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Cracked Crab, Cheesy Ravioli, and Chablis #Winophiles


This month Liz of What's in the Bottle? is hosting the French Winophiles as we explore Chablis. You can read her invitation here.

On Saturday, April 20we are convening on Twitter at 10 a.m. CST for a Chablis chat. If you like Chardonnay, ahem, Chablis, join in! Just use #winophiles and you’ll find us. We’ve got a fantastic group of bloggers posting about Chablis. We’ll talk about the region, the wines, food pairings and travel! 

The Chablis Line-Up



Chablis
from carlorossi.com

I'll be honest: When I saw Liz's topic for the month. I pictured the bottle above. When I was a kid - probably 6 to 9 years old -  my dad was teaching ROTC to students at San Francisco State and Sacramento State. These were young cadets, mostly in their early 20s and mostly single. So, my parents would host spaghetti dinners once a month and invite the students to our house for dinner. I just remember going to the commissary with my dad to get jugs of Carlo Rossi Chablis for those who liked white wine and, maybe the Paisano, for the people who liked red. I just remember the shape of the bottle and the word: Chablis.

I knew nothing beyond that. So, I started reading. Chablis is a region in the northernmost district of the Burgundy region in France. The Chablis Appellation d'origine contrôlée is required to use solely Chardonnay grapes. And the cool climate of the region produces wines with more acidity than Chardonnays hailing from warmer climates. These wines are often described as steely or "goût de pierre à fusil" meaning 'tasting of gunflint.' I was intrigued.

In My Glass

I was able to track down a La Chablisienne Chablis La Pierrelee 2015. From the website, I see that the wine is made from Chardonnay grapes grown on both sides of the River Serein in clay and limestone soils. It's also called 'typical' of the appellation.

On the nose, I got sweet hints of green apple while on the tongue, more of that minerality and flintiness came through. I thought this would be an easy match for a buttery, cheesy crab dinner.

On My Plate

It just so happened that on the day I wanted to open the Chablis, our CSF (community-supported fishery) had a special sale on fresh crab and crab ravioli. Ummm...yes, please! I ordered right away and picked it up on the way home. So dinner was take-out and I have no recipe to share. Sorry.


I will just say that all of the crab paired beautifully with the wine. I will definitely be grabbing another bottle or two for when I can get my hands on some more fresh crab. Cheers!

Comments

  1. This is wonderful..how nice it would be to have a CSF from which to get carryout.

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  2. That sounds like a great pairing! I see we picked up the same wine, too. I thought it was good, definitely a classic Chablis.

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  3. I remember those jugs of Carlo Rossi Chablis from the Commissary when I was a kid!

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  5. Crab cakes are among my favorite foods. Now i’ve got a great pairing suggestion. Thank you!

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  6. That's some amazing takeout. And nice to know you've explored beyond Carlo Rossi!

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  7. I know about the Carlo Rossi too. It's a crowd pleaser and I'd buy it just for the jug. But the real deal Chablis is way much better :-)

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  8. Nice job supporting the CSF that made fresh crab ravioli! Sounds delish especially with the Chablis. Great pairing idea!

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  9. Love that you were able to have such an incredible "take out" option! Cheers!

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