William Fevre Chablis Les Clos Grand Cru 2018
- Decanter
-
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
"This is the largest and most famous Grand Cru; its fame based on its history as one of Chablis’ first vineyards. The appellation enjoys a southerly aspect with very white, dense and deep clay soil, resting on a limestone bed 80 cm below the ground, which brings to the wine those spicy notes so typical of this terroir. Remarkably complex bouquet, blending fruity, floral and spicy notes with a substantial mineral touch. Structured palate, opening up with age to give powerful, generous wines. Pair with fish, shellfish and other seafood, grilled or in a cream sauce. Poultry and white meat, grilled or in a cream sauce."
Professional Ratings
-
Decanter
The Fèvre holdings in Les Clos are the envy of Chablis - seven parcels (five of them high on the slope) covering 4.14ha, with more than half over 60 years' old. This is a brilliant expression of the Grand Cru, marrying power and intensity with focus, balance and palate length. Stylishly oaked, with the concentration to age, it's a textbook white, showing white pepper and citrus flavours and notes of kelp and oyster shell.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos is another obvious success, mingling aromas of citrus and citrus confit with hints of beeswax, peach and pear in an inviting bouquet. Full-bodied, muscular and layered, it's textural and fleshy, with a deep and tightly wound core, racy acids and a chalky finish. This is a fine effort that will improve with bottle age, but it is a bit more front-loaded out of the gates than the very fine 2017 rendition.
-
James Suckling
A very ripe, dense Chablis, yet it maintains energy and focus. Crushed-stone and mineral highlights. Full-bodied and formed with a solid core of fruit and energy. Drink or hold.
-
Wine Spectator
There is a fleshy core here, an ideal foil for its peach, melon and lemon flavors. As this plays out on the lingering finish, a mineral note emerges. Excellent harmony.
Other Vintages
2021-
Morris
Jasper -
Parker
Robert
- Decanter
-
Morris
Jasper -
Parker
Robert
-
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert -
Wong
Wilfred - Decanter
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Suckling
James - Decanter
-
Parker
Robert -
Wong
Wilfred -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Suckling
James - Decanter
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
- Decanter
-
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert -
Spirits
Wine & -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spirits
Wine & -
Spectator
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert
-
Enthusiast
Wine
Domaine William Fèvre is a historical and environmental pioneer in Chablis. The domaine covers a total of 78 hectares, including 15 hectares of Grand Cru vineyards as the largest Grand Cru landowner in Chablis. The domaine is also comprised of 16 hectares of Premiers Crus, including icons such as Vaulorent, Montmains, and Les Lys, among many others. William Fèvre has been committed to a strong environmental approach for more than 20 years, receiving their HVE3 certification in 2014. Domaine William Fèvre does everything possible to express the most subtle variations in Chablis' climats and to offer wines that give everyone, from novices to connoisseurs, the opportunity to enjoy an experience characterized by a superb expression of purity and minerality.
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.