Domaine William Fèvre, Chablis Premier Cru Vaulorent 2018 is no longer available

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Domaine William Fèvre, Chablis Premier Cru Vaulorent 2018

White Wine from France - Burgundy
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Big, broad, powerful and close to grand cru quality. Vaulorent is the best part of the Fourchaume premier cru, bordering grand cru Preuses, and is is the closest in style and geography to the grands crus.
is no longer available
Code: BU75051

Wine characteristics

  • White Wine
  • 2 - Dry
  • Chardonnay
  • 75cl
  • Now to 2029
  • 13% Alcohol
  • oak used but not v. noticeable
  • Cork, diam

Chablis

Though it is nominally a region of Burgundy there are several factors that make Chablis a quite distinct wine style from its southerly neighbours. The first is distance, the vineyards here being more than sixty miles north of Beaune and separated from the rest of Burgundy by the Morvan Hills. The second is the soil which defines the amphitheatre of hills upon which the best sites lie. The Kimmeridgian clay, which the French call argilo-calcaire, is packed with marine fossils, which in this area sits atop limestone. Finally, and crucially, the climate is considered semi-continental, with no real maritime influence, and where winters are hard and very cold and summers generally hot. One of the biggest risks facing Chablis growers is frost which is a regular and damaging visitor. It is one of the key factors in determining how much wine will be made in any given vintage and most growers go to extraordinary lengths to protect their vines every spring, including heaters among the vines and ...
Though it is nominally a region of Burgundy there are several factors that make Chablis a quite distinct wine style from its southerly neighbours. The first is distance, the vineyards here being more than sixty miles north of Beaune and separated from the rest of Burgundy by the Morvan Hills. The second is the soil which defines the amphitheatre of hills upon which the best sites lie. The Kimmeridgian clay, which the French call argilo-calcaire, is packed with marine fossils, which in this area sits atop limestone. Finally, and crucially, the climate is considered semi-continental, with no real maritime influence, and where winters are hard and very cold and summers generally hot. One of the biggest risks facing Chablis growers is frost which is a regular and damaging visitor. It is one of the key factors in determining how much wine will be made in any given vintage and most growers go to extraordinary lengths to protect their vines every spring, including heaters among the vines and a spray system that coats the buds with water. The measures taken have meant that life for a Chablis vigneron is not quite the lottery it used to be, though there is much vintage variation still.

Chardonnay is the only permitted variety, though there are two schools of thought on how to treat it in the winemaking. Some seek the purest expression of the terroir and the fruit, emphasising the steely, mineral qualities, while others believe that a dash of oak after fermentation can add layers of flavour and complexity to the wine. Most producers eschew oak, and those that do use new barrels rarely use it without restraint.

As with the rest of Burgundy, a hierarchy exists to demarcate the best vineyards. Seven Grand Cru vineyards have been registered, all on the south-west facing slopes of the valley of the Serein river. Below this level are 40 Premiers Cru sites. The area that is permitted to produce Chablis AC and some Premiers Crus has expanded in recent decades, as frost damage has been contained, and this has caused some controversy despite arguments that the land newly planted was once Premiers Cru before phylloxera constricted the land under vine.

The local cooperative makes about a third of all Chablis, though more and more growers who were once committed to the co-op are now making wine for themselves, which has also led to a concomitant reduction in the number négociants.
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Domaine William Fèvre

One of the great Chablis domaines, Fèvre commands 12 hectares of premier cru vineyardsand 16 hectares of grand cru sites. It was founded by the eponymous William Fèvre, who built it up from just 7 hectares in 1957 to 47 hectares including smart plantings in great sites which had previously been neglected. William Fèvre was the most vocal of campaigners for the Chablis appellation, staunchly opposing the extension of its boundaries and fighting against the use of the word ‘Chablis’ to describe any wine which did not come from the region itself. This was a particular problem in the United States, where the term had been hijacked to enhance the appeal of any dry white wine. Fèvre was also one of the first to ferment and raise his wines in new oak, which significantly polarised opinion on them.

In 1998 Fèvre retired to pursue other ventures, notably in Chile. He sold the business to Champagne Henriot, which also owns the prominent Burgundy producer Bouchard Père et Fils. Since the takeover, the oak influence has been reduced drastically and the domaine has thrived, successfully combining quality and quantity.

The winemaker is the experienced and talented Didier Séguier who had previously worked for the Bouchard winemaking team in Beaune. Under his direction, all the domaine’s fruit is hand-harvested and selection is rigorous. Most complex and complete of the wines is the grand cruLes Clos which comes from 4 hectares of old vines in the top part of the vineyard. At the other...
One of the great Chablis domaines, Fèvre commands 12 hectares of premier cru vineyardsand 16 hectares of grand cru sites. It was founded by the eponymous William Fèvre, who built it up from just 7 hectares in 1957 to 47 hectares including smart plantings in great sites which had previously been neglected. William Fèvre was the most vocal of campaigners for the Chablis appellation, staunchly opposing the extension of its boundaries and fighting against the use of the word ‘Chablis’ to describe any wine which did not come from the region itself. This was a particular problem in the United States, where the term had been hijacked to enhance the appeal of any dry white wine. Fèvre was also one of the first to ferment and raise his wines in new oak, which significantly polarised opinion on them.

In 1998 Fèvre retired to pursue other ventures, notably in Chile. He sold the business to Champagne Henriot, which also owns the prominent Burgundy producer Bouchard Père et Fils. Since the takeover, the oak influence has been reduced drastically and the domaine has thrived, successfully combining quality and quantity.

The winemaker is the experienced and talented Didier Séguier who had previously worked for the Bouchard winemaking team in Beaune. Under his direction, all the domaine’s fruit is hand-harvested and selection is rigorous. Most complex and complete of the wines is the grand cruLes Clos which comes from 4 hectares of old vines in the top part of the vineyard. At the other end of the scale, Fèvre’s AC Chablisis full-bodied and creamy in style without losing the trademark minerality of the appellation.
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