Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesBarrel Sample: 94-97
Barrel Sample: 94-96
Founded in 1959, Domaine William Fèvre is at the very heart of the Chablis vineyards. Since its founding, Domaine William Fèvre has been taken up with the desire to produce indisputable genuine and fine wines, bringing along a very personal experience in Chardonnay. All the efforts have but one goal – to finely express the subtle most variations in the greatest Chablis crus. Today, Domaine William Fèvre is one of the most established and renowned estates in Chablis.
Domaine William Fèvre joined the Henriot family portfolio in 1998.
“In my 20 years with William Fèvre, I have aimed at crafting wines that fully express the terroir of Chablis through the use of organic and biodynamic viticulture and meticulous care in the vineyards. Minerality is a Chablis trademark and it shines through with a thousand nuances in each of our wines.” – Didier Séguier, William Fèvre Director & Cellar Master
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.
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.