2016 Chablis Beauroy 1er Cru

As is his habit, director/winemaker Didier Séguier started the harvest early in 2016 (on September 16) to preserve acidity. “Otherwise the wines would have been too soft,” he explained. The rain on September 15 had “unblocked” the maturity and the estate harvested with potential alcohol ranging from 12% to 13% owing to the very low yields (Fèvre made just 40% of a normal year in 2016, and much less in vineyards hit hard by frost and hail). Very little chaptalization was necessary. Séguier told me that acidity levels in the 4 to 4.2 grams-per-liter range are comparable to those of the ‘15s.

Séguier finds the young ‘16s “very pure and delineated, with no deviation. They show reductive shellfish notes and good minerality. And they’re dense and concentrated due to the low crop levels.” In comparison, he went on, the 2015s are fruity, silky wines, not as minerally early as the ‘16s “but the minerality will come with three or four years of aging. The wines are very ripe and the fruit dominates, but I wouldn’t call 2015 an atypical vintage. I prefer 2016 today but I may prefer 2015 later as the minerality comes out.”