2014 Chablis Vaudesir
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Tasting notes
The 2014 Chablis Grand Cru Vaudesir was just missing the "edge" when I tasted it from vat last year. Now in bottle, it has quite a pungent, herbaceous bouquet with touches of smoke and dried herbs. The palate is balanced with a very austere opening and to be honest, just as I found last year, it seems to lack that nervosité and nascent energy that some of the other Grand Crus from William Fevre convey. It is pleasurable, but it does not quite match to the Chablis Bougros and others. Is this the weak link in the chain this year?
Critic scores
Average Score
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
(picked on the first day of the harvest): Pale yellow. Cool aromas of lime, crushed herbs, pepper and mint. Densely packed but light on its feet, conveying moderate richness to its lime, mint and pepper flavors. Quite tight and taut; in need of time to evolve but I don't find the flavor development of the better 2014s here. Perhaps picked a bit too early.
Pale, bright yellow. Rather early-picked aromas of lime zest, white pepper, crushed herbs and metallic minerality. Less complex than the last couple of 2014s but with excellent thrust to its slightly reduced flavors of lemon, spices and salty minerality. A touch vegetal but with lovely finesse of texture. Finishes quite long, but with a slight peppery edge. This rather taut, austere wine will merit a higher rating if it expands with bottle age.
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.