Chablis. Domaine William Fèvre
Domaine William Fèvre is one of the most prestigious winemakers, despite its relative short history, has been producing top quality Chablis for many years now. Fèvre family has been living in Chablis for 250 years, but the winery was established in 1959 by Maurice Fèvre – William’s father.
Wines are produced from eco vines, more than 20 years old from the parcels covering 78 acres altogether. 40% of this are Grand Crus and Premier Crus. The winery is also leading in the region with 15 acres, that is around 15% of total share, in the Grand Cru parcels in Chablis. Those are: Les Clos, Vaudesir, Bougros and Les Preuses. This variety translates into the full spectrum of wines that are offered – Bougros are usually big and well-rounded while Vaudesir is more crisp, fresh with the notes of flowers.
Yearly production is over half of a million bottles. In the past the wines were aged in new oak barrels, however to underline the character of terroir this has changed. Fevre is now working with used barrels, 5 years old on average. Harvest is strictly manual and all the grapes sourced from Premier Cru and Grand Cru parcels are subjected to a very rigorous selection. In 2015 the winery attained the highest French ecological certificate „HVE”, and is already experimenting with biodynamics.
Psst: Domaine William Fèvre is also producing wines from a highly unusual appellation Saint-Bris, the only sauvignon blanc with AOC appellation within Burgundy.
Tasting: gives you a great opportunity of a cross sectional tasting of many different labels – from Petit Chablis till Grand Cru. Tastings are available without prior reservation during the shop operating hours. It costs 7 Euro per person, which will be cancelled if you decide to buy anything.
Worth trying: The basic Chablis is already a great quality to price ratio, for those that are fond of flowery notes I recommend Premier Cru Les Lys. Les Clos is the most expensive Grand Cru Domaine William Fèvre, but it is worth going for the cheaper Bougros.