Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Very attractive aromas of ripe white and yellow peaches here with a gently glossy edge and lightly toasty and flinty nuances. The palate has such richness and composure with a fleshy, smooth build to the long, lemon and peach-soaked finish. Bracing. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons bursts from the glass with a pretty, aromatic bouquet of citrus blossom, white peach and spring flowers. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, ample and expressive, with an open-knit, satiny-textured core, tangy acids and a precise, mouthwatering finish. From bottle, this confirms Didier Séguier's confidence and merits a higher score than I gave it from barrel.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: One of most omnipresent Premier Crus from Chablis is Vaillons, and the site is a consistent performer. The 2017 Domaine William Fèvre demonstrates excellent staying power. TASTING NOTES: This is bright and lively. Its aromas and flavors exhibit pretty fruit and subtle earth notes. Pair it with stir-fried prawns with an accent of garlic and freshly-crushed black peppercorns. (Tasted: March 14, 2019, San Francisco, CA)
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.