Domaine Fevre Bourgogne Blanc 2022

The electric whites from Fèvre are almost always reserved for private clients and local restaurants, like the amazing Au Fil du Zinc in downtown Chablis, or even closer to home at NYC classics like Il Buco, Union Square Cafe, and The Grill on Park Ave. But when you’re sitting in someone’s home and you’ve traveled nearly a day to see them, it’s pretty hard to say no! So we did what we had to and leaned on the fact that we were right there in their laps, and it worked—we got the goods.

Nathalie and Julie are a dynamic team in the cellar. Their rapid-fire French set the tone for this exciting estate—thank god for our translator! The family combines the wealth of old vines in great positions with a technical prowess that few estates can boast. The jewel of the estate is Vaulorent, a lieux-dit of the most southern reach of Fourchaumes, sharing the same hillside and soil composition as the Grand Cru, Preuses. Their parcel was planted in the mid-1950s, yielding racy and fine Chablis, a bit salty and with fantastic length.

But being the Burgundy value hound that I am, the Bourgogne Blanc remained the steal of the day. It’s sourced from old vines near village Tonnerre, rooted in the ancient chalk of Chablis, just like the mighty Grand Cru Preuses and somehow under $25/bottle on case orders. The Bourgogne opens with a fine bouquet of green apples, summer pears flecked with the sense of a chalky stoniness. The mid-palate is loaded with tension, just brimming with a fresh vibrancy that finishes a minute long.