2013 Chablis Vaudesir
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Tasting notes
The 2013 Chablis Grand Cru Vaudésir has an outgoing bouquet with dried apricot, quince and beeswax nose, nicely defined, but not as sophisticated as the superior 2014. The palate is fresh in the mouth with fresh pear and nettle notes, good acidity, but missing just a little complexity toward the agreeably saline finish. Drink this before the succeeding vintage.
Critic scores
Average Score
Neal Martin
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
More reviews and scores
Tangy aroma – still has the stony character of Chablis but there's a riper citrus note. Tight and very crisp, almost but not quite lean. Better with food than as an aperitif? Persistent. (JH)
One of the richer, more textured wines in this range, the 2013 Chablis Vaudesir shows the typical radiance of this warm micro-climate in its intense color and layered, voluptuous personality. Already relatively approachable, the 2013 should drink well pretty right out of the gate. Didier Seguir adds that this well-exposed, steep parcel on pure Kimmeridgian limestone is usually the first to be picked.
(picked at the beginning of the harvest; from a steep, warm, south-facing site; the crop level was under 25 hectoliters per hectare, according to Seguier): Pale yellow. Exotic ripe fruits, ginger, lichee and menthol on the nose. Fat, rich and sweet, with slightly exotic flavors of pineapple and lichee framed by ripe acidity. The finishing grip comes almost as a surprise in this very rich wine. "Vaudesir is always masked by fruit in the early going," notes Seguier. "It only reveals its minerality with about five years of bottle aging."
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.