2007 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Les Clos Grand Cru

I had a chance to retaste this side by side with its 2008 counterpart and the '07 matches the brilliant quality albeit in a different style due to the vintage characteristics. As such, I am raising my rating slightly. An aggregator is how I would describe this nose as the range of aromas and subtle nuances is genuinely amazing with a purity of expression that is nothing short of riveting with the classic assertive mineral reduction character that suffuses the character of this wine from the incredibly detailed nose to the wonderfully long, palate staining finish. The big, rich, powerful, detail and superbly focused flavors are supported by a very firm acid backbone that confers a bone dry quality to the finish that I could still taste hours later. In brief, at the moment this is more extract of Kimmeridgian stone than wine but it's breathtakingly good. Don't miss it.

The Fevre 2007 Chablis Les Clos perpetuates this collection’s theme of improbably mineral-like scents and tastes, emphasizing the pungent iodine aspect of crustaceans and sheer crushed stone. For all of its implacable underlying density – at sea level, as it were – this displays succulence along with a more dynamic exchange of citrus, spice, and mineral than in most exemplars of this great site in this vintage. There is a certain severity to the almost indelible, memorable meld of iodine, chalk, spice, and citrus oil that constitute this wine’s finish, but it needs several years in bottle and should be worth following for at least a decade thereafter. Didier Seguier and his team have managed to follow up their amazing 2006s with an equally remarkable collection of 2007s (though he insists that 6 to 9 months after bottling – when I tasted them – “is the worst time for expressing the purity of fruit”!). Harvesting here began early, on September 6 – the earliest start on record save for 2003 – but without feeling any compunction about taking one’s time, Seguier emphasized. Even so, the task was completed in 11 days, harvesting fruit of impeccable ripeness and harmonious though prominent acidity at a time when many growers were wise not to have begun yet. Without question, the rigorous sorting that all of the grapes undergo here is among the keys to the purity and the transparency to nuance of these wines. As usual at this address, even when one reaches the roughly 80% level of barrique (none, new, though) a smell or taste of wood is the farthest thing from one’s mind. Importer: Henriot, Inc, New York, NY; tel. (212) 605-6706

(domain bottling) Bright, pale yellow-green. Compellingly aromatic nose offers lime oil, ginger and crushed rock. Sharply delineated if quite backward today, projecting great purity, intensity and energy. Compared to the Preuses this is showing less volume but more energy, with an even higher pitch to its aromas and flavors. My style of Clos! The rising finish really dances on the palate. Give this one at least five years in the cellar.