2015 Chablis Beauroy 1er Cru

Didier Séguier, who has a history of harvesting early, began picking on the Thursday after the hail and heavy rainfall in 2015—the same day he had originally planned to start but not with the same vineyards. Following a hot, dry year with what Séguier described as “no bad weather events,” William Fèvre lost 30% to 50% of its potential production to the hail in Montmain, Forêts, Butteaux, Monteé de Tonnerre, Blanchots and Les Clos, carrying out a strict triage to eliminate damaged grapes. The 2015s remind Séguier of the 2009. “Actually, I first thought of the 2006s but the '15s are fresher, purer wines. They’re not classic like the 2014s but they’re not extreme like the ‘06s and 03s, and they will be very pleasant for consumers to drink young.”

Séguier, who maintains that early harvesting was particularly critical in 2015, believes that these wines have the structure and material to age. Total acidity levels are on the soft side (around 3.8 grams per liter) but pHs are in the healthy 3.15 to 3.25 range, he told me. He's convinced that the estate’s organic farming practices “reinforce the freshness of a hot vintage like 2015.” The fruit was picked with between 12% and 13% potential alcohol and only the lighter wines were chaptalized. The alcoholic fermentations went quickly and the malos finished between January and March, so the wines were racked and assembled in April and May.

Séguier rates 2014 as “un grand millésime de garde--a more concentrated version of 2008 and also like 2010.” The wines were bottled between December and February, with a bit less total sulfur than previously thanks to Fèvre’s use of DIAM corks.