Simonnet-Febvre Chablis Vaillons Premier Cru 2020
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Wilfred
Wong -
James
Suckling -
Wine
Spectator
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Simonnet-Febvre Chablis Vaillons Premier Cru is an excellent example of the characteristics of a Chablis wine: freshness, acidity, minerality and notes of flowers and fruit. Well-rounded and charming, this wine has a final note of minerality on the palate and is a good compromise between the acidity and fruit. It is generous, has a good length and is very typical of Chablis.
Drink with seafood, grilled fish and white meats in sauces.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2020 Simmonet - Febve Chablis Premier Cru Vaillons shows power and restraint from start to finish. TASTING NOTES: This wine shines with aromas and flavors of green apples, rustic earth, and chalky notes. Pair it with grilled abalone steaks topped with fresh-cut pineapple. (Tasted: May 10, 2023, San Rafael, CA)
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James Suckling
This ripe yet bright Chablis Premier Cru has white-peach and tropical-flower aromas that aren't exactly classic, but very attractive. Lovely balance of mineral acidity with ripe pear and citrusy fruit. A slug of tannin at the finish, but they're fine and add backbone.
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Wine Spectator
There is nice cut to this white, with lemony acidity offsetting the rich texture and light spice notes, while allowing the core of apple to shine through. Ends with a stony element. Fine balance and juiciness overall.
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The Maison and Domaine of Simonnet-Febvre were founded in 1840 by Jean Febvre, a barrel maker by trade from Montbard. In the early days, the house was known for its sparkling Chardonnays from Chablis, known today as Crémant de Bourgogne. Over the years, the Febvres acquired holdings in some of the greatest terroirs in Chablis. Today, the Domaine comprises approximately 9 acres, crowned by a 2/3-acre plot in the Grand Cru vineyard of Les Preuses, with 3.5 acres of Premier Cru Mont de Milieu and 4.7 acres of communal Chablis vineyards. Maison Louis Latour acquired Simonnet-Febvre in 2003. Since its purchase, the Latours have entirely renovated the winemaking facilities, installing new stainless steel tanks and pneumatic presses. The vineyards have been reworked with the same sustainable vineyard practices utilized in Latour's 125-acre domain in the Côte d'Or. Maison Louis Latour also hired a talented new winemaker, Jean-Philippe Archambaud.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
The source of the most racy, light and tactile, yet uniquely complex Chardonnay, Chablis, while considered part of Burgundy, actually reaches far past the most northern stretch of the Côte d’Or proper. Its vineyards cover hillsides surrounding the small village of Chablis about 100 miles north of Dijon, making it actually closer to Champagne than to Burgundy. Champagne and Chablis have a unique soil type in common called Kimmeridgian, which isn’t found anywhere else in the world except southern England. A 180 million year-old geologic formation of decomposed clay and limestone, containing tiny fossilized oyster shells, spans from the Dorset village of Kimmeridge in southern England all the way down through Champagne, and to the soils of Chablis. This soil type produces wines full of structure, austerity, minerality, salinity and finesse.
Chablis Grands Crus vineyards are all located at ideal elevations and exposition on the acclaimed Kimmeridgian soil, an ancient clay-limestone soil that lends intensity and finesse to its wines. The vineyards outside of Grands Crus are Premiers Crus, and outlying from those is Petit Chablis. Chablis Grand Cru, as well as most Premier Cru Chablis, can age for many years.