Every summer I seem to have a different drink of choice. Last year it was Prosecco, and this year it's Chablis. We went to Ealing Park Tavern a few Fridays ago and I perused the wine list but didn't see any Chablis on the menu. So I asked the barman which of their whites was most like Chablis, only to be told "the Chablis" - slightly embarrassing! So when an invite to an evening of Chablis and food pairing popped in to my inbox from Douglas Blyde it was always going to be a definite yes. Diary cleared, I patiently waited for the Wednesday when we would go to The Chancery for an evening in geology and geography, learning about Chablis and the food to eat with it.
The Chancery is a smart restaurant just south of Chancery Lane. The main restaurant is on the ground floor, and is full of linen covered tables and lots of men in suits. It was downstairs in one their private rooms that chef Graham Long had created a unique, Spring themed menu for the evening to guide us through the various types of Chablis that we were tasting.
Chablis is a dry white wine that is produced in a small town in France, north west of Burgundy, and comes in 4 levels of quality - Petit Chablis, Chablis, Premier Cru and Grand Cru - all of which we tried on the night, working our way up from Petit to Grand. Chablis is more acidic than many whites due to the cooler climate of the area and the soil that is rich in oyster fossils, from a time when France was the bottom of an ocean floor. It's this mineral taste found in Chablis that I really enjoy, and even though this taste was less present in the first Chablis we tried - the 2012 Dauvissat Petit Chablis, it worked wonderfully with the truffle arancini and crab beignet nibbles that we enjoyed before dinner was served.
