Confused classifications

I was recently asked by Acrew to pair one red and white wine for the ‘Captains Dinner’ held at ‘The Boathouse’. It’s never easy to please everyone with only one choice of white or red, so I decided to inject a little fun with my choice. One wine is classified as second from the top of the region, whereas the other is labelled as one step up for the lowest of the region. How did each one fare?

As the white wine of the evening, I chose a lovely Chablis expressing all the lemon, lime and minerality that is typical of the region. This is a wine that not only popular, but also consistently great with food. In contrast, I chose red wine from Tuscany often referred to as a ‘Super Tuscan’ due to not sticking to Chianti requirements. We can say this wine does not stick to the stringent regulations governing the Classic Chianti denomination such that the grape varieties include international varieties of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc as well as some of the indigenous Sangiovese grape. This blend is not typical for the region, yet this wine is big, bold and a fabulous pairing with the steak.

The Chablis ‘Vaillons’ 1er Cru 2012 by the acclaimed William Fèvre was an enjoyable, refreshing and complex chardonnay which paired superbly with the fish and lighter coloured meats on the menu. This Chablis is matured in oak for a very short period keeping the wine crisp with a citrussy backbone but added a rounder, nutty, floral and mineral complexity.

On the other hand, the opulent, ‘Mormoreto 2012’ produced by the Marchesi de Frescobaldi 2012’ was stunning example of a luscious ’Super Tuscan’. This young wine is smooth and rich with a blackberry and cherry expression developing into more complex notes of leather, vanilla, chocolate and coffee bean. The wine is matured in new and old oak barrels for 24 months allowing for well-integrated tannins, but the alcoholic component is evident but balanced.

I think that both these wines are so appealing, elegant and complex, yet the William Fèvre stuck to the rigid regulations of the Chablis region allowing him to rate the wine as a Premier cru, whereas Marchesi di Frescobaldi is only allowed to label the wine with the lower acclaimed level IGT (Indicazione Geographica Tipica) since the strict region rules were not adhered to. Two different classification, yet two superb wines.