Chablis used to be a generic name for dry white wine, like the "Mountain White Chablis" made in California from the revolting Colombard grape. Growers of the real thing found themselves unable to compete with the global rubbish, and for a while it looked like the vineyards of Chablis would be abandoned. Even when the Appellation Controlee system first took hold, Chablis hardly benefited. The world market's response to the legitimate desire of the French to protect their local wines was to identify wines by grapes rather than places. Thus was invented Chardonnay, followed by supermarkets, disco-dancing, the Costa Brava, child abuse and, finally, new Labour, a sequence of cultural disasters that probably could not have been avoided short of a military coup.
Chablis is made from the Chardonnay grape, but is the very antithesis of the global product. Even when matured in old oak barrels, it resembles glass, through which the bright minerals of Jurassic marl and limestone shine. There is no better wine to accompany shellfish, or chicken in white sauce. But the best accompaniment to Chablis is more Chablis, sipped quietly at the desk as night draws in.
The acidity of Chardonnay comes from the malic (ie, apple) acids which are a by-product of fermentation. Chablis tends to be at the malic end of the acid spectrum, but, unlike other wines which share its tang, it can combine absolute purity with a rich and shadow-filled personality, like Jane Austen's Emma. It should always be kept for a few years, so as to grow up, as Emma did, by being bottled up.
The wine comes in four grades: Petit Chablis, Chablis, Premier Cru and Grand Cru. The Grands Crus are luscious, aromatic wines from the right bank of the Yonne. The Premiers Crus likewise develop attractive hazelnut aromas, and are cheap for what they are. I recommend (£15.45 notwithstanding) Berrys' fragrant, oak-matured 2000 Montee de Tonnerre from the Domaine J P Droin (in the same family - doesn't the name suggest it? - since Racine's time) and the 2001 Vaillons made by Vocoret, which Majestic is currently selling at £11.49. Both would benefit from keeping. Lea & Sandeman (always reliable) has reasonably priced Premiers Crus from 1999.
Real care is needed when buying ordinary Chablis, which is often fermented to a condition of intolerable dryness. But the names alone make light work of research: try, if you can find it, the Domaine de Pisse-Loup. Wolves will never look the same. Sometimes a plain Chablis, with no domaine to its name, can match the richness of a Premier Cru: a superb example is the 2000 produced by Simonnet-Febvre, and on sale through Chateaux Wines of Bristol at £8.92.
