Remoissenet Chablis 2019

Some wine and food pairings are so quintessential that it borders on culinary treason to let certain meals go unaccompanied. Imagine being served a delicious sirloin steak and the sommelier not offering you a Bordeaux or Argentinian Malbec, the horror! It wouldn't be two shakes of a lamb's tail before Gordon Ramsey had that waiter's head between two slices of bread, declaring them an 'idiot sandwich.'

Chablis is such a wine, it pairs so well with oyster's that even by 1873, Tolstoy in Anna Karenina, declared the food match a 'classic.' Tart, finely cut, delicate with a mineral backbone this wine demonstrates why this relationship works. But don't take Tolstoy's word for it (as it may mean you would have to read Anna Karenina and we couldn't let you do that for yourself) go and grab some oysters!

Remoissenet Père et Fils was founded in Burgundy in 1877, and was established in a 14thcentury building in Beaune. In recent years, the company was run by larger-than-life Roland Remoissenet for around 30 years, before it was sold and taken over by a consortium including the Milstein brothers from the USA, Halpern Enterprises of Toronto and Louis Jadot, with Bernard Répolt, veteran of managing several other Beaune houses, in charge. The business is on the lookout for vineyards to acquire.

In the years before the UK joined the EEC there were some intriguing cuvées which were understood to be the surplus production of grand wines under simpler noms de plume. I remember for example some Bourgogne Rouge, Cuvée du Cardinal Richelieu from I think 1972, which may or may not have had an affinity with Richebourg.

The company owns 2.5 hectares of Beaune premier crus, including Bressandes, Marconnets and Grèves, but their stock is solidified by wines obtained from their négoçiant business, and the Montrachet vines of Baron Thénard, whom they represent.

In addition to the annual harvest, a few extra bottles are sold each year that were residing in the cellars when the estate was sold. These ancient bottles are considered rarities and great collectors’ items, and at the time of purchase there were around 1 million of them.