Personal rule breaking time the other day. There was a great fillet of wild, Alaskan troll caught king salmon for dinner, and usually I look for a pinot noir with this fish. This time I opted for a 2009 Louis Jadot Chablis. Instead of a rich wine with rich fish we took the option of going austere.
The wine was the palest of yellow in the glass and the nose was sharp with lemon pith, but the primary aromas were rain on dry rocks, seashells at the shore and a few herbs. The wine was very closed at the beginning and lots of swirling was needed to release those aromas.
The taste was quit tart with the hints of lemon and citrus but with the mineral tastes predominating. As the meal wore on the wine showed more fruit and finally opened up to lemon and apple tastes to balance out the taste of minerals. The finish was very long and left the mouth totally refreshed.
What a great contrast to the salmon which was dusted with salt, pepper, and a wee bit of chipotle powder. It was pan seared in a hot skillet skin side down, flipped over and finished in the the oven. There was a bed of just wilted spinach under the salmon. Rich tasting fish with all that wonderful salmon oil was cut clean by the tartness in the wine.
Time to add a few more bottles of 2009 Chablis to the cellar and then show some patience and allow them to age a couple of years.
12.5% alcohol and $19.
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