A Historic Vintage
2010 Fevre Chablis
Grand Cru Les Preuses
"An endless and rapier-like finish"
"These were quite simply the very finest examples of Chablis I tasted on this trip... " - John Gilman
By all accounts something very special happened at Fevre in 2010.
Since being taken over by Henriot in the late nineties, Fevre has quickly climbed the ranks in Chablis claiming its place beside the region's two benchmarks, Vincent Dauvissat and François Raveneau.
We've been big fans for some time.
But, in the 2010 vintage, the domaine just seems to have nailed it - it's a historical vintage for them.
I tasted through Fevre's entire 2010 line-up this winter and the wines were just thrilling. I've been waiting eagerly for our allocation ever since.
 |
In short hand, for Fevre, the vintage is about combining concentration, transparent Chablisian minerality and unrelenting detail. They are wines of class and cut, of grippy chalk-imbued minerality and citrus-fueled poise. And, above all else, they are wines of tension.
Of course, this is most dramatically represented in Fevre's mind-bending collection of Grand Crus. Of these, the 2010 Les Preuses is a staggering success, one of the best in a line-up of heavy hitters. For Fevre, one of the best is only $65.95 per bottle. This is a potent reminder that Fevre offers some of the best value in Chablis, and in Grand Cru Burgundy in general.
Les Preuses is a south-facing Grand Cru vineyard known for producing regally succulent and floral wines. Compared to the fortress-like Les Clos, Preuses is less forbidding in its youth.
In 2010 Fevre captures this Grand Cru with an alarming clarity. It offers rich and round flavors steeped in chalk that, for all their intensity and saturating power, maintain a thrilling delineation and an air-y, graceful palate presence.
Part of Fevre's success in the 2010 vintage comes from their practice of picking early. This allowed them to have the majority of their grapes harvested before the rains on September 25th. They harvested extremely small, very concentrated grapes with high acidity. It was pretty close to being ideal.
The only troublesome thing is that it's exactly these small and concentrated grapes that will make things ugly. Concentration comes at a cost, and here it's the yields - they are down thirty percent. The buzz about Fevre producing some of the wines of the vintage won't do much to help either.
With only 2.2ha in Preuses, there's simply not much of this wine to go around. Please give us your maximum order, and we'll do our best to allocate fairly.
To order, please email us at offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Ian McFadden
Director, Fine and Rare Wines
Crush Wine & Spirits