Francois Servin poured his Chablis @MetroWines on Saturday Night, May 19th.
There were over 40 people crowding the bar through the two hours of the tasting so a sit down interview was not possible. This is what I gleaned from Francois as he responded to questions from the crowd.
First, Francois is a lovely and engaging person, with or without great Chablis!
Francois is ALL about Chablis and so was his father before him and his father before him. So he likes, he makes, and he almost exclusively drinks Chablis.
Francois says there is a danger beyond diversity in this singular approach to wine. If all you drink is your own, he says, "it's hard to tell if the wine is off." Francois and other makers in Chablis have a regular get together where they taste test each other's wines.
But what if you got crazy, I asked Francois, and drank another wine? Waht wold it be? "Red Burgundy," he says. Some security, Francois believes, in this choice. "Because there is some pain with Bordeaux," says Francois. "Bordeaux is either too old or too young, there is always something wrong and you don't know until you open the bottle!"
What if you get crazy again and decide to grow another varietal. What would it be?Sit down. "Zinfandel," says Francois. "Zinfandel is fruity and easy to drink."
So not all things California are bad! But one thing that is bad is what the big early produces did to the name Chablis. The truth is that jug had a concoction of mostly table food grapes, not Chardonnay from Chablis. I ask Francois how we can get past the stigma of a big jug that calls itself Chablis. Francois suggests we refer to the bottle first as Chardonnay and then say it is "from Chablis."
BTW, Francois does not eat cheese. I ask what the cheese eaters would pair with his Chablis. Francois says some french cheese that I can't pronounce and "gruyere."
Besides the US, Francois says his biggest markets are UK, Japan and, get this, Russia.
And one more thing. I had Disco cranked up on Spotify. I asked francois if he would prefer different music. "Yes, Country," he says. "I don't get to hear it much in Chablis!"
All in all a good night.
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