Hailing from Domaine Billaud-Simon this white burgundy could never have been anything less than perfect – my only criticism of my own choice is that it is perhaps a little obvious to dart for Burgundy when someone screams ‘naked chardonnay.’ The nose holds a poised citrus essence balancing on the edge of a restrained dry mineral center. This is certainly not a wine to turn your nose up at, and speaking of the nose – I picked up lemon sorbet and a wonderful fresh yeast, and there was certainly a hint of ripe pears. This wine however, is most transcendent on the palate – primarily for its texture. In Chablis style one’s palate is filled with a rich, smooth softness, a pleasant minerality and on the finish there is a lingering fresh herbaceous character – perhaps eucalyptus, but not something I can describe more accurately. My only complaint is that it cost nearly twice as much as the New Zealand ‘Kiwi Chablis’ – and now that I know that NZ does Chablis style whites, perhaps I wont be purchasing white burgundy for a while.

For this, my first Wine Blogger Wednesday, answering Weingolb‘s call to Languedoc-Roussillon, my wine of choice was the 2004 Domaine Clavel Les Garrigues. As a side-note, if anyone happens to be going to Europe in the next few months, www.RyanAir.com is running cheap flights to Carcassonne, which is worth the trip if you like villages surrounded by walls and filled with the best French food you’ve ever had for a quarter of the price you could get it for in the Latin Quarter. I mention Carcassonne because you can get direct flights there from London; it’s a simply amazing place and you’re a stones throw away from some great producers in Languedoc-Roussillon.It’s difficult to go wrong with Languedoc. I personally find that Beaujolais can disappoint me sometimes as it can be a bit thin for my palate, but with the bulk of Languedoc being Syrah, and the rest being spiced up even more with Grenache and Mourvedre, Languedoc reds make for exciting and reliable drinking. We drank it with a Tikka Marsala Chicken Curry, and the match was extraordinarily complimentary. In fact, the match was perfect for the curry, because the Syrah matched the curry’s spice note for note, and together with the garlic bread, many of the Les Garrigues herbal elements met their match. The fresh crush chewy fruit character imparted by the Grenache was a perfect ally for the spicy tomato Marsala sauce; and at $11.00 a bottle this wine is a winner.

I’m going to do 3 wines leading up to the 3^rd Wednesday… but the Clavel is a definite contender. In fact, I may use this as the wine to go with my garlic, coffee and chocolate task!