Domaine William Fevre
Grand Cru Les Clos
Chablis
2022

The producer

Founded by William Fevre in 1959, this is one of Chablis’ most substantial domaines with nearly 78 hectares of vineyards across the different ranks and parts of the Chablis area. With 12 hectares of Premier Cru vineyards and an impressive 16 hectares of Grand Cru vineyards, Domaine William Fevre is the biggest owner of Grand Cru land in Chablis. 

The domaine was sold to Joseph Henriot of the eponymous Champagne house in 1998, following which all the Grand Cru vineyards were converted to biodynamic farming and general oak use was reduced in order to emphasise purity and fruit precision in the wines.  The Premier Cru wines are generally vinified in 40-50% oak, the Grand Crus in 70-80% oak but no new oak is used for either. Average age of wood in cellar is five years old. 

Along with Raveneau and Dauvissat, Domaine William Fevre is one of the best producers in the area with an exemplary range of Chablis and the Grand Cru Les Clos – produced from vines averaging over 50 years old are among the best wines from Chablis year in, and year out.

The wine

Domaine William Fèvre’s Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos comes from the most prestigious and expansive of Chablis’ seven Grand Cru vineyards, covering 26 hectares in total of which Fèvre owns a significant 4.11 hectares, all ideally situated on steep, southwest-facing slopes. The vineyard’s unique terroir is composed of Kimmeridgian marl and limestone soils with fossil-rich clay, offering excellent drainage and mineral complexity. This prized combination of slope, sun exposure, and soil gives Les Clos its hallmark power, tension, and crystalline purity. Domaine William Fèvre practices sustainable viticulture and hand-harvests, with fermentation and ageing taking place in a mix of stainless steel and neutral oak to preserve the vineyard’s flinty, saline signature and age-worthy structure.

Our wine list is carefully curated and we are constantly on the lookout for other excellent vintages. We do not currently stock any other vintages of this wine. 

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.