Chardonnay? White Burgundy? Chablis!!! #FrenchWinophiles

You're in a restaurant looking at the wine list.  You have decided to have seafood and would now like a bottle of wine that would pair well.  Under the list of white wines you see Chardonnay, White Burgundy and Chablis.  Which do you choose to pair with the seafood?

Would you be surprised if I told you that they are all the same wine?  They may taste a little different because of the terroir in which they are grown or the method used in making the wine but they all are made of 100% Chardonnay grapes.

European wines are named for the appellation in which they are grown.  White Burgundy is made from Chardonnay grapes grown in the Burgundy region of Eastern France. Chardonnay grapes are believed to have originated in Burgundy but are now grown throughout the world.

Chablis is the northernmost area of the Burgundy region.  It, too, is made of 100% Chardonnay grapes.  Wines made in Chablis, however, are very rarely put into oak barrels.

Here in the USA, the wines are named after the grape varietal, hence the popularity of Chardonnay instead of Chablis or White Burgundy in this country.  The first wine that I ever gave my husband was a Kendall Jackson Chardonnay.  That started his love affair with wine and our mutual interest in learning and tasting.

This has been a crazy, busy month for me.  I got all discombobulated and thought that the wine for next month was for this month.  I made a meal to pair with that wine. When I went to write my post, I discovered my error.  That was on Tuesday.  

I always have several bottles of Chardonnay on hand and I considered just opening one and explaining that, although not from France, it was still a Chablis but that's not quite right.  You see, they do use the same grape, however a Chablis can only come from Chablis.  A Chardonnay can come from anywhere.

So on Thursday when I went out to do my shopping for Easter Dinner, I picked up a bottle of Chablis from Seguinot-Bordet.

This photo is from the winery.  Stainless steel as far as the eye can see.  Not an oak barrel to be found.  The bottle I chose was the 2016 Premier Cru Fourchaume at a retail price of $32.  This is more than I would normally spend on a bottle for Frank and I to share on a typical evening but, as I said, it has been a crazy month and I decided to indulge.

While out running my errands for Easter I grabbed a sandwich on the way home.  Frank had attended meetings all morning and then met up with his brother for a late lunch.  I got home, put away the groceries, made a sandwich for Marissa and ran out the door to pick her up from school and get her to the orthodontist.  We went straight from the orthodontist to Holy Thursday Mass.

After Mass, we grabbed Marissa a fast food sandwich and took her over to a friend's house where she was spending the night since there was no school on Good Friday.  When finally got home at around 9 pm. we realized that we were hungry.  Neither one of us had any energy for cooking so Frank opened the Chablis while I opened a package of Boursin cheese and some crackers.

We sat down on the couch and toasted to finally being able to relax for a moment.  The first sip was lovely.  Buttery, rich and crisp.  We finished off the bottle and all of the cheese and crackers while watching episodes of Blindspot that had been taped and waiting for us to have some down time.

Here it is, Friday evening and I am getting this post in just under the wire for our Twitter Chat tomorrow at 11 AM ET following #Winophiles.  This chat will be led by our host Liz of What's in that Bottle.   You can see her invitation post here.   

Stop by and check out some of the other posts that we will be discussing and then join in the fun.

• Cam at Culinary Adventures with Camilla brings us “Cracked Crab, Cheesy Ravioli, and Chablis” 
• Robin at Crushed Grape Chronicles writes about “Mont de Milieu Premier Cru Chablis from Simonnet-Febvre and Pochouse” 
• Gwendolyn at Wine Predator rolls out “Chablis is … Chardonnay? Comparing 2 from France, 1 from SoCal Paired with Seafood Lasagna” 
• Liz at What’s in That Bottle shares Chablis: the Secret Chardonnay 
• Deanna at Asian Test Kitchen writes about “Top Chablis Pairings with Japanese Food” 
• Jennifer at Beyond the Cork Screw has “French Companions: Chablis and Fromage Pavé” 
• Payal at Keep the Peas writes about “Chablis: A Tale of Two Soils” 
• Jane at Always Ravenous has “Pairing Chablis with Marinated Shrimp Salad” 
• Jeff at Food Wine Click! shares “All the Best Food Pairings with Clos Beru Chablis”  
• Jill of  L’Occasion shares the story of “Metal Giants: Windfarms and the Chablis Landscape” 
• Susannah at Avvinare writes “Celebrating France with Chablis and Toasting Notre Dame” 
• David at Cooking Chat writes about “Sipping Chablis with Easter Dinner or Your Next Seafood Meal” 
•  Pinny at Chinese Food & Wine Pairings writes about “A Delicate Pair: Jean Claude Courtault Chablis and Sichuan Peppercorn-Cured Salmon” 
• Nicole at Somm’s Table writes about Domaine Savary Chablis Vieilles Vignes with Scallops and Brussels Sprouts Two Ways” 
• Kat at Bacchus Travel & Tours shares “The Delicate Face of Chardonnay: Chablis”