Light gold. Lees-accented orchard and citrus fruit aromas are complicated by sweet butter, iodine and smoky minerals. Dry and expansive on the palate, offering lively pear and melon flavors and a refreshingly bitter touch of orange pith. Ample but lithe brut, with very good finishing punch and repeating smoke and pear qualities.
Henriot’s NV Brut Souverain Disg. 4/2012 offers a delightfully crunchy-yet-creamy, slaw-like amalgam of fresh apple, celery root, grapefruit and almond, to which a whiff of elder flower adds aromatic allure. The lush mid-palate takes a faintly oily turn even as tart citricity wells up with greater impact, leading to a luscious finish that irresistibly urges one take the next sip. I fancy this being best enjoyed over the coming year.
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 2015 Champs Royaux bottling is produced from purchased grapes, but shares the fine bounce and mineral undertow of the domaine bottlings from William Fèvre this year. The nose is pure and stylish, wafting from the glass in a mix of apple, a touch of tangerine, flinty minerality and spring flowers. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, pure and juicy, with fine focus and impressive backend grip and energy. A lovely example.
A hint of thyme and chive perks up the melon and grapefruit flavors in this crisp white. ending with a mouthwatering finish.
A fresh, steely version, displaying apple, lemon and mineral flavors. Fades quickly, but has a fine sense of place.
This is really delicious with sliced green apple, stone and melons. Medium to full body. Crisp finish. Focused.
A stony undertow keeps the ripe peach, lime and floral flavors grounded in this white. Offers fine complexity and length, with a citrusy aftertaste.
A focused, lemon-, apple- and melon-flavored version, with accents of seashore and stone. The mouthwatering finish lingers well, echoing citrus and stone elements.
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!
