William Fevre Chablis 1er Cru Les Lys 2019 (BH92)

Country:               France
Region:                 Burgundy Rating:                  BH92, RP93
Grape Variety:    100% Chardonnay
Type of Wine:      White Wine
Bottle Size:          750ml

Wine Advocate 93
Cropped at a mere 17 hectoliters per hectare, the 2019 Chablis 1er Cru Les Lys has turned out brilliantly, unwinding in the glass with notes of crisp stone fruit, pear and green apple, complemented by subtle hints of oyster shell and mandarin. Medium to full-bodied, chiseled and precise, with tangy acids and a pungently chalky finish, it will reward bottle age. I left my tasting with Didier Séguier wondering if the 2019s might be the best vintage I've ever tasted at Domaine William Fèvre. At this address, the vintage's low yields have translated to wines of remarkable concentration, but Séguier has also achieved levels of cut and tension that are rare in contemporary Chablis. My only reservation (if one can call it that) is that these are serious, structured wines that are tightly wound and introverted after their recent bottling, a tendency no doubt amplified by their DIAM closures; therefore, many are surely destined to be drunk too young. But readers who purchase Fèvre's top 2019s and forget them for more than a decade are going to be richly rewarded, of that I'm confident. Aside from the quality of the 2019 vintage, the other big news here is that Fèvre is converting to organic farming, an ambitious and admirable project for this 78-hectare domaine.

Burghound 92
An airier and more elegant if more restrained nose freely offers up its aromas of mineral reduction, acacia, citrus and iodine. The tightly wound and notably intense flavors exude evident minerality on the super-sleek, bone-dry and chiseled finish. I would underscore that this is unusually powerful in terms of what is typical for Les Lys with sneaky good length. One to consider. *Burghound Outstanding!*