Tag Archives: Chablis

Expensive wine 171: William Fevre Champs Royaux Chablis 2020

William Fevre Champs Royaux Chablis bottle
William Fevre Champs Royaux Chablis 2020/$25-$40

Another fine vintage of this Chablis from a top-notch producer

Chablis is one of the few places left to find value in white Burgundy, France’s high-end version of chardonnay. Value, of course, is relative in this case, since very ordinary white Burgundy that’s not especially high-end can cost $40.

Which is where the William Fevre Champs Royaux Chablis 2020 ($28, purchased, 12.5%) comes in. William Fevre is a top producer, and its wines have appeared on the blog a couple of times. They were also among the Big Guy’s favorites; several of us drank this in his honor a couple of weeks ago.

The Champs Royaux is richer than many Chablis, which is most often a lean, more crisp approach to chardonnay. That’s because the Royaux gets a tiny hint of oak – not enough so the wine is oaky, but enough to notice that it’s a bit different. But the lemon and apple fruit is subdued, and it’s still a mineral driven wine, as Chablis should be (what the wine geeks call wet stone). Let this age a bit, and it should get a little leaner.

Highly recommended, and something to think about when it’s time for late summer entertaining. The Big Guy would have asked me to roast a chicken to pair with it, and that’s always a fine idea with this wine.

Imported by Maison & Domaines Henriot America

Expensive wine 166: Drouhin-Vaudon Chablis 2020

Drouhin-Vaudon Chablis bottle
Drouhin-Vaudon Chablis 2020/$21-$30

Once more with feeling – white Burgundy for the Big Guy

The weather in Dallas was porch-like for a couple of days last week, and of course I thought about Mack Turner. It was just the kind of Sunday afternoon that he would have brought a bottle to the house and we would have sat on the deck, sipping and enjoying.

So, though we can’t do that any more, I can still write about the kinds of wines he loved to share with me – like the Drouhin-Vaudon Chablis 2020 ($26, purchased, 12.5%).

Chablis is part of Burgundy; though the wines are made with chardonnay, the style is much different – crisper, leaner, less oak. The Drouhin-Vaudon fits firmly in that style, though it does lean toward a rounder, fuller approach. That means it’s less austere Chablis, so softer (almost stone fruit instead of green apple) and a little less minerally. It’s still well made, of course – just an interestingly different take on the subject.

It’s Saturday night dinner wine, the kind to serve when you want to drink a better quality bottle but don’t want to spend $50.

Mack would have liked this, too. Our only disagreement would have been over price. I would have said it was a better value closer to $20 – since it Chablis, after all – and he would have given me one of his looks and said he enjoyed it a lot and why were we quibbling over a couple of dollars.

Imported by Dreyfus Ashby

 

Expensive wine 153: J. Moreau & Fils Chablis 2019

J. Moreau
J. Moreau & Fils Chalbis 2019/$20-$30

The J. Moreau Chablis is yet another example why scores do more harm than good

The Wine Curmudgeon tries desperately not to let his disgust with scores bubble up too often. But the wine business makes that almost impossible.

The most recent example is the J. Moreau & Fils Chablis 2019 ($25, purchased, 13%), a delightful chardonnay from the Chablis region in Burgundy in France. So what score did it get on CellarTracker, the blog’s unofficial wine inventory app?

An 88.

Sigh. Is it any wonder I worry about the future of the wine business?

That’s because 88 points is about what a $12 buttery supermarket chardonnay gets — the kind that’s designed by focus groups and made to ensure that the wine has all the subtlety of a hot buttered popcorn-flavored Pop Tart.

Is this the world’s most stunning Chablis? Nope, but it’s still a fine Chablis at a more than fair price (and especially given the cost of white Burgundy these days). It’s varietally correct, with lemony apple fruit, the minerality that all Chablis should have, and a pleasing roundness in the mouth that is not richness (or buttery popcorn).

So yes, I’d buy this again – just the thing for my traditional Saturday night roast chicken, green noodles, and green salad.

Imported by Boisset America

Update: Porch wine for the long, hot summer

porch wine
“I found the porch — you bring the wine. What does the WC suggest?”

With record temperatures in much of the country this summer, it’s time to update the blog’s porch wine post

Over the years, I’ve gotten less than favorable comments about the idea of porch wine — because, of course, wine is entirely too serious for porch sipping. Sigh. Is it any wonder I worry about the future of the wine business?

Which is just more wine snobbery. Why should the pleasure of a shaded porch and the hint of a cool breeze be reserved for iced tea, beer, and whatever else is currently popular? I find the idea of porch wine especially relevant this summer, what with the record-breaking heat in much of the country, the pandemic, and all of the other foolishness we have had to endure. So, this porch wine update.

So know this about porch wine: It’s about lighter wines, red and white (and of course, rose), that are lower in alcohol and that offer relief from the heat. The idea with a porch wine is to drink something that won’t make the sweat bead on your forehead. The blog’s original porch post is here, and there is even a porch wine terms post.

And it’s OK to add an ice cube. Honest.

• The Beachhouse Sauvignon Blanc 2020 ($10, purchased, 13%): This white is a simple, not too grapefruit-y South African sauvignon blanc, which has an almost pleasant bitterness in the back. The minute I tasted it, I knew it was perfect for this post. Imported by Pacific Highway Wines & Spirits

• Moillard Chablis Coquillage 2018 ($25, purchased, 13%): Yes, this is expensive (though without the Trump tariff, the price may come down). But it’s also a perfect porch wine — well-made chardonnay from the Chablis region of France that is flinty, lemony, crisp. Imported by Advantage International

• Stemmari Sicilia Rose 2019 ($8, purchased, 12%): There’s nothing especially Italian about this pink; it’s just well-made rose in the international style — think Washington state. That means fresh, fruity (strawberry), and clean, but not much esle. Still, it is more than enjoyable. Imported by Prestige Wine Imports

• Domaine de la Pépière Muscadet 2019 ($16, purchased, 12%): Well-executed French white (made with the underrated melon de bourgogne grape) that is round in the mouth, but not soft. There’s a bit of structure and apple and pear fruit. Imported by LDM Wines

Photo: “Porch” by sonjalovas is licensed under CC BY 2.0

More about porch wine:
• Memorial Day and rose 2021
• Wine when the air conditioning is replaced
• Wine of the week: Vinho verde 2021
• Wine of the week: Vision Gruner Veltliner 2019

Expensive wine 135: Domaine Louis Michel Chablis Butteaux Premier Cru 2015

Louis Michel Chablis ButteauxThe Louis Michel Chablis Butteaux doesn’t taste like other Chablis, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing

This is not the kind of Chablis that many of us expect – minerally, taut, and steely. Instead, the Louis Michel Chablis Butteaux is rich and full, much softer than I usually want from Chablis. And that difference is just another part of the joy of wine.

How different is the Louis Michel Chablis Butteaux 2015 ($30, purchased, 13%)? The winery’s website lists scores from five major international critics for this vintage of its chardonnay from the Chablis region of France’s Burgundy. Each score is different, and the two French scores are the lowest. That five people who taste this kind of wine for a living disagree about its quality (even allowing for the inefficiency of scores) speaks volumes about how unique this wine is.

Because it is. My tasting notes are just as perplexed: “Softer, less traditional style of Chablis, with less minerality and more ripe apple fruit. And what is it in there that almost tastes like oak?” Because this Chablis doesn’t see oak (and most, in fact, don’t).

So what’s going on here? Chalk it up to what the late and much missed Diane Teitelbaum told me years ago: Wine is not supposed to taste the same. It’s supposed to be different – otherwise, what’s the point? This producer, in this part of Chablis with this terroir, doesn’t make wine that tastes like the wine that other producers make in other parts of Chablis, with different terroir.

This difference is not about good or bad; this is a high quality wine that will probably benefit from another couple of years in the bottle. It’s just different, and that’s something I have learned to appreciate.

Imported by Vineyard Brands

Pricing note: Price is suggested retail or actual purchase price before the October 2019 tariff

Thanksgiving wine 2019

thanksgiving wine 2019Four Thanksgiving wine 2019 suggestions

Thanksgiving is the Wine Curmudgeon’s favorite holiday. When else do we get to get to share lots of wine and good food for no other reason than wine and good food? Plus, there is cooking, and it doesn’t get much better than the way a roasting turkey in the oven makes the house feel. The blog’s guidelines for holiday wine buying are here.

These Thanksgiving wine 2019 suggestions should get you started:

• Maison Albert Bichot Chablis 2016 ($20, purchased, 12.5%): This French white wine, made with chardonnay, gets surprisingly low marks on CellarTracker, the blog’s unofficial wine inventory software. Which is just one example of how useless scores are. This is delicious white Burgundy at a price I can’t imagine, crisp and lemony and minerally. Highly recommended. Imported by European Wine Imports

• Georges Vigouroux Pigmentum Rose 2018 ($10, purchased, 12%): This French pink from the always dependable Georges Vigouroux uses malbec to its best advantage, with not too much dark fruit and a clean and fresh wine. It’s a nice change from everyone making Provencal-style roses. Imported by AP Wine Imports

• Azienda Vitivinicola Tonnino Nero d’Avola 2017 ($14, purchased, 13%): Interesting Sicilian red that more resembles Oregon pinot noir than it does Sicilian nero. It’s more brambly, like berries, than the usual plummy fruit. It’s less earthy, and the acidity is more noticeable. Imported Bacco Wine & Spirits/em>

• Scharffenberger Brut Excellence NV ($20, sample, 12%): California sparkling that tastes like it’s supposed to at a fair value — creamy, yeasty, apple fruit, not too tart, and soft but persistent bubbles. In this, it’s a tremendous value.

More about Thanksgiving wine:
• Thanksgiving wine 2018
• Thanksgiving wine 2017
• Thanksgiving wine 2016
• Wine of the week: Falesco Est! Est!! Est!!! 2017
• Expensive wine 123: Long Meadow Ranch Pinot Noir Anderson Valley 2016

Expensive wine 120: Jean et Sébastien Dauvissat Chablis Saint-Pierre 2017

Dauvissat ChablisThe Dauvissat Chablis is chardonnay that shows why that French region makes such terrific white wine

There are very few values left in high-end French wine (to say nothing of not-so-high-end French wine). But you can still find value from Chablis in Burgundy, like the Dauvissat Chablis.

Yes, $27 seems like a lot to pay for value. But the Dauvissat Chablis ($27, purchased, 12%) is the kind of wine that offers more than you expect. Chablis is chardonnay, but chardonnay usually made with little or no oak. Hence, it’s not only much different from New World chardonnay, much of which is dripping with oak, but it’s also much different from other white Burgundies. That means a steely, very mineral quality, with almost no vanilla or toastiness, but a wine that can still be rich and full.

In other words, chardonnay for those of us who appreciate fruit and less winemaking. The Dauvissat Chablis is just that: Fresh and crisp, with lots of tart green apple fruit, lots of that wonderful Chablis minerality, and nary oak anywhere. The wine combines Chablis tradition, so that it’s clean and almost stony, but with more New World-style and less subtle fruit. It’s an impressive combination, and especially at a price that usually buys very ordinary white Burgundy or even less impressive Napa chardonnay.

Highly recommended, and should age for at least a decade. This is just the bottle for anyone who wants a white wine for Mother’s Day that is more than buttery and caramel.

Imported by Rosenthal Wine Merchants