Chablis Bougros Côte Bouguerots William Fèvre 2003 (White)

Present in the region for nearly three centuries, Les Fèvre have branded the Chablis name thanks to William, who founded Domaine de la Maladière in the late 1950s. With the arrival of the new owners in 1998, the Henriot family (from Champagne), also the owners of Maison Bouchard Père et Fils, and William Fèvre initiated some major changes: manual harvesting, selective triage, élevage in parsimonious wood, never using new barrels, instead choosing stainless steel to preserve the Chablis terroir without excessive woodiness; this is one of Fèvre’s secrets! Bought in January 2024 by Barons de Rothschild Lafite, Maison William Fèvre races ahead as one of the best Chablis domains, while benefiting from very simple techniques which respect the terroirs. Holding a HVE certificate for more than 10 years, some wines are produced using organic and biodynamic methods.
An interesting fact is that it is the very same man, Didier Séguier, who officiates both as head of culture and cellar master. For all wines, the principle of gravity prevails: the grapes follow a natural circuit, without pumping, from top to bottom. The wines are aged in oak barrels, on fine lees, for between 10 and 15 months, and are stirred according to the characteristics of the vintage.
The domain produces clear and well-defined, pure Chablis. The grapes are grown on its 78 hectares, which includes 15.9 hectares of premier crus and 15.2 hectares of grand crus vines.

The Bougros appellation includes just over 12 hectares, of which half belong to William Fèvre. Little is said of this very old terroir, and yet it is one of the seven Chablis grand crus and is definitely one of the best, facing directly due south. The Domaine's parcels are located on a steep slope and "Côte Bouguerots" (how Bougros used to be spelt) represents a small enclave of just 2 hectares, located at the bottom of the hillside. This small area of land only accessible on foot and which has to be worked by hand enjoys maximum exposure to the sun which is what makes all the differences with these northern appellations! Here, the vines produce a fleshy, dense wine, complex and well-structured and rounder than from elsewhere because of the shallow soils and their mixture of stones and clay.

Consult price estimate for: William Fèvre