2006 Chablis Fourchaume
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Tasting notes
The Fevre 2006 Chablis Fourchaume – coming entirely from Vaulorent (detached from the rest of Fourchaume and just above Les Preuses) – exhibits striking clarity and delicacy for the vintage. Rich mushroom- lobster- and chicken stock seems to be laced with fine herbs and saline, chalky mineral stuff, yet for all of its sense of richness and sheer density this displays lovely lilt and lift throughout and a seamless, memorably long finish. It seems odd to use the “Fourchaume” designation for this wine – even if it is better known than “Vaulorent” – since the genuine Fourchaume is detached, rather distant, distinctly different in exposure, and probably inherently incapable in this vintage of the sort of elegance and complexity that are on exhibit here. I suspect this will be worth following for a dozen or more years. Didier Seguier has presided over a remarkable surge in quality at this address during the past decade in which Henriot has owned Fevre. The wines are now every bit as impressive as the estate’s vast and superbly-situated acreage, not to mention uncannily consistent in quality. Somehow, Fevre has acquired a reputation in some quarters simply for their widespread use of oak. In fact – just as at the region’s other top addresses, Dauvissat and Raveneau – the wood here is nearly always discreet, and Seguier is keen to finish the elevage on most of his wines in tank once he deems them to have spent long enough in barrel. Hand-harvesting and two sorting tables help insure quality of fruit, and Seguier’s insistence that botrytis was unproblematic for him in either 2006 or 2005 is ably supported by the gustatory evidence. Fermentation was relatively rapid, he relates, and the malo-lactic transformation not especially profound, due to the dominance of ripe, tartaric acid in the fruit. With one exception, the grand cru wines (all of which are vinified ca. 80% in barrel) had just been prepped for bottling (including cross-flow filtration) when I tasted them, but that did not prevent them from showing brilliantly. Importer: Henriot, Inc, New York, NY; tel. (212) 605-6706
Critic scores
Average Score
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Pale, green-tinged color. Expressive nose offers saline, citrus and floral elements. At once youthful and tactile, expressing more early sweetness than the Montee de Tonnerre. But in a distinctly less elegant style, consistent with the character of these two premier crus. Very intensely flavored, powerful wine with excellent length and a touch of finishing warmth.
Subtle white pepper notes and hint of grapefruit but pretty tight. Fuller and riper on the palate with good length and crisp fresh citrussy finish. (JH)
Pale color. Musky but rather reticent aromas of apricot and wet stone. Very ripe, broad and round but fresh, with a peach flavor complicated by a positive earthiness. Finishes quite full, with very good peachy persistence.
About the producer
Established in the late 1950s, William Fèvre was one of the leaders in Chablis’s renaissance. Today he crafts benchmark expressions of fine Chardonnay from some of the top vineyard sites in the region, working with many of the best Premier and Grand Cru vineyards.