2004 Chablis, Valmur, Domaine William Fèvre

2004 Chablis, Valmur, Domaine William Fèvre

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2004 Chablis, Valmur, Domaine William Fèvre

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Description

As one might expect, this is not only more elegant but it's the most elegant wine in the entire lineup, closely challenged only by the Les Clos. The perfumed, high-toned and classically styled nose features subtle spice, floral, reserved green fruit cut with oyster shell and iodine notes plus that unmistakable sea salt nuance that says "Chablis!" leads to textured and superbly defined, refined and focused flavors that are crystalline in character, all wrapped in an explosively long finish that is like rolling pebbles around in the mouth. While there are several wines in this range that may rival the Valmur qualitatively, this is a one seriously stunning wine and in particular, the transparency and harmony of expression are worth the price of admission alone. Highly recommended and this should age well for up to a decade, perhaps a bit longer. Régisseur Didier Séguier describes the 2005 vintage as "one where viticulture took precedence before all else. There was a lot of botrytis and you had to be exceptionally careful to keep it out of the vineyards. The growing season started early, indeed the end of March which is definitely early for Chablis. There was a relatively long flowering with lots of shatter (flowering failure), which explains the lower quantities. July was hot and we had some hail in Préhy and Courgis though nothing really major. The botrytis began at the beginning of September and we watched the sugars and maturities climb very quickly. As such, we decided to pick as early as we could and even asked for permission to begin before the ban de vendange (officially mandated harvest date). We obtained permission to start on the 15th but it rained and we finally began picking fruit on the 17th. We harvested very quickly and as such, we avoided a very large percentage of the botrytis that I saw all over Chablis. We had a very clean harvest because we use very small harvesting cases which don't crush the grapes, even at the bottom and then carefully sorted. Quantities however were down, ranging from 25 to 45 hl/ha with the lowest being Valmur. Sugars were very strong at between 12.5 and 13.5% and we chaptalized almost nothing and there are very firm acid cores. In terms of the wines, I believe 2005 is more like 2000 than 2002. There is more richness than 2002 though with slightly less acidity and less obvious minerality. We'll bottle a bit earlier than usual just to be sure that we don't lose any freshness. Overall, it's a fine vintage and gives consumers a great choice between 2004 and 2005." It's interesting to compare the Fèvre '04s to their '05s. While the characters and personalities of the wines are distinctly different, in terms of intrinsic quality there is not a great deal to separate them. The villages and 1ers are marginally stronger in 2005 but the grands crus are slightly better in 2004 though again I wish to emphasize that these differences are subtle and don't necessarily hold for every wine. In both cases, you cannot go wrong in purchasing them and many of these are recommended, in some cases highly. Note: there is also a Fèvre négociant operation but all of the wines reviewed here, with the exception of the Mont de Milieu and Grenouilles, are from domaine fruit. The négoce side of the house also issues the 7th grand cru, Blanchot, which it buys in as fruit and then controls the entire production process from that point.
Allen Meadows, Burghound.com, Oct 01 2006

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Critics reviews

Burghound94/100
As one might expect, this is not only more elegant but it's the most elegant wine in the entire lineup, closely challenged only by the Les Clos. The perfumed, high-toned and classically styled nose features subtle spice, floral, reserved green fruit cut with oyster shell and iodine notes plus that unmistakable sea salt nuance that says "Chablis!" leads to textured and superbly defined, refined and focused flavors that are crystalline in character, all wrapped in an explosively long finish that is like rolling pebbles around in the mouth. While there are several wines in this range that may rival the Valmur qualitatively, this is a one seriously stunning wine and in particular, the transparency and harmony of expression are worth the price of admission alone. Highly recommended and this should age well for up to a decade, perhaps a bit longer. Régisseur Didier Séguier describes the 2005 vintage as "one where viticulture took precedence before all else. There was a lot of botrytis and you had to be exceptionally careful to keep it out of the vineyards. The growing season started early, indeed the end of March which is definitely early for Chablis. There was a relatively long flowering with lots of shatter (flowering failure), which explains the lower quantities. July was hot and we had some hail in Préhy and Courgis though nothing really major. The botrytis began at the beginning of September and we watched the sugars and maturities climb very quickly. As such, we decided to pick as early as we could and even asked for permission to begin before the ban de vendange (officially mandated harvest date). We obtained permission to start on the 15th but it rained and we finally began picking fruit on the 17th. We harvested very quickly and as such, we avoided a very large percentage of the botrytis that I saw all over Chablis. We had a very clean harvest because we use very small harvesting cases which don't crush the grapes, even at the bottom and then carefully sorted. Quantities however were down, ranging from 25 to 45 hl/ha with the lowest being Valmur. Sugars were very strong at between 12.5 and 13.5% and we chaptalized almost nothing and there are very firm acid cores. In terms of the wines, I believe 2005 is more like 2000 than 2002. There is more richness than 2002 though with slightly less acidity and less obvious minerality. We'll bottle a bit earlier than usual just to be sure that we don't lose any freshness. Overall, it's a fine vintage and gives consumers a great choice between 2004 and 2005." It's interesting to compare the Fèvre '04s to their '05s. While the characters and personalities of the wines are distinctly different, in terms of intrinsic quality there is not a great deal to separate them. The villages and 1ers are marginally stronger in 2005 but the grands crus are slightly better in 2004 though again I wish to emphasize that these differences are subtle and don't necessarily hold for every wine. In both cases, you cannot go wrong in purchasing them and many of these are recommended, in some cases highly. Note: there is also a Fèvre négociant operation but all of the wines reviewed here, with the exception of the Mont de Milieu and Grenouilles, are from domaine fruit. The négoce side of the house also issues the 7th grand cru, Blanchot, which it buys in as fruit and then controls the entire production process from that point.
Allen Meadows, Burghound.com, Oct 01 2006 Read more
Wine Advocate94+/100
Sage leaves, rosemary, quartz, and iodine are found in the nose of the 2004 Chablis Valmur (domaine). A wine of awe-inspiring precision as well as depth, it coats the palate with sea shells, minerals, fresh herbs, and liquefied rocks. Though I freely admit to having a special fondness for the Valmur vineyard, this wine hits the taster deep in the soul. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2015.

Note: All the William Fevre wines tasted for this report are “domaine” bottlings, from the estate’s 40 hectares of vines (98.84 acres), which is clearly marked on the label. There are also Maison William Fevre – negociant – bottlings, none of which were tasted.

The rapidity with which Joseph Henriot turned around this once moribund estate is remarkable. Under the supervision and winemaking of super-talented Didier Seguier (from Cucq-Les-Vielmur in France’s southwest, near Castres), Domaine William Fevre has been catapulted into the top echelon of Chablis’s producers (and if you don’t believe me, just ask Vincent Dauvissat or Bernard Raveneau).

Didier Seguier attributes the estate’s success in 2004 to two key factors, “the fact that we treated the vines early and therefore did not have oidium problems,” and, just as importantly, “our yields were lower than most because this estate’s vines are over 40 years old and cannot produce plethoric quantities.” On average, across the entire estate, William Fevre harvested 60-65 hectoliters per hectares, 10-15% less than two of this region’s most famous stars, Vincent Dauvissat and the Raveneau brothers. Though Seguier loves his 2004s (“They are precise, classical Chablis.”), his preference is for the 2002s, “the finest vintage I’ve experienced.”
Pierre Rovani, Wine Advocate #165, Jun 2006 Read more
Robert Parker94+/100
Sage leaves, rosemary, quartz, and iodine are found in the nose of the 2004 Chablis Valmur (domaine). A wine of awe-inspiring precision as well as depth, it coats the palate with sea shells, minerals, fresh herbs, and liquefied rocks. Though I freely admit to having a special fondness for the Valmur vineyard, this wine hits the taster deep in the soul. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2015.

Note: All the William Fevre wines tasted for this report are “domaine” bottlings, from the estate’s 40 hectares of vines (98.84 acres), which is clearly marked on the label. There are also Maison William Fevre – negociant – bottlings, none of which were tasted.

The rapidity with which Joseph Henriot turned around this once moribund estate is remarkable. Under the supervision and winemaking of super-talented Didier Seguier (from Cucq-Les-Vielmur in France’s southwest, near Castres), Domaine William Fevre has been catapulted into the top echelon of Chablis’s producers (and if you don’t believe me, just ask Vincent Dauvissat or Bernard Raveneau).

Didier Seguier attributes the estate’s success in 2004 to two key factors, “the fact that we treated the vines early and therefore did not have oidium problems,” and, just as importantly, “our yields were lower than most because this estate’s vines are over 40 years old and cannot produce plethoric quantities.” On average, across the entire estate, William Fevre harvested 60-65 hectoliters per hectares, 10-15% less than two of this region’s most famous stars, Vincent Dauvissat and the Raveneau brothers. Though Seguier loves his 2004s (“They are precise, classical Chablis.”), his preference is for the 2002s, “the finest vintage I’ve experienced.”
Pierre Rovani, Wine Advocate #165, Jun 2006 Read more

About this WINE

Domaine William Fevre, Chablis

Domaine William Fevre, Chablis

William Fèvre is one of Chablis’ greatest wine domaines, developed by the eponymous William Fèvre between 1957 and his retirement in 1998 when he sold to the Champagne House Joseph Henriot. William Fèvre began with just 7 hectares and had soon increased this to 48ha, planting widely in the best of the 1ers and grands crus where the vineyards had fallen by the wayside. However the Fèvre penchant for new oak was not to everybody’s taste.

Since the Henriot purchase the wines are made by the talented Didier Séguier who had previously been with the Bouchard team in Beaune. The domaine wines include 12 hectares of premier cru vineyards and no less than 16 hectares of grand crus.The whole crop of their domaine wines, straight Chablis included, is harvested by hand, the grands crus in small ‘cagettes’, with a sorting table back at the winery to ensure the quality of the raw material.

The 1er cru wines are vinified in 40-50% oak, the grands crus receiving 70-80%, but without using new wood – instead the domaine receives a plentiful supply of one year old barrels from Maison Bouchard, and the average age of wood in the cellars is 5 years old. The barrel and vat components are blended together after four to six months, for bottling before the end of the year.

In 1991 he joined forces with the Chilean producer Victor Pino and Vina William Fèvre was established in the heart of the Maipo Valley just outside Santiago.

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Chardonnay

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is often seen as the king of white wine grapes and one of the most widely planted in the world It is suited to a wide variety of soils, though it excels in soils with a high limestone content as found in Champagne, Chablis, and the Côte D`Or.

Burgundy is Chardonnay's spiritual home and the best White Burgundies are dry, rich, honeyed wines with marvellous poise, elegance and balance. They are unquestionably the finest dry white wines in the world. Chardonnay plays a crucial role in the Champagne blend, providing structure and finesse, and is the sole grape in Blanc de Blancs.

It is quantitatively important in California and Australia, is widely planted in Chile and South Africa, and is the second most widely planted grape in New Zealand. In warm climates Chardonnay has a tendency to develop very high sugar levels during the final stages of ripening and this can occur at the expense of acidity. Late picking is a common problem and can result in blowsy and flabby wines that lack structure and definition.

Recently in the New World, we have seen a move towards more elegant, better- balanced and less oak-driven Chardonnays, and this is to be welcomed.

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