#grisy

[leonardchita-traces]

leonard rachita grisy france 2015

[leonardrachita-heaps]

Leonard Rachita Grisy France 2015

[jonesstreetwine-blog]

Domaine de Grisy Chardonnay 2010

Bourgogne ( Côtes d'Auxerre ), France

When I was still a newbie to wines, I tried several Chardonnays, Pinot Grigios and Sauvignon Blancs that I bought from Trader Joe's, but had always been disappointed by the flabbiness and the dry sweet lingering. The prejudice against white wines held me back on my very first trips of wine shopping in Paris. The misjudgment remained until the I went on a weekend trip with NYU to Provins and tried a glass of Sauvignon Blanc at lunch. When a light, refreshing fizziness hit me, I thought it was just an illusion since we've already had a Kir Royale before the meal. I scribbled on my notepad, "slight carbonation," and question mark.

I experimented with some other French wines, and they often amazed me with the fresh, delightful taste of effervescence. When I came back to New York in the winter, I ran to a store and grabbed a French Chardonnay and poured it in a glass with excitement--maybe I was drinking the wrong kind of white wine in my search of a summer memory, maybe if I pick something else the bright surprise would return. 

Flabby. I gave up.

Joel's answer to such a jinx was that it could be a very good balance of acidity that's contributing a lot to the brightness; it could also be that the wines I bought in France preserved more freshness without having to travel overseas. He gave me a bottle of  Domaine de Grisy Chardonnay, asked me to try it and tell him what I thought.

Well, I found the "french-ness" (as Gertrude Stein might call it) filling up my nose and my palate as the light green apple and citrus flavors swayed in with a crisp entrance. Salut again, bright surprise!