Two Premier Cru Chablis as different as can be

Well, look at that! It's been a half-year since I last wrote something, and you would be within your right to ask, "Hey! What the heck happened?"

What happened was a lot of wine, but something always seemed to get in the way of writing about it. And by the time I got the time, my tasting notes weren't all that clear. And besides, I was going through a string of some rather ordinary wines.

But recently I had a reason to break out two Chablis Premier Cru that had been in my closet, er my cellar, for slightly more than a year. Both were 2008 vintages and both were similarly priced at less than $30, which made them all the more exciting. But that's where the similarities ended, because these wines were as different as they could be.

The first was a Vaillons by Thierry Laffay. This was a very good wine, but it really didn't taste at all like what I would expect from a Chablis. I served it as an apparatif with my sister and her husband when they visited in late June. We had some delicious smoked salmon and shrimp cocktail.

The Vaillons tasted very citrusy, more like a Sauvignon Blanc with bright grapefruit and high acidity. As I said, it was good, but it was so different than any Chablis I had in the past. There was no brightness, no mineral notes.

We took the second bottle with us to a tappas restaurant. The Montée de Tonnerre from Domaine Servin had slightly less alchohol by volume that the Thierry Laffay (12.5 percent versus 12.8 percent), which I don't know made a difference, but the Chablis from Domaine Servin had all the classice elements of a Premier Cru Chablis. It had the bright, crisp flavor of fruit with just a hint of acid, giving it a smooth and delicious finish. It had a mineral quality like a laughing brook, and a finish that was just long enough.

Clearly this was the better wine of the two. And it went exceptionally well with our tappas, particulary some grilled squid charred with the squid's ink.

These were both good wines, but the one by Domaine Servin was truly the best. So don't be surprised if you find a Chablis that tastes more like a Sauvignon Blanc. There are, apparently, a few out there.

And my rating? The Vaillons I will score with an 8, while the Domaine Servin I will give a 9.

A classic apéritif from Provence

I’ve been reading “The Magic of Provence: Pleasures of Southern France,” by Yvone Lenard, a wonderful book about the author’s experiences in Provence after she and her husband bought a vacation home there. And one of the very cool things about this book is that each chapter ends with a recipe. One of the recipes that caught my eye right away was for kir.

While there are many variations on the kir, the classic kir is made with a Chardonnay wine, usually a Chablis, that is poured over a small amount of Crème de Cassis. There is also the Kir Royale in which Champagne is substituted for the Chablis. You can use a New World Chardonnay as well, as long as you find one that hasn’t been in oak or has that annoying creaminess that too many American Chardonnays have.

Friends Nate and Steve came over for dinner and I asked them to bring such a Chardonnay with them for making classic kir. None of us had ever tasted this before, so we weren’t sure what to expect. I supplied the Crème de Cassis, but I had a bit of a dilemma when it came to what food to serve with the kir. Crème de Cassis is a sweet, dark liqueur made from blackcurrant. Given that, I was anticipating the sweet fruit of the cassis along with the freshness of an un-oaked Chardonnay with some minerality. I asked someone at Whole Foods, but they were just as flummoxed as I. For cheese, I settled on some drunken goat cheese, as its smooth and creamy texture ought to work well with the kir. And I also picked up some smoked salmon.

For a proper kir, you want both ingredients very cold. Pour a small amount – about a tablespoon – of the Crème de Cassis into the bottom of your wine glass. Then pour in the wine. Nate and Steve brought a 2009 Santa Barbara Chardonnay that worked excellently. The Four Vines Naked Chardonnay is aged in steel rather than oak, so it had the crispness and acidity desired. When you pour it into the cassis, you get a rosé-colored liquid that is rich and enticing. And tasting? It was delicious! Definitely a new drink to enjoy with friends. You could taste the blackcurrant, but the Chardonnay lightened it up so it wasn’t too sweet at all.

And it was fabulous with the smoked salmon. The drunken goat cheese was delicious with it as well. So I highly recommend serving kir as your next apéritif with friends.