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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
Melon, apple, stone, seashore and earth aromas and flavors ride the vivid structure, finishing long. A grapefruit peel note lingers. Shows some flesh, too, delivering terrific balance and drive.
Pale, green-tinged yellow. Subtle, discreet nose offers hints of citrus fruits, spices, white pepper and minerals. Then almost shockingly massive and powerful in the mouth, boasting bulletproof citrus and white peach flavors energized by harmonious acidity (but barely four grams per liter, according to Didier Séguier). More robust and masculine than the Preuses and drier and more bracing on the long finish, this sappy wine needs time to harmonize. But as with all of these 2015s, there's nothing hard about this grand cru.
Offers apple, lemon and stone flavors, backed by a firm structure. Lean and taut, yet balanced, persisting through the long finish.
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.