An All-Day Sipper: Chablis Val de Mer Brut Nature Rosé + A Crêpe Tutorial #PureChablis #Winophiles #CulinaryCam

This week, with Jill of L'Occasion at the head, the French Winophiles are shining the spotlight on Chablis. You can read her invitation post here. Before Jill lined up a sponsor and media samples for the event, I had tracked down a bottle of a sparkling Rosé to share. So, even though this will not be my pairing or post for the #Winophiles event, I wanted to share a little bit about this wine...and a little bit more about Chablis.

Chablis

from carlorossi.com

I'll be honest: When I saw Jill'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 researching. 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.

And I was excited to be able to taste three different wines that Chablis Wines provided as media samples. More on that soon. And an important note: like Champagne, Chablis is only Chablis when it comes from the region. So, that California Chablis from my childhood memories is not Chablis!

Chablis Val de Mer Brut Nature Rosé 

The bottle that I sourced was the Val de Mer by Patrick Piuze Brut Nature Rosé. I learned that Piuze started his own label in 2008, after working for some larger players such as Olivier Leflaive, Verget, and Jean-Marc Brocard. He partnered with François Moutard to form Val de Mer which creates estate wines with Piuze leading the charge over the vineyards and the wines. 

A single varietal wine, this is 100% Pinot Noir from vineyards near the village of Tonnerre to the northeast of Chablis. Most of the vines are three decades old and grow in a combination of clay and limestone. The grapes are hand-harvested and left to macerate with their skins for a few hours to give the wine its color.

The wine poured a bright, deep salmon color. It had a lively acidity with persistent bubbles. And it paired beautifully with a sweet as well as a savory.

An All-Day Sipper

Jake and I enjoyed this wine throughout a lazy Sunday, first pairing it with crêpes during a brunch on our patio.

 

Later in the afternoon, we smeared Époisses cheese on crackers and called it an appetizer. This wine stunned from start to finish and was a great bookend to a Sunday of wine pairings.

In case you've never made crêpes, here's a video I posted to the Culinary Cam YouTube channel to show you how. Watch it here...or there.