Reviews & Awards

The non-vintage Blanc de Blancs has always been one of the strong suits at Henriot, and the new release is no exception. The bouquet is pure, vibrant and classy, offering up scents of pear, apple, chalky soil tones, incipient notes of crème patissière and a top note of white flowers. On the palate the wine is crisp, full-bodied, focused and still youthfully zippy, with a fine core, good focus and grip, elegant mousse and a long, zesty finish.

The 2008 Henriot Brut Millésime is composed of its traditional cépages of fifty percent chardonnay and fifty percent pinot noir. It was aged eight years sur latte and finished with a dosage of six grams per liter. The wine is beautifully pure on the nose in the style of this lovely vintage, wafting from the glass in a blend of pear, delicious apple, brioche, a touch of almond pastry dough, lovely, chalky soil tones and a bit of orange zest in the upper register.

The new release of Henriot’s non-vintage Brut Rosé is a blend of pinot noir and chardonnay, with the exact cépages not given, but probably about fifty-five percent pinot and forty-five percent chardonnay. The wine is quite lovely, offering up an elegant bouquet of strawberries, tangerine, chalky minerality, fresh-baked bread and a topnote of rose petals. On the palate the wine is crisp, full-bodied, focused and nicely deep at the core, with refined mousse, bright acids and lovely focus and grip on the long and complex finish. This is really quite tasty.

The new bottling in the market of Henriot “Brut Souverain” is composed of a blend of fifty percent chardonnay, forty-five percent pinot noir and five percent pinot meunier. It spent three years aging sur latte and was finished with a dosage of less than eight grams per liter. The wine offers up a vibrant and precise bouquet of apple, pear, plenty of smokiness, chalky soil tones, fresh-baked bread and a top note of dried flowers.

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!

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.

The vineyard of Bougros can often produce a more forward grand cru, but the 2015 from Domaine William Fèvre has plenty of cut and grip to go along with its beautiful fruit tones. The wine wafts from the glass in a classy mix of golden delicious apples, pears, lemon, a hint of the acacia blossoms to come, chalky minerality and just a whisper of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and very pure, with a great core, fine mineral drive and a very long, vibrant and racy finish.

Due to the hail damage in the domaine’s smaller parcel in this vineyard, overall yields were only thirty-five hectoliters per hectare in 2015, but the wine has turned out utterly brilliant and is the best of the range this year at Domaine William Fèvre. The bouquet is very pure and nascently complex, delivering a magical blend of apple, pear, flinty minerality, white flowers, wet stones and a youthful topnote of citrus peel.

The 2015 les Preuses from Domaine Fèvre is also a great wine in the making and it will be fun to compare its evolution over the coming decades to that of the Valmur. The wine is gorgeously complex on both the nose and palate out of the blocks, soaring from the glass in a blend of apple, par, beeswax, chalky minerality, a touch of tangerine and a topnote of dried flowers. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, young and very mineral in profile, with a superb core, laser-like focus and a very, very long and racy finish. Classic juice.

The 2015 Valmur from Didier Séguier is utterly classic in profile and one of the most reserved and racy wines in the cellar this year. The top flight bouquet delivers a fine array of pear, beeswax, just a touch of tangerine, chalky minerality, white flowers and a whisper of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, crisp and impeccably balanced, with a fine sense of reserve, a rock solid core, lovely soil signature and superb backend cut and grip on the very long and minerally finish. This will need some time to blossom, but will be one of the wines of the vintage.