11/28/07 Chablis

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran. On today's program, we are answering a question from a consumer in one of my wine classes and I felt as though I should share it with you. Recently I was teaching a wine seminar and I was asked by a student what I thought of Chablis. At first, I was a bit curious because the seminar was addressing white wines from Washington and California. Then it hit me  He was asking about the box of white wine called Chablis and not the gorgeous white wines of France. I suddenly realized I could not make any further assumptions about my audience. The Chablis I was thinking of is the name of a wine from a region of northern Burgundy by the same name. There, Chablis is a white wine made from Chardonnay grapes. These French white wines are usually crisp and dry often with a flinty mineral quality. The good ones are Chardonnay made in a style very different from the ones we are familiar. Now the wine that my student was referencing was of course the wine that is sold usually in a box from California. California marketers sort of borrowed or co-opted the name of this white Burgundy - Chablis. Trust me even although the names are the same that is where the resemblance stops. So the answer to the question what do I think about California Chablis  I don't. Remember to send your wine questions to Linda at vine to wine dot net and thank you for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.