Chablis Vaulorent, Domaine William Fèvre 2020

One of the finest wines in the portfolio this year is the 2020 Chablis 1er Cru Vaulorent, a taut, youthfully reserved bottling of immense promise. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of citrus zest, beeswax, crisp white peach, white flowers, freshly baked bread and oyster shell, it's medium to full-bodied, ample and seamless, with terrific tensioning intensity in a tightly wound format. It's warmly recommended, though patience will be required.

The restrained and layered nose makes clear that this could be from nowhere else but Chablis with its aromas of algae, iodine, oyster shell and spiced pear. The texture of the medium-weight flavors is also sleek and intense with slightly better density if a bit less refinement to the youthfully austere bitter lemon-suffused finish. Lovely and while qualitatively equal to the MdT, it offers a markedly different expression.

Attractive pale lemon, similar beautiful pale lemon colour with a light lime tint. The nose is startlingly fine, with a haunting elegance. Why in these hotter years are the Vaulorent wines seemingly even finer? The terroir dominates the vintage. A citrus zest weaving in and out of white fruit. Harmony and balance. Hardly able to assimilate all the intensity. What a wealth of dry extract!