Paris, France — Chablis, the word alone brings to mind blissful Chardonnay sipping moments. The wines of the family-owned estate of Jean Durup Père et Fils are clearly a standout. Their vineyards extend over the beautifully exposed sloping and stony hillsides of Chablis producing Chardonnay grapes for the Petit Chablis, the Chablis Grand Cru and the great Chablis Premiers Crus.  The family has been producing wine in the region for several centuries now.  

« Our village is fundamental to our roots, to our entire family. We exclusively produce Chablis on an estate that allows us to produce 13 different wines each year, wines which please every palate. It is said that a wine resembles its producer and I think that that is the case, it is a wine that is distinct, candid, genuine, » said Jean-Paul Durup who joined forces with his father Jean in 1996.

Left: Reine Mathilde, Chablis Premier Cru from the house of Jean Durup Père et Fils.. Center: L’Eglantière Petit Chablis from the house of Jean Durup Père et Fils. Right: Chablis 2021 from the house of Jean Durup Père et Fils. Photos courtesy Jean Durup Père et Fils. Handout via The Gourmet Gazette

We had several opportunities to taste these Chablis starting with the annual autumn tasting of the 17 family-owned wine estates of the Vignobles & Signatures association held on a beautifully appointed barge moored on the Seine and overlooking the Eiffel Tower. And you can judge a house by the quality of its wines in the simple range and the house of Durup’s Chablis 2021 proved to be crisp and delicious. While the Chablis Vieilles Vignes 2021 was a standout. Vieilles Vignes means old vine plants and those at Durup truly are with some dating back to 1905, which is about as old as you can get in France as the phylloxera epidemic wiped out most of the French vineyard in the latter half of the 19th century. 

Meanwhile a gourmet find was the Chablis Premier Cru Reine Mathilde 2019 a superb Premier Cru Chablis named after Jean-Paul’s niece Mathilde. On another occasion at Guy Martin’s Pasco gourmet restaurant overlooking the Esplanade des Invalides, we enjoyed a salmon tartar paired with the house’s Chablis Premier Cru l’Homme Mort. L’Homme Mort of the Chablis vineyard is found on the right bank of the Serein River, the main waterway of the Chablis region.

And at The Gourmet Gazette we enjoyed a well chilled L’Eglantière Chablis Premier Cru Fourchaume 2021, with Fourchaume indicating the region, or climat as they are called in Chablis, of the Chablis vineyard that the grapes emanated from. Elegant, delicious, Sylvain Loire the professional in-house chef (Ferrandi ’76) and publisher of The Gourmet Gazette prepared a beurre blanc— that warm creamy emulsified butter sauce — into which fresh cooked to medium wild hake filets from the North Atlantic were submerged. Chablis Premier Crus are the wines of choice for a fish in beurre blanc. We had asked the experts, the Durups, what they enjoyed with a Chablis Premier Crus, and fish in beurre blanc was the resounding response. ©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette

https://www.durup-chablis.com/en/vin-chablis/