This is our second to the last installment on the Women Winemakers of Chablis. We’ve got nine total. Today, we’re featuring Catherine Poitout of L&C Poitout, in the Chablis region of France. Chablis is also the delicious white wine made from the chardonnay grape (remember, European wines are usually named after where they’re made, rather than by what they’re made of). This series is from a group of email interviews with nine women winemakers from the Chablis region, translated from the original French by someone else because Anne’s French is in terrible shape. We asked each woman the same three questions.
1) What makes Chablis different from other wines made from chardonnay?
Chablis’ location and soils make its Chardonnay stand out compared to other Chardonnays. It is in at a very northern latitude, with extremely cold weather, and planted on chalky soils from the Kimmeridgien and Portlandian eras, full of fossilized sea animals. This results in very mineral-driven wines that are bright and refreshing, yet complex.
2) If my reader sees Chablis on the label of a bottle of wine, what should she expect to taste in the wine?
Your readers should expect a beautiful white wine, with very bright fruit and high acid. These wines can be very complex and elegant, skewing more towards finesse than power. They are perfect for shellfish, light white meats and cheeses.
3) Finally, how are things changing for women winemakers in France? In the U.S., making wine is still very dominated by men. Are there more women becoming winemakers? Do women make wine differently than men, and if they do, what do they do that’s different?
Wine-making is still very dominated by men in France as well. Currently, most women involved in wine-making rarely start wineries, but take over inheritances. While they are less present in the fields due to the intense physical labor required, we do see more and more women in the winery as winemakers or wine-making Speaking in generalities, women seem to seek out more elegance and finesse than power when making wine, and have a very positive impact on the design of the labels.