Wave of Fevre Raves

P

Peter Creasey

Peter Creasey
The rave reviews of the 2012 William Fevre Chablis selections are rampant.

I succumbed and grabbed some of the Bougros Grand Cru and Vaulorent 1er Cru.

Any pro or con opinions here on the appeal level of the various 2012 Fevre Chablis bottlings?

. . . . . Pete
 
Never understood the raves for Fevre myself. For awhile people who didn't drink any Chablis except Raveneau and Dauvissat kept insisting that the best Chablis were Raveneau and Dauvissat. Then people who didn't drink any Chablis except Raveneau and Dauvissat and, sometimes, Fevre started insisting that the best Chablis were Raveneau and Dauvissat, and, sometimes, Fevre. I have not found any of the Fevre wines nearly at the level of Raveneau or Dauvissat but have not found Raveneau and Dauvissat to be the indisputable royalty of Chablis, either.
 
Keith, I don't disagree with you. Unfortunately, the Raveneau and Dauvissat are hard to come by, at least in these parts.

I forgot to mention that one of the "raves" cited a drinking window for the Fevre Bougros '12 as being 2020 - 2060. For the lack of a better comment...interesting prognostication!

. . . . Pete
 
Sort of . . .what Keith said.
I have had only one bottle Fevre that truly impressed - and can't now remember what it was.
Which is not just a function of aging.
Best, Jim
 
Drinking windows are dumb as a general rule but they are especially dumb in light of premox. They are not even hypothetical speculations but hypothetical speculations as to what the hypothetical speculation would be if not for premox. It is sort of like saying that the nearest star is an hour away, if we had a warp drive. Well, sure - but what about with what we've actually got? That said, Chablis is not a wine I'd prefer in the 50-year zone even if premox were not an issue. After 2 decades or so they seem to me to get deeper and more Cote d'Or-like and lose what makes Chablis special.
 
originally posted by Keith Levenberg:
Drinking windows are dumb as a general rule but they are especially dumb in light of premox. They are not even hypothetical speculations but hypothetical speculations as to what the hypothetical speculation would be if not for premox. It is sort of like saying that the nearest star is an hour away, if we had a warp drive. Well, sure - but what about with what we've actually got? That said, Chablis is not a wine I'd prefer in the 50-year zone even if premox were not an issue. After 2 decades or so they seem to me to get deeper and more Cote d'Or-like and lose what makes Chablis special.
Click to expand...

FWIW, my peak Chablis experiences have generally been wines of 6-8 years old.
 
There are tons of artisanal and traditional Chablis available. Tribut, Duplessy, De Moor, Picot, Pinson, Picq... in different styles, but real artisan wines.
Of course they can't afford Fevre marketing...
 
originally posted by Christian Miller (CMM):

FWIW, my peak Chablis experiences have generally been wines of 6-8 years old.
Click to expand...
Sorry to be a dull victim of old marketing, but I've had great old bottles of both Raveneau and Dauvissat. 20 years +, and still distinctive.

Of course, those were all pre-1995. I don't know what to suggest now.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
originally posted by Christian Miller (CMM):

FWIW, my peak Chablis experiences have generally been wines of 6-8 years old.
Click to expand...
Sorry to be a dull victim of old marketing, but I've had great old bottles of both Raveneau and Dauvissat. 20 years +, and still distinctive. Not to disagree with your experience at all.

Of course, those were all pre-1995. I don't know what to suggest now.
Click to expand...
 
Chacun. One of my most memorable bottles ever was a Fevre Clos from an undistinguished year - liquid psilocybin. But I've been very happy these days drinking Picq, Defaix, De Moor.
 
originally posted by Keith Levenberg:
That said, Chablis is not a wine I'd prefer in the 50-year zone even if premox were not an issue.
Click to expand...
I don't know how much experience you have with 50 year-old Chablis, Keith, but some of the most remarkable white wines I've ever drunk have been Chablis from the 1940s and 1950s. I think 20+ year old Chablis can be absolutely magnificent from the right vineyards and producers.
 
Why isn't Picq around more? Who imports them? K&L is the only retailer on the west coast to show inventory on WS and at 150% east coast cost. I've always thought they were great especially given the price.
 
originally posted by Brian C:
Why isn't Picq around more? Who imports them? K&L is the only retailer on the west coast to show inventory on WS and at 150% east coast cost. I've always thought they were great especially given the price.
Click to expand...

You can also get them at Cave Taureau in Durham, though I doubt shipping is a good idea this time of year.
 
originally posted by Brian C:
Why isn't Picq around more? Who imports them? K&L is the only retailer on the west coast to show inventory on WS and at 150% east coast cost. I've always thought they were great especially given the price.
Click to expand...

Vintage '59 brings them in (says the bottle of '11 Dessus in front of me) but I'm not sure if they are exclusive. I'm seeing Picq more often in Chicago these days, but there has been regular distribution in Michigan for awhile. My stash of '07s all came from there, and all have been fine on the premox front.
 
Recently sampled a bottle of 2012 Fevre Vaulorent that was outstanding. Clear and all white earth and saline.

I won't claim to have vast knowledge of Chablis aging potential but one of the most memorable wines I've tasted in my life was a bottle of 1996 Billaud-Simon Fourchaume earlier this year. It's immediacy cut through even a brutal January snowstorm as experienced through plate glass windows on the second floor of a coffee shop in a near silent downtown Detroit.

Billaud-Simon.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top