Whenit comes to dry white wine, there is one for me that stands head andshoulders above the rest. Chablis is a classic white wine, excellentwith chicken and fish it evokes sophistication with its smooth palateand purity of taste. It is also a great wine to drink alone, servechilled and then sit and enjoy on a terrace on in a garden in thesummer.

TheChablis region is found in Northern Burgundy in France. The wine isproduced from the Chardonnay grape. This comes as a surprise to a lotof people because they associate Chardonnay with a mass producedcheap wine and don't realise that the grape is actually used toproduce both Chablis and Champagne. Because the region that producesChablis is in Northern France the grapes do not ripen and become assweet as they would if it were produced closer to the Mediterranean.This ensures that the Chardonnay grapes do not become as fruity asthey can and therefore the taste for Chablis is created. It is thiscolder climate that gives the wine its acidity and its pure almostmineral taste ? some people even think it has the hint of ametallic edge to its flavour.

Anotherkey thing that sets Chablis apart from other white wines is that factthat it rarely has an oaky taste. This again sets it apart from otherwhite wines made from the Chardonnay grape. They do tend to have anoaky flavour, indeed sometimes Chardonnay wines are rather too highon the oak factor for my liking. When it comes to Chablis some ofthese wines are completely unoaked, in fact they are matured in asteel tank ? which could account for some people's view that theytend to taste slightly metallic. Others receive a small amount ofmaturing in an oak barrel ? but this time spent in the barrel isconsiderably shorter than other wines.

TheChablis region is about 160 kilometres north of a place calledBeaune. Out of all the wine regions of France, it is only South ofthe Champagne region. This is interesting because Chablis is similarin taste to Champagne, Champagne just having the bubbles to make thedifference count. There are several different types of Chablis on themarket. The Grand Cru is the best of those available and it is madefrom vineyard which are all situated in the same area ? just northof Beaune.