William Fèvre | Chablis, France
Chablis Champs Royaux 2018
January 2020
90 points
Wine Spectator
Clean and balanced, this white offers white peach, apple and floral aromas and flavors. A hint of mineral graces the mouthwatering finish.
Clean and balanced, this white offers white peach, apple and floral aromas and flavors. A hint of mineral graces the mouthwatering finish.
Oyster-shell reduction and a note of lime on the classic Chablis nose. Dense, juicy and firm, boasting excellent definition to its flavors of oyster shell, lime and white flowers. Penetrating but not aggressive in spite of its firm acidity, finishing with excellent subtle length and grip. This terrific village wine is an exceptional value--but make sure you get the Domaine bottling.
This is rich and ripe, offering peach, honey and lemon flavors. Turns bracing and compact, with a long, minerally finish. Could benefit from short-term cellaring.
The “estate bottling” of Chablis villages from William Fèvre is even a step up from the very lovely Champs Royaux in 2015. The bouquet is deeper and more refined, wafting from the glass in a mélange of lime, green apple, a touch of oyster shell, chalky soil and fruit blossoms. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and very nicely balanced, with a good core, fine focus and impressive length and grip on the vibrant and nascently complex finish. This is really a serious example of AC Chablis this year!
A reductive, stainless-steel style of Chablis, this gains some weight from the concentration of fruit. It’s succulent and leesy while remaining clean, zesty and fresh, needing bottle time for the components to come together.
On the austere side, this white exhibits flavors of green apple, lemon and grass, with hints of stone. Racy and firm, with a mouthwatering essence.
Given how superb the 2015 “regular” Bougros is this year from Domaine Fèvre, I have very high expectations for the Côte de Bouguerots and they were not disappointed! The bouquet is deep, complex and very refined, delivering a fine constellation of green apple, pear, lime, crystalline, chalky minerality, spring flowers and a bit of flintiness in the upper register. On the palate the wine is very pure, full-bodied and utterly svelte in profile, with a rock solid core, great cut and grip and outstanding focus on the long, pure and seamlessly balanced finish.
Bright, pale yellow-green. Precise aromas of lemon, lime and oyster shell, plus a note of mineral reduction. In the mouth, a sexy toasty nuance complements the ripe stone fruit and saline mineral flavors. Nicely pliant wine but also boasts very good inner-mouth tension and purity. Finishes tactile and long, showing very little impact of the vintage. Superb.
Once again, based on the nose alone, this could be nothing else but Chablis with its mélange of tidal pool, mineral reduction, citrus blossom and discreet spice nuances. There is fantastic detail to the focused, mineral-driven and powerful middle weight plus flavors that do a slow build from the mid-palate all the way back to the explosively long, balanced and bone dry finish. This appears to be drawn directly from liquid Kimmeridgian and should also amply reward longer-term cellaring. In a word, brilliant. 96/2026+