that's the gist of malbec.

As usual, we can thank the Romans for planting grape vines literally everywhere in the Middle Ages including present day southwest France. Malbec, the intense grape that yields wine so opaque that it has earned the nickname of Black Wine, was prolific in the area around the river Lot, that is now Cahors. But because of shipping regulations that favoured Bordeaux wines, malbec never enjoyed the fame and glory that Bordeaux did even back then. The phylloxera blight in the late 19th century that wiped out nearly all of the Cahors malbec vines certainly did not help things.

While Cahors - and much of France - was dealing with that, malbec vines brought to Argentina in the mid-1800s, were thriving. And have continued to thrive to the extent that for wine, Argentina has become synonymous  with malbec, and French malbec isn't at the forefront of most malbec enthusiasts. But that is changing as more and more vintners are making wine in Cahors and making excellent cool climate malbec from grapes grown in limestone soil, quite different from the fruity ripe malbecs from Argentina.

It can take years to find limestone soil in Argentina, but it takes a few minutes in Cahors. Especially around the terraces above the river Lot, which have a thin gravel and topsoil layer with solid limestone underneath. This soil combined with the cooler climate of Cahors results in tannic wine with a delicious savoury streak. Wine that's distinctly different from the Argentine malbecs which are more supple, fruit-forward, and overall less nuanced than Cahors malbecs. 

This month with the French #winophiles we were tasting Cahors wines, and we had...

2015 CHATEAU LAGRÉZETTE SEIGNEUR DE GRÉZETTE

https://www.chateau-lagrezette.com/en/home

87% malbec, 13% merlot

Soil: limestone base, gravel topsoil, second terrace above the river Lot

Colour: Deep purple, almost opaque

Nose: Savoury, peppery, some violet, earth

Taste: Smoky, blackerries, pepper, graphite, and leather. Balanced tannins, very delicious everyday wine!

Pairing: We had this with fromage fort and figs. The fromage fort had a mix of several cheeses including blue cheese and quark. It made an excellent match for the savoury wine!

Price: $13

2016 CHATEAU DE GAUDOU CUVÉE TRADITION
http://www.chateaudegaudou.com/en/les-vins/gaudou-co-tradition

85% malbec, balance merlot and tannat

Soil: limestone base, gravel topsoil, second and third terraces above the river Lot

Colour: Deep purple, almost opaque

Nose: Blackberries, some violet, earth

Taste: Blackberries, pepper, and dusty tannins. Overall more fruit forward and jammy than the Lagrézette, which we preferred over this wine.

Pairing: We had this with broiled bread, fromage fort and green olive tapenade. Terrific match for this wine!

Price: $12




See what the rest of the #winophiles are saying about Cahors..

• Rob from Odd Bacchus tells the real deal on Cahors: A LOT to Love.
• Liz from What’s In That Bottle paints the place What's Red, Wine, & Black All Over?
• Wendy from A Day InThe Life On The Farm tempts the crowd with Basque Chicken Stew paired with Black Wine
• Payal from Keep the Peas gives us a bit of everything we want with White Wine, Red Wine, Black Wine, Cahors!
• Camilla from Culinary Adventures With Camilla gets the party going by pairing Grilled Lamb Sirloin with Cèdre Héritage 2015.
• Rupal from Journeys Of A Syrah Queen inspires and delights with Crocus Wines – Exploring Cahors With Paul Hobbs
• Jeff from FoodWineClick! may be getting us in trouble with Forbidden Foods and Stinky Cahors
• Robin from Crushed Grape Chronicles gets out the map and takes us to Cahors – Malbec from along the Winding River Lot.
• Jill at L’Occasion shares Cahors: Your Favorite Wine For Fall