2015 Domaine William Fevre Chablis Grand Cru "Les Clos" (750ml)

A distinctly toasty nose, still reticent, with lime and apple fruit. Broad and rich, the palate shows ample sucrosity and intensity, lifted by fine acidity with a pungent and saline finish. Nutty and very long, and the wood seems well integrated. Drinking Window 2018 - 2030  (2/2017)

Due to the hail damage in the domaine’s smaller parcel in this vineyard, overall yields were only thirty-five hectoliters per hectare in 2015, but the wine has turned out utterly brilliant and is the best of the range this year at Domaine William Fèvre. The bouquet is very pure and nascently complex, delivering a magical blend of apple, pear, flinty minerality, white flowers, wet stones and a youthful topnote of citrus peel. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, racy and very, very minerally, with a great core, laser-like focus and stunning length and grip on the vibrant and still quite primary finish. The complexity here is going to be outstanding, but the wine will need a bit of time in the cellar to blossom. (Drink between 2021-2050) 96+ points.  (11/2016)

Pale, green-tinged yellow. Captivating but youthfully reticent scents and flavors of citrus peel, white pepper, fresh herbs, crushed stone and white flowers, plus a whiff of rhubarb. Quite broad and full but not at all heavy in the mouth. This wine doesn't have the acid edge of the Bougros Côte Bouguerots but is wonderfully silky and horizontal, coating every square millimeter of the palate--and it's hardly short of energy! Most impressive today on the superb dusty, mounting finish. This potentially outstanding wine still needs time to gain in complexity but it should evolve positively in bottle for many years. 94+ points. (ST)  (8/2017)

(from 4 separate parcels totaling 4.11 ha, 3 of which are all at the top of the slope). Once again there is just enough wood present to warrant mentioning on the strikingly fresh, cool and pure nose of mineral reduction, ripe pear, sea water and floral aromas. There is flat out remarkable power to the highly energetic flavors that also display ample amounts of dry extract that imparts a sappy texture to the intensely mineral-driven, explosive and hugely long finish that is unusually dry for the vintage. It’s interesting as one can sense an elevated level of alcohol but surprisingly there is no associated finishing warmth to speak of.  (10/2017)

The 2015 Chablis Grand Cru les Clos was showing a little reduction on the nose, like several others from this famous vineyard. Underneath lies attractive yellow plum, Granny Smith apple and honeysuckle scents. The palate is very well balanced with crisp tannin and fine acidity; it is tightly coiled and not as expressive as say the Bougros. There is a very attractive spiciness on the finish that lingers in the mouth, but it is clearly a wine that needs at least a couple of years in bottle. (NM) My rendezvous with Didier Seguier, head winemaker at William Fevre, was at their tasting room in Chablis ville, opposite the Bistro de Grand Cru. As usual, we tasted through their comprehensive portfolio, first with the 2015s, of which all but the entry-level wines are still in tank on their lees and due for bottling next year. Then we broached the 2014s in bottle. (NM)  (8/2016)