WTN: Fevre Grand Cru Chablis Les Clos 2005

So, Lou and BettyLu Kessler come to Portland, and of course Lou brings wine.

We went to one of the newer and trendier restaurants, Aviary, and had an interesting dinner. Lou pulls out a pristine bottle of Domaine William Fevre Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos 2005:

If all chardonnay tasted like this, I’d be drinking a lot more chardonnay.

With the proliferation of chardonnay as a global variety produced in every imaginable style, it’s important to look back at the iconic versions of the wine from an original and still outstanding production region, AOC Chablis. If there’s a homeland for chardonnay, that’s it.

For best effect select a Grand Cru vineyard release from a traditional and highly regarded house, and from a vintage that has been allowed to develop for a few years: what could be better than Domaine William Fevre Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos 2005?

William Fevre is one of those producers who practices what wine lovers refer to as “minimal intervention.” That’s another way of saying “don’t get in the way of the wine expressing itself.” In other places with less tradition the focus might be on the brilliance of the winemaker: here it is on the husbandry of the soil and the grape and the duty of the winemaker to continue to showcase those qualities.

In the Fevre Grand Cru Les Clos 2005 that translates as a brilliantly precise and minerally edged scalpel of flavor intensity at first sip, expanding slowly into a rich, full herb and fruit tisane in the mouth, then finishing with a return of bright lemon zest at the very end.

As the wine warms in the glass and accommodates a dish of tempura-style green beans and rich black cod, the next sip brings bright, tart lemon over river rock followed by effusive bergamot (think Earl Grey Tea, somewhere between herbal and succulent floral, with a hint of stone fruit), with the echo of that tart, hard, crisp snap of jolting citrus resonating and lingering until the next sip.
The pure unmasked flavor of chardonnay shines through in the Les Clos. Unencumbered by obvious oak, the bright citrus and river-rock minerality is pure and brisk and lovely in the nose. In the mouth it feels more like a red wine than a white, full, round, palpable with weight, expansive.

The 2005 is just now beginning to open and release, so don't feel you have to drink this immediately. It will hold for several years.

This winemaking is more art than artifice, more artisanal than artificial. It comes from generations of farmers focusing on one grape, in one proven style, from one proven place, for hundreds of years.

Thanks, Lou and BL, for your generosity and friendship.

[David M. Bueker]

Nice.

Fevre is a wonderful producer that still suffers from their overoaked past. It takes a long time to purge the memory of all that wood.

Nice.

Fevre is a wonderful producer that still suffers from their overoaked past. It takes a long time to purge the memory of all that wood.

Drink more Fevre more often to hasten the memory loss.

David, the really attractive thing about this particular Fevre Les Clos was the contrast between the absolute clean knife edge of acid-driven fruit contrasted to the full, heavy, complex roundness in the mouth. And wood did not get in the way at all, at all.

I have managed to forget the sad past. The bottle you mention Hoke, was a standout already at the arrivage tasting in 2007 and has only gone from strength to strength. What you must buy if you find it is the 2010 Preuses: one of the best Chablis I have ever had!

Greetings from Sweden / Fredrik L

Thanks, Hoke, for that post which captures the essence of fine Chablis. IMO Chardonnay only gives real finesse at the extreme north of its comfortable growing range, i.e. in Chablis and Champagne; even the wines from the Côte d'Or come from too far south, making them mostly too opulent (and too expensive) for me, when not poxed . But I confess to a growing liking for the less pretentious Chards from the Jura region grown at a similar latitude to the Côte d'Or.

I have managed to forget the sad past. The bottle you mention Hoke, was a standout already at the arrivage tasting in 2007 and has only gone from strength to strength. What you must buy if you find it is the 2010 Preuses: one of the best Chablis I have ever had!

Greetings from Sweden / Fredrik L

Fredrik, I had the Preuses 2010 on release, and you're right. It is profound.

[David M. Bueker]

2010 Preuses never showed up here. 2009 and 2011 are around, though I hear each of those vintages is a bit "broad."

While I am a fan on the modern Fevres, my premox rate on the 2002s and 2004s (mostly Bougrous and Bougrous CdB ) was about 50%, so while I still buy I buy more PC than GC and drink young.

My last experience with a Fevre was the 2009 “Champs Royaux." It is a much different price point than the Les Clos but I was not terribly impressed. Too much oak for my taste in a Chablis. I am hesitant to pay to sample more of the product line.

[David M. Bueker]

I'm no fan of the Champs Royeax. Their Domaine Chablis is very nice though, and shows less oak.

I generally like the estate Chablis more than the negociant Champs Royaux, but very surprised it would be oaky (now late 90s Fevre was a different story)