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Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos(2005)
- Winery:
- Domaine William Fèvre
- Varietal:
- Chardonnay
- Region:
- France > Burgundy > Chablis > Chablis Grand Cru
- Type:
- White Wine
- User Tags:
- mineral, harvest, romanian cheese, closed, fruit, botrytis, color descriptors, balance, hay, lime
- Burghound
- Issue 24, Oct 01, 2006
- 93/100
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May 2008
- 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 read more...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. (Henriot, Inc., New York, NY; John E. Fells and Sons, UK). Note: from 4 separate parcels totaling 4.11 ha, 3 of which are all at the top of the slope In contrast to the relative expressiveness of most of this group, the Les Clos is backward, reserved and very tight, revealing only glimpses of white flower, oyster shell and an airy marine influence that can also be found on the intense, pure and astonishingly precise flavors that possess another dimension relative to all of the other '05s. Class in a glass as they say and while presently tighter than a drum, this has the material and balance to age for years. (hide)
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Source:
Flickinger Wines
- IWC 93-96 (12/2006): Pale, green-tinged color. Pure but subdued nose hints at minerals and lime, with flint and quinine emerging with aeration. Penetrating and powerful, with superb cut and grip (Fevre's holding high on the hill always gives a youthfully tight, fresh style). Wonderfully silky and suave grand cru, finishing with great palate-coating dusty stone and uncanny mineral persistence. "
