On
the sixth day of the ICC’s Intensive
Sommelier Training program class we we given an overview of International Wines which provided
a summary of the countries we would be studying over the next few weeks.
Thus far our primary instructors have been Eric Entrikin MS[1] from the USA and Alan
Murray MS from Australia.[2]
On
Day 6 we our instructor was Roland Micu – America’s youngest Master
Sommelier.[3] Roland is the first graduate of the ICC’s Intensive Sommelier
Training program to earn his Master Sommelier certification. He is currently
also the youngest Master Sommelier, and was recently awarded the 2012 Top New
Sommelier title, which is granted to the premiere sommelier under the age of
30. Roland returned to The International Culinary Center serve as associate
director of Wine Education.[4]
Each
instructor has a wealth of knowledge to gain from and they each have their own style
of teaching. Eric and Alan seem somewhat relaxed and casual. But watching Roland
teach is like watching a tennis match. He is highly energetic and paces the
floor as he lectures and when he does the tasting grid he is intensely focused on the wine. It
is as if nobody else and nothing else in the room exists but that wine. Although
I have only been in the class for two weeks I have already learned a great deal
from these men.
After
the International Overview of the World of Wine we then practiced going through
the Court of Sommeliers tasting grid in which we tasted imported 7 wines. The
first was the 2011 Savry Chablis – Burgundy, France.
The Climate and Soils of Chablis
The Chablis region is the northernmost wine
district of the Burgundy region in France separated from the Côte d’Or
by the Morvan hills, 62 miles from the main Burgundian winemaking town of
Beaune. The next closest wine region is the southern vineyards of the Champagne
in the Aube department. In fact, Chablis was once considered part of the
Champagne province as the two regions share many climatic similarities.
The
grapevines around the town of Chablis are almost all Chardonnay. The cool climate of this region produces wines with more acidity and flavors less fruity than Chardonnay wines grown in warmer
climates. The region has a semi-continental climate and it is too far inland to
receive any maritime influence. Unlike California which tends to be more
consistent form year to year, temperatures in Chablis during the Summer, during
the peak growing season, can be extremely very hot. Likewise winters can be long,
cold and harsh, with frost condition lasting well into Spring from March to
early May. This wide vintage weather variation can cause dramatic vintage
variation in both quality and quantity, particularly if there is an early front
in the Spring. Years that experience excessive rain and low temperatures tend
to produce wines excessively high in acidity and fruit that is too lean to
support it. Conversely, vintages that are too warm tend to produce fat, flabby
wines that are too low in acidity.
Chablius
is home to particular vineyard soil type known as argilo-calcaire. This
same Kimmeridge clay is found across the English Channel in Dorset and is a
composition of limestone, clay and tiny fossilized oyster shells. All of
Chablis’ Grand Cru vineyards and Premier Cru vineyards are planted on primarily
Kimmeridgean soil which imparts a distinctively mineral, flinty note to the
wines. Other areas, particularly the vast majority of Petit Chablis vineyards,
are planted on Portlandian soil - a limestone based soil of similar structure.
The crusty limestone-based soil of the region give the landscape a chalky white
appearance similar to some areas of Champagne and Sancerre. The result of these
soils leads the wines to often described as “goût de pierre à fusil” (“tasting
of gunflint”), and having “steely” minerality. This is a key to distinguishing a Chablis from a California Chardonnay or one from anywhere else in the world.
In
comparison with the white wines from the rest of Burgundy, Chablis has on
average much less influence of oak. Most basic Chablis is vinified in stainless steel tanks and never spends any time in oak. The
amount of barrel maturation, if any, is a stylistic choice which varies widely
among Chablis producers. Many Grand Cru and Premier Cru wines receive some maturation in oak barrels, but typically the
time in barrel and the proportion of new barrels is much smaller than for white
wines of Côte de Beaune.
Olivier Savary
In Maligny, a village between Paris
and Dijon, just north of Chablis, Olivier Savary and his wife, Francine, have
been vignerons since 1984. Many of Olivier’s family members were vignerons
and Olivier pursued wine school in Dijon. Olivier and Francine arranged to
farm some vineyard land en métayage (share cropping) in the Chablis
and Petit Chablis appellations. With the assistance of his father, Oliver farmed
the complex network of vineyards that were initially sold in bulk to a négociant.
But eventually he began bottling under his own label.
The grapes from his vineyards throughout the
Chablis appellation are blended into one complex village wine
cuvée. He also bottles an extraordinary premier cru from Fourchaumes,
as well as a separate cuvée of old-vine fruit in heavy, wax-sealed bottles
after élévage in demi-muids.[5]
The Wine
The 2011
Francine Olivier Savary Chablis, imported by Kermit Lynch, is clear day straw-yellow
with bright intensity of medium concentration and medium viscosity. On the nose
it has medium intense aromas of apples, pears, melon rind and chalk, crushed shells with subtle under-notes of peaches and apricots. On the palate
it has medium+ acidity, medium body, medium alcohol and a medium+ length finish
with a very distinctive mineral structure – a key signature of
Chablis. A very fine wine, it retails for about $30.
[1]
http://www.internationalculinarycenter.com/explore/bios/ca/wine/eric_entrikin
[2]
http://www.internationalculinarycenter.com/explore/bios/ca/wine/alan_murray
[3]
http://www.mercurynews.com/libations/ci_21547414/silicon-valleys-roland-micu-is-americas-youngest-master
[4]
http://www.internationalculinarycenter.com/explore/bios/ca/wine/roland_micu
[5]
http://kermitlynch.com/our_wines/savary/
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