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Weekly Wine & Spirits Columnist - Michael Vaughan

Getting Chablis back on the Track^©

(Publishing Date: Saturday December 9, 2000  - Toronto Section)  
Note that this original version includes notes on Chablis listed at Vintages this year.

At one time, 30 years ago, Chablis was considered one of the world’s finest wines. You couldn’t find a decent Toronto restaurant that didn’t have it. Indeed, it was so popular that many North American wineries usurped the name “Chablis” for their own low-cost knock-offs.

The fact that Chablis counterfeits have nothing in common with the real thing is of no consequence – their followers don’t know, don’t care. The shame is that large Canadian producers don’t have the courage to abandon this continuing deception.

But for some, Chablis’ heyday has eclipsed. Today you’ll only find three clinging to life on the hallowed shelves of the LCBO - down from four last year trying to keep the hoards of cheaper, user-friendly Chardonnay usurpers at bay.

You see this 100% Chardonnay comes from a very pricey, small piece of French real estate (only 7,500 acres) southeast of Paris on the way to Dijon. This tiny island of vineyards, which is lumped together with Burgundy at the LCBO, was so famous, so unique, that the word Chardonnay was not permitted on the label!

On the palate, traditional Chablis is a bit of an acquired taste. Sharp, often acidic, crisp and generally austere with hazelnut and lemon flavours plus a “steely” mineral finish. These are food wines often requiring a few years of aging to produce the rancid buttery flavours sought after by aficionados. They are not for casual sipping.

Nor were they a style to be emulated. Indeed, swelling ranks of wine buffs looked for fruit-forward, user friendly, accessible, inexpensive Chardonnays flowing out of Australia, Chile, etc. For the traditional Chablis producers, it was like having the world turned upside down – most didn’t understand where tastes were headed.

I bring all this up because I recently received a letter requesting help. It was from Steve Thurlow at Corby Distillers, the multi-million dollar giant, whose Domaines des Malandes Chablis is threatened with being dropped at the LCBO because it hasn’t made the requisite 841 case sales quota. Accompanying the letter were three free bottles of Chablis – theirs and its two competitors.

Well that’s nice marketing idea. But then I remember having lunch with Malandes owner along with its Ontario representative about five years ago. And guess what, it wasn’t Corby. It was a charming gentleman by the name of Morrie Grossman, a friendly, gentle man who has just turned 79. It was Grossman’s tiny Royal Wine Company who launched Malandes way back in the 1980’s.

I then discovered that the new agent Steve Thurlow had originally convinced Malandes to switch reps over two years ago. Grossman who was devastated by the loss explains that it was rapidly rising French prices combined with the recession, which caused sales to decline. While Malandes was not scheduled for delisting, it was vulnerable to a pitch promising greater sales. Unfortunately these lofty ambitions were not realized by Thurlow’s original company, or by Corbys who now represent the brand. Sales have fallen to only 560 cases well below the requisite quota.

Well anything to help the Chablis cause I thought. Of course, it’s a shame that nothing was done earlier to rescue this listing. In fact, up until now, I was totally unaware that it had become part of Thurlow’s portfolio. And then I saw an article suggesting that Malandes failure was the fault of the LCBO’s quota system along with the fact that the other producer Bouchard Pere & Fils (who owns the two other competitive brands in question) is much larger with considerably more marketing clout. To top it off, it was suggested that the competitors were distinctly inferior!

Well hold your horses. I think that the efforts of the Ontario agent are critical to a product’s success. In this case, a tiny company operated by Russell Woodman and his son Jason represents these two other Chablis. And unlike the giant Corby and its predecessors, they have worked their shoes off bringing Chablis to all the key buyers in town. Thanks to these efforts along with annual tastings, Bouchard sales are way up 42%. It’s not simply being a big name.

Of course the truth is in the bottle. Before proceeding, I discovered that the sample of 1998 William Fevre (a medal winner at this year’s Toronto Wine & Cheese Show) had been replaced by the 1999 vintage. I add a new bottle 1999 and, just for fun, an older bottle of 1998 Bouchard Pere Petit Chablis.

So there I was - a mini, five glass, comparative blind tasting. And the results? Well it really boils down to personal taste. If you’re a fan of the dry, chalky, nutty, mineral flavours then you’re bound to like Domaines des Malandes 1999 Chablis at $18.45 with its mature long finish.

And there’s the nub because from a purely hedonistic point of view, the well-balanced, crisp, ripe pear flavours of William Fèvre 1999 Champs Royal Chablis shine. At $17.90, this unsubmitted recent arrival was my favourite. Moreover, it’s bound to appeal to a much wider audience.

As for Bouchard Pere & Fils 1999 Petit Chablis ($16.95), it’s bright, unoaked, light, melon-lemon-pear flavours are a perfect seafood match. It outsells all the other brands 4:1 dollar for dollar it delivers what most consumers want. While it has little in common with Grand Cru Chablis costing more than three times the price, it’s a practical style for those wishing to make the transition to the higher ground.

Of course there are quite a few other Chablis to choose from. Over the past year, 12 new Chablis have appeared in Vintages. All of these are still available in Vintages stores along with some 1999 remnants. Based on initial release tasting notes, my best buy in terms of price and quality would be Nicolle 1998 Chablis 1er Cru Les Fourneaux which was released on May 6^th at only $24.95. It had gently spicy, dried lemon flavours with just a touch of Anjou pear and ripe apple. It’s a shame that J Moreau 1998 Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos, which was released just last month on Selected Distribution at $54.75, was not tasted. Judging by sales, which seem slow, the LCBO would be well advised to try a get these products out for review.

There isn’t all that much information on Chablis. Rosemary George wrote The Wines of Chablis in 1984 (Sotheby Publications). It is amazing to discover that this was the first publication to appear on Chablis since 1935 – a span of 49 years. It’s still a very good read and could be supplemented by checking out Tom Stevenson’s The New Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia (pages 135-138).