Winemaker Notes
Powerful nose of citrus and white fruits. Rich and concentrated, with Chablis’ typical minerality, the palate has remarkable length.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
The Vaulorent from Fèvre is more mineral than its Montée de Tonnerre, if a bit less lush, with aromas of lime peel, mirabelle plum, and passion fruit. The texture is chiselled and concentrated, with layers of tightly wound extract and a dense, chalky finish. The grapes are from 3.6ha in Vaulorent, which is part of Fourchaume but located on the side of the grands crus. Winemaker Didier Séguier chooses his favourite blocks for this bottling and crafts a 'classic' Fourchaume from the rest. Fermentation is done in older casks for 40-50% of the grapes.
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Jasper Morris
Pale but glowing, a note of citron confit, an additional depth compared to the Fourchaume. More flesh but perfectly proportioned, fine and elegant, and very long indeed. This should be first class. Flavours will absolutely not go away! As much yellow as white but balanced. Barrel sample: 92-95
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Sourced from the upper part of the climat and planted with 40- to 60-year-old vines, the 2023 Chablis 1er Cru Vaulorent wafts from the glass with a deep bouquet of lemon oil, white flowers, orange peel, peach, pear and a delicate reductive signature. Medium- to full-bodied, concentrated and layered, it is framed by ample, chalky structuring extract and racy acidity, concluding with a persistent, saline finish. This is a terrific performer once again. Rating: 94+
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Wine Spectator
Distinctive, this white is downright spicy, featuring flavors of peppery greens, lemon, lime zest and mineral, plus a hint of white pepper. Well-defined and balanced, with a long, stony finish.
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.