2003 Chablis Montmains 1er Cru

.My marathon tasting here was one of the highlights of my quick tour of Chablis.As classic as the 2004s are at this address, the 2003s are equally impressive for the number of wines that transcend this freakishly hot vintage.Incidentally, winemaker Didier Seguier was one of several Chablis insiders who thought the low vintage rating of 2004 published in the magazine Bourgogne Aujourd'hui was nonsense.He rates 2002 18 out of 20, while 2003 merits 14 and 2004 is a solid 16 (my own ratings would be quite close to his, perhaps a hair lower for the '03s).Typically, about half of each premier cru at William Fevre spends its first six to eight months in barrels before the wines are blended in tank and aged for another six months or so.In vintage 2004, noted Seguier, only 20 of this producer's 800 barrels were new.

Not surprisingly in light of recent practice, William Fevre was the first major Chablis producer to start harvesting in 2003, beginning on August 25. Director Bernard Hervet told me that the grand crus were not acidified for the fermentations, but he held out the possibility that some of these cuvees might be adjusted later on. William Fevre owns two sorting tables, which the team used in 2003 to eliminate the 5% to 10% of the grapes that were grilled by the sun, mostly from vines facing due south. The grand crus here are vinified in barrel, while the premier crus are made half in barrel and half in vat (the Montee de Tonnerre Mont Milieu and Vaulorent get a somewhat higher percentage of barrel fermentation). But virtually no new oak was used to vinify the 2003s. Many of the wines then spend five or six months in barrel before being racked and returned to stainless steel in the spring. Interestingly, Hervet says the estate lost much more fruit from frost than from heat in 2003, as the water-dispersal system used here to handle frost was rendered ineffective by wind during the coldest nights of early April. I asked Hervet whether he preferred the estate's 2002s to its 2000s. He responded that vintage 2000 was the best vintage to date for the grand crus, "although many people in the village don't agree. But I prefer the village wines and the premier crus in vintage 2002. "(Clicquot Inc. , New York NY) Also tasted: 2003 Chablis *.