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| The Sunday morning Fete des Vin parade! |
PARIS – Sunday was really quite an exhilarating day to the
end of a very brief trip to Chablis for the 64th Fete des Vins.
A ceremonial and fun
honor, an afternoon with an icon of Chablis winemaking, and more great white
wine.
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| Right after the Chablisien ceremony |
I’m Now a Pilier Chablisien
The Les Piliers
Chablisiens are a group of (mostly) elder Chablis statesmen who formed a
brotherhood for those who bring honor to
Chablis. Now, those are my words not there’s. They induct guests and those who
contribute to Chablis into their organization with a fun and ceremonious ritual
that was really an honor.
Now they do induct quite a few but considering size and scope, there aren’t many of we Piliers out
there. At an incredible Saturday night banquet about 20 members of the Chablis community and
supporters were inducted into the brotherhood. On Sunday morning following the
Fete des Vin parade, a crowd gathered near the Chablis tourist office and one
of the small village’s main gathering points.
It’s hard to describe
and maybe I can find a video somewhere. But after political speeches by local
mayors and a regional governor, my three fellow journalists and I joined the
brotherhood. We were brought to the stage where one of the members read a
prepared short bio about our wine writing.
Then we were given a
rather large chalice of Chablis wine. The members break into a traditional
French folk song and we had to chug the wine to be inducted. And, the group
repeats the same “la, la, la’ until the last member of the group empty the vessel.
I’m hoping to at least
get a few photos. We were presented a certificate showing our membership and a
lanyard with a small cup attached (see photo) that is a sign of honor seen throughout
Chablis as a member of the Chablisiens.
Having watched it
Saturday night, I’ll just say it was great fun and way more cool than I
anticipated going through the ceremony.
Visiting the Fete.
I hit up quite a few
of the booths Saturday and made it to just a few on Sunday. The Fete pales in
comparison to the Bordeaux Fete le Vin I attended in July but they are totally different animals. The Bordeaux event
had all the feel of an international tourist attraction while Chablis’ Fete des Vins felt more
like a local celebration.
I listed several wineries yesterday worth looking for at your better wineshops. I visited three Sunday and could only recommend one.
Alain Geoffroy Chablis - This Chablis producer had very elegant wines but definitely in a lighter style than some. I found the wines very enjoyable. Some of the Chablis I tasted, including two other Sunday stops at the Fete', went too far to the lighter side for my palate.
An Afternoon with Chablis Icon Billaud
It’s fair to say
almost every wine region in the world has its iconic producers. Few would argue
or contest Bernard Billaud of Billaud-Simon is a Chablis household name.
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| Bernard Billaud with his young assistant, and translator, Nicolas |
Bernard is everything
a stereotype about a French winemaker should be. From his disheveled look,
genuine smile and enthusiasm, to his almost angry definitions of what a Chablis
wine should be – Billaud was extremely entertaining and educating.
I lost count but we
tasted around 10 wines. I will write more about that in a future post or column. But his
wines have been widely distributed in the U.S. for more than 20 years and were
clearly the best of the Chablis I tasted over this long weekend.
As Bernard, and his
young assistant Nicholas, weathered inane questions about oak and particularly
acidity, Billaud’s passion erupted. “Chablis wines are acidic wines,” he said.
"Chabis wine is a dry white wine from a single vineyard.”
But much more than
acid, Chablis wines are about minerality and a sense of place, he insisted. It
is really a cultural and unique wine experience to see these elder statesmen of
such an iconic wine region as Chablis take to the pulpit and preach some fire
and brimstone about their life’s work.
I’ll write more soon
about his specific wines. But if you want to enjoy some of the, arguably to an
extent, world’s best white wines just try the Billaud-Simon label from any of
the four appellations.
Wine Cooperative Le Chabisiennes
Our final stop of the
trip was at one of the world’s more successful cooperatives, Le Chabisienne. The
cooperative has 300 members and makes a Petit Chablis, a few Chablis, and a
Chablis Premier Cru from each of the different appellation regions, as well as
the top-of-the-line Grand Cru.
Herve’ Tucki,
Chablisienne “Ambassador” poured a Petit, two Chablis, a Premier and Grand Cru.
These cooperatives don’t work in a lot of country's wine regions but this one has history on its
side. Often in the wine world, cooperatives are considered second class wine or
producers who can’t sell their grapes or juice any where else but not in
Chablis.
Le Chablisienne makes
wines which are honored along side the region’s best known names like
Billaud-Simon and others.
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| Sunday at Chablis Fete des Vin |
And other notes …
Our day ended with a
long taxi ride back to Paris. I’m staying at a very nice Hilton at de Gaulle
airport. Two of the four members of my group, scheduled to fly directly to the
east coast have already had their flights canceled because of the approaching
hurricane.. My return trip is Paris to Detroit via Air France. As of this
writing, my northern path seems clear and my flight is still on as of Sunday
night.
I often question
myself before taking these press junkets, but again learned so much about a
region that I would never have learned in any other way.
I’m not a Chardonnay
fan by nature.. But in Billaud’s words, if Chablis doesn’t have great
minerality and sense of place, then you’re just making Chardonnay.
That was good enough
for me.
Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com
