WTN:2005 Joseph Drouhin Chablis Premier Cru

2005 Joseph Drouhin Chablis Premier Cru

Color: Light straw yellow.

Nose: Interesting, rather intense nose of what I can best describe as sweet wheat with chaulk dust.

Taste: Orange, Sweet-Tart (candy), stone, chaulk, lemon and not a hint of oak. Sustained finish of stone with a salty note. One of the best Chablis that I've tasted in the past couple of years. Not a bad match for the crab cakes that it was paired with either.

Thanks for the note, Sam. The all-too-few 2005 Chablis' I've cracked thus far all (premier cru's) seem to be of extremely good calibre with excellent fruit butressed by plenty of "steely" acidity and wonderful candidates for a stint in the cellar.

David,

Thanks for the information. The Drouhin is the first '05 that I have tasted. It would be interesting to sample this wine over the next several years. I could see it taking on some additional complexity and maybe a bit more finesse with some time in the cellar. I tend to drink Chablis young. The few aged Chablis (7+ years) that I've had have been rather disappointing.

When best to drink is all down to personal preference, for sure, Sam, and I'm tending to drink my white burg's and chablis' earlier, too. The advent of premox has succeeded in forcing our hands' on that issue. In fact, with French wine prices escalating over recent years, I've just about given up on buying any at all except for the occasional bargain from auction and then you also run the risk with general provenance and why the wine is being sold (again) in the first place.

David,

The French wine prices have killed my Burgundy consumption. Almost all of my Burg purchases last year were Village, or Bourgogne. I find some value among Village reds, but my experience has been that Primier Cru or better is required to get a good white Burg. I do continue to find excellent value among the lesser chateau Bordeaux, but then I have tasted very few first growths to compare them to. The good news is that there is so much great wine from other parts of the world (eg. Australia) for under $20 that I don't have to worry about France.

Seems Sam is another crab cake fan.....Not a bad match for the crab cakes that it was paired with either.

Last night, although suffering from a cold, I opened a nice Italian Verdicchio to go with my cakes. ""Nagh, this wont work" thought my fellow taster. Stay tuned!!

Bob,

I am a huge crab cake fan; more crab, less cake is my motto.

And the Verdiccihio pairing...???