Wet Stones. “Minerality” is a hard word to define. It appears throughout the wine world, but nobody can quite say what it is. Last year wine writer Lettie Teague called it “a helpful word to describe wines that aren’t fruity, spicy, or herbal.” That’s still pretty vague, but it’s a good start.
We often use the word to describe wines from Chablis, Sancerre, and Muscadet, but we too struggle for an exact meaning. Our best suggestion for defining minerality? Today’s wine: Gautheron’s Chablis Vieilles Vignes. Whatever your lexical definition of the term, open a bottle of this and you’ll know what we mean.
Freedom Freshness. We’re not sure what the founding fathers were drinking as they drafted the Declaration of Independence in sweltering Philadelphia 239 years ago, but we doubt they’d have been able to turn down a glass of this Chablis. The Gautheron Chablis Vieilles Vignes 2013 has minerality and freshness in spades, and is a perfect match for the coming summer heat.
Chablis draws its minerality from its calcium-rich soil. The Chablis region was once the bed of an ocean, and the vineyards are peppered with chalky white fossils. Made from old vines and aged for what seems like a split second in oak, this wine has length and breadth, but also a piercing backbone of freshness.
This is balanced enough to serve on its own, perhaps at a backyard barbeque this summer. Raw oysters are the classic pairing, and if you have access to and taste for them there’s no reason to look any further. Otherwise fish, pasta with lemon, or even sautéed greens will match with ease.
_
________________________
GAUTHERON Chablis Vieilles Vignes 2013
Ansonia Retail: $25
offer price: $22/bot
_
AVAILABLE IN 6- AND 12- BOTTLE LOTS
_
_
_
_____________________________
