Winemaker Notes
Charming bouquet with surprising fruitiness and a good mineral presence. The powerful and robust palate is elegant and round.
Professional Ratings
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Jasper Morris
Recently racked so a bit cloudy. Blocks the nose. A vast raft of white fruit, very spicy, liquorice notes as well, a volume of fruit over and above the Vaudésir, I can see why it is served afterwards. Quality reduction at the back. Barrel sample: 93-95
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Vinous
The 2023 Chablis Valmur Grand Cru comes from the top sector on the incline with a south-east facing orientation on a vein of marl. That scent of shucked oyster shell permeates the nose and puts it above Vaudésir in terms of complexity. A superb reduction. The palate is taut and fresh, more complex and certainly more saline. There's a bit of meanness on the finish, but that is not written pejoratively. For those seeking more traditional Chablis this vintage.
Barrel Sample: 93-95 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Sourced from parcels just beneath the forest, the 2023 Chablis Grand Cru Valmur opens with aromas of white flowers, pear and lemon oil, mingling with notes of oyster shell. Medium- to full-bodied, it reveals a chalky core and a layered, textural palate laden with racy acidity, concluding with a long, saline finish. Rating: 94+
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Wine Spectator
A laserlike profile tries to keep the lid on flavors of yellow flowers, quince, apple and bitter grapefruit. A mineral vein emerges on the finish, driven by vibrant acidity. Balanced and long overall.
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.