If you like Chablis, you’ll love these
There's a reason Chablis is one of the world's most popular regions. The steely, energetic Chardonnays made here are some of the best expressions of the grape out there, notable above all for how they differ from the majority of Chardonnays made elsewhere - little or no oaking, restrained on the fruit, big on the minerality. A wake-up wine.
But Drop is nothing if not here to encourage exploration and variety. So if Chablis is your go-to wine, here are a few other bottles to get outside of.
Sticking with Chardonnay - and indeed in France - head south-east from Chablis to the Jura, where Les Dolomies’ “Les Boutonniers” is unmistakably of-its-place - there’s that intense reductive quality on the nose, with toasty-smoky-stony notes underpinning pear and pineapple and bright citrus; stick a large chunk of comté alongside and everyone will be happy.
Just up the road in the Savoie there’s a Jacquere with Chablis-esque white flowers and citrus on the nose, with lime and dare we say quinine on the palate. It’s one of those white wines that’s worth decanting.
Continuing to work right-to-left (we do things differently here), Thorne & Daughters old vine Sémillon is an absolute picnic - possibly a little richer than what you, a Chablis lover, may be used to, but absolutely worth taking a run at.
To Greece, then, where native Roditis is a lovely terroir-driven drop, with savoury notes of thyme and mint and a saline, mineral finish. Yassou.
Back to Greece for another native and off-piste grape, the noble Plyto, which is as nimble and refreshing as a session of synchronised swimming. In the sea. In early spring.
And finally a Drop stalwart in the shape of Villa Bucci’s unimprovable Verdicchio - bone dry and peppery with just a little ripeness of pear on the finish. Never fails.
