Burghound (95)

A discreet, even timid nose speaks of markedly cool, airy and admirably pure aromas of high-toned floral wisps, iodine and plenty of oyster shell and tidal pool nuances that are trimmed in just enough wood to mention. The racy, mineral-driven and ultra-refined middle weight flavors possess the finest and most delicate texture in the entire range, all wrapped in a strikingly long and strikingly layered finale. This is textbook MdT and a genuine knockout.

Vinous (95)

The 2017 Chablis Vaillons 1er Cru is an exceptionally beautiful wine endowed with tremendous length and pure power. Lemon confit, dried flowers and mint are some of the many notes that build in the glass. Textured and resonant through to the finish, with captivating beauty and tons of sheer allure, the Vaillons is so gorgeous. Frankly, it is hard to move on from it in this tasting.

Vinous (91)

The 2019 Chablis-Villages is well defined and pure on the nose, offering scents of dried honey, dandelion and a little quince jus, all pretty and growing in stature with aeration. The palate is well balanced with a waxy-textured opening. There’s good depth for a Village Cru, and a slightly pithy, peach skin finish. Excellent.

Burghound (96)

As is often the case, this is aromatically quite similar to the Montée de Tonnerre with just a touch more wood in evidence. Here too the slightly richer flavors possess an equally gorgeous texture with a bit more mid-palate stuffing to the intense, powerful and bone-dry finale that exhibits simply huge length. This beauty is even firmer, and I wouldn't even think about opening a bottle for at least 10 years, research purposes aside!

Wine Advocate (97)

Serious and tensile, Raveneau's 2019 Chablis Grand Cru Clos unwinds in the glass with aromas of orange oil, white flowers, confit lemon, green apple and deftly judged reduction. Full-bodied, taut and chiseled, it's an immensely concentrated, racy wine with huge depth at the core and a long, intensely saline finish. Its style exemplifies the 2019 Chablis vintage at its best.

Burghound (97+)

A restrained nose immediately makes clear that it could be from nowhere else but Chablis with its array of mineral reduction, oyster shell, iodine, spice, floral and citrus aromas. There is once again excellent volume and intensity to the even more concentrated big-bodied flavors that deliver huge length on the bone-dry, austere and compact finish. This is presently a block of stone that is going to need at least some patience and a wine that should repay 15+ years of cellaring. Moreover, it is not only a candidate for wine of the vintage honors but could legitimately vie for being one of the all-time great examples of Raveneau Clos. I shudder to think at what price it will trade at but if you can afford it, don't hesitate.

Wine Advocate (87-89)

The 2015 Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos has a pleasant peach and nectarine scented bouquet that might not sing of Chablis, but is attractive in a rather obvious way. The palate is medium-bodied with a slight viscosity on the entry, hints of praline and almond towards the finish. It is attractive, but drink it in its youth.

Wine Advocate (98+)

A blend of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Cabernet Franc, the 2018 Oakville Estate Proprietary Red Wine was aged for 22 months in French oak barrels, 55% new. Deep garnet-purple colored, it sashays out of the glass with flamboyant scents of candied violets, red roses, black raspberries and fragrant earth over a core of cassis, wild blueberries and Morello cherries with a waft of pencil lead. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is an exercise in poise, featuring beautifully balanced velvety tannins and seamless freshness framing the opulent black and red berry layers, finishing very long and perfumed. 670 cases were made.

Burghound (92-94)

(from a 2.5 ha parcel of 35+ year old vines – two thirds of the blend is from Chapelot and the remainder is from Pied d’Aloup and Montée de Tonnerre proper; the Pied d’Aloup vines were planted in 1935). This would be difficult to mistake for anything other than Chablis with its aromatic profile of oyster shell, iodine, citrus and acacia blossom, all trimmed in a delicate dollop of oak. The super-sleek, intense and stylish middle weight flavors are also quite classy and I very much like the balance. This is also notably firmer and very much built-to age. Excellent. (92-94)/2030+

Wine Advocate (92)

Aromas of green apple, white flowers, oyster shell and beeswax introduce the 2019 Chablis 1er Cru Montmains, a medium to full-bodied, satiny and incisive wine that's quite tightly wound, built around tangy acids and chalky dry extract. This Montmains retains a very classic profile in this ripe vintage.

Wine Spectator (94)

'#1 in Wine Spectator Top 100 2022' - Packs in generous steeped plum, boysenberry and mulberry flavors backed by a broad swath of roasted alder and bittersweet cocoa. Brimming with dense fruit, and is squarely in the not-shy style. The long finish has a serious loamy tug, too. Best from 2023 through 2035. 10,000 cases made.

Jeb Dunnuck (100)

The 2015 Screaming Eagle is another monumental wine from this address, and it's one of those cases where if you afford it, you should buy it. A blend of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc, this magical elixir boasts a deep purple color as well as a blockbuster bouquet of blueberries, creme de cassis, violets, incense, and cedarwood. Reminding me of the 2015 Château Margaux with its off the charts class and purity, it’s full-bodied, thrillingly textured, and has a finish that just won't quit. This legendary wine is going to keep for 30-40 years.

Wine Advocate (97+)

Beautiful floral notes intermixed with creme de cassis, licorice and charcoal jump from the glass of this dense purple-colored 2002. Opulent, broad, full-bodied and more mature than I expected given how this wine showed in its youth, this deep, rich Cabernet Sauvignon is exceptional. However, in this vintage it has to take a back seat to a number of other cuvees. The final blend was 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc.

James Suckling (100)

The subtle and nuanced aromas to this are so enticing with perfumed, floral, blackcurrant and blackberry character. Roses, too. Some lavender. Full-bodied yet so refined and polished with the most transparent and polished texture. Firm and seamless. So beautiful now. Give it three or four years to come around, but this already sings.

Wine Advocate (100)

Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the 2018 Screaming Eagle soars out of the glass with vibrant notions of ripe blackberries, black cherries and fresh red and black currants plus wafts of licorice, candied violets, cedar chest and clove oil with a beguiling touch of sea spray. Medium-bodied with jaw-dropping elegance, the palate is finely textured and yet built like a brick house with a super taut backbone and exquisitely knit acidity. The intense black and red fruit flavors are accented by layers of mineral and floral notions, finishing with incredible length and depth. Undeniably stunning. “I loved it!” winemaker Nick Gislason told me when I asked him for his thoughts on the 2018 vintage. “Everything is just really perfumey with a lot of verve and a lot of freshness. It’s a wholesome vintage, if that makes sense? The canopies were big and healthy; there was a lot of life in the vineyard. After 2017, it felt like the bloom that comes afterward.” He went on to say, "We made a little 2017 red. Only four barrels of the Cab! Ten barrels of The Flight. Only from grapes that came in before the fires—mainly Merlot and a couple of blocks of Cabernet." Whereas Screaming Eagle is mainly sourced from Cabernet Sauvignon grown on the western side of the estate, there is one plot of old Merlot (1980s plantings) on the eastern side of the vineyard that continually makes the backbone of this Second Flight/The Flight. This is planted on very gravelly, well-drained soils. Gislason explained, “The Cabernet Sauvignon for The Flight is always about being fresh, light and perfumey, without the firmer tannins that Cabernet can sometimes give. There is a ‘fresh’ end of the property that this tends to come from. There is some other Merlot on the other side of the property that doesn’t have the acidity, perfume or brightness we’re looking for. We don’t use this in The Flight.”

Wine Advocate (98)

The 2017 Sauvignon Blanc is 100% Sauvignon Blanc, coming from a small section of estate vines closer to the Napa river. It is entirely fermented in French oak, but only about 5% is new. The grapes are pressed straight to barrels and kept on their gross lees. The wine is fermented using native yeasts. This vintage, the nose is not at all shy—it comes bounding out of the glass with exuberant scents of ripe peaches, passion fruit and musk perfume plus wafts of honeycomb, elderflower, ripe gooseberries and lemongrass with a waft of Bosc pears. The palate is super intense and yet ethereally weighted, light-bodied and oh-so-fine, elegant and refreshing, featuring a whole array of chalk and sea spray sparks, creating a shimmer to all the many citrus and stone fruit layers, finishing with great length and energy. There is a truly interesting phenolic texture to the palate that reminds me of some Chardonnays, particularly Burgundian examples. Winemaker Nick Gislason commented that the gross lees contain a lot of phenolic content, which is where the wine picks up that textural component. Love it!

Vinous (98)

The 2016 The Flight is gorgeous. Dark, brooding and closed in on itself, the 2016 is going to need a number of years to be at its very best, but it is incredibly beguiling today. Plum, black cherry, lavender, blood orange menthol, and a host of more mineral-driven notes punctuate this super-expressive wine. This is a decidedly tannic and powerful edition of The Flight. I can't wait to see how it ages. Bottled just six weeks before this tasting, the 2016 appears to have a very bright future. Time in the glass brings out some of the softer edges that will almost surely emerge with cellaring. The Flight is built on a core of older Merlot vines from the southeast corner of the estate. It is an absolutely riveting wine from Screaming Eagle.

James Suckling (100)

This is an incredible wine with such depth and energy and ethereal, mind-blowing sensibility. It sent shivers down my spine tasting it. It just shines on the nose, like bright sunlight breaking through a dark sky. Aromas of raspberries, citrus, violets and dark earth. Full-bodied with extremely fine tannins that go vertical and endless, from top to bottom. A monument for merlot-based wines. Drinkable now, but needs six to eight years to come around.

James Suckling (99)

Extremely floral and aromatic with violets and lavender throughout. Black olives, too. It’s medium-to full-bodied with firm, very fine-grained tannins that run the length of the wine. Goes on for minutes. A greenish undertone comes out at the end with some spearmint, green tea and green olive. About two-thirds merlot. Best after 2028, but already stunning.

Vinous (93-95)

The 2018 Chablis La Forest 1er Cru is a big step up in all dimensions from the preceding 1ers in the cellar. Powerful, rich and also intensely mineral, the Forest is so vivid and so inviting. All the signatures of this site as interpreted by Vincent Dauvissat are ampled up in large-scaled Chablis endowed with tremendous personality and class. In a word: superb.

Decanter (92)

William Fevre own 46ha of AP Chablis but there was lots of frost damage in 2021 - the yield was just 18hl/ha! Lovely floral notes here, very precise and focussed. This is already appealing although the acidity is certainly evident. Lingering spice notes on the finish. From a tank sample, with bottling due in November. Drink from next year and for many years.

Burghound (91-93)

(from a .55 ha parcel). Slightly honied aromas of exotic white and yellow peach are laced with moderate amounts of classic Chablis character. Interestingly, the medium-bodied flavors are not quite as dense as those of the Les Lys though they are still notably powerful while offering just a bit more depth on the sneaky long, sappy and serious finale. At least some patience will be necessary. 2026+

Jancis Robinson (17)

Very creamy on the nose, marked by the lees and gentle oak. Fresh citrus and almost something floral, like blossom, as well as stony/mineral character. Rich, deep and lively. Generous with a good acid backbone, even if it is a little softer than the Vaillons. (JH)

Decanter (95)

Fèvre has three parcels in Montée de Tonnerre (its purest, most mineral premier cru): Chapelot, Pied d'Aloup and Côte de Bréchain, all facing different ways. Very precise, crystalline fruits, salinity, great acidity and a long, long finish. Will age beautifully, but great now.

Decanter (93)

A wine from a selection of sites over 3.9ha in Butteaux, Forêts and Montmains. Butteaux is very cold and mineral, while Forêts is elegant and floral. Great precision and focus here, allied with crystalline citrus fruits on the palate. Shows density, but is also very fresh, with lovely mineral characters on the finish. A highly successful Montmains.

Decanter (96)

Now made separately from Fèvre's Fourchaume bottling - it's technically part of the same large premier cru - this has the structure and complexity of a top grand cru. It's powerful yet fresh, with impressive density and notes of aniseed and citrus peel.

Jancis Robinson (17)

A little more sour-cedary on the nose compared with the Valmur, stony too. That same sour freshness on the palate – very zesty and sinewy. Tight and precise. Should age very well in bottle. (JH)

Jasper Morris Inside Burgundy (95)

Pale primrose. Medium to full concentration on the nose. Then an explosion on the palate, with both depth and great clarity. This has a fine touch to it that augurs very well. Really fine boned without in anyway sacrificing intensity. Brilliantly classy. DIAM 10 closure.

Burghound (92-94)

(from an incredible ~6 ha parcel). A ripe and beautifully layered nose consists of notes of green fruit, citrus, iodine and mineral reduction. The powerful, rich and voluminous big-bodied flavors possess fine mid-palate density that coats the palate with sap before concluding in an austere, long and vaguely rustic finale. This is an imposing Bougros that should age effortlessly over the next decade plus. 2029+

Tim Atkin MW (94)

Planted by William's father, these vines are now 55 years old. All the parcels here are on steep slopes. The scintillating nose starts with salted lemons and perky grapefruit peels. The wholesome breadth on the nicely weighty mid-palate vies with tingly acidity and creates a push-pull of ripe fruit and savory minerality from start to finish. 2023-2034