It had been a looooong time since I had a truly great white wine and now I know why: I have not been drinking enough Chablis. Poor Chablis, whose name has been sullied by many a California jug wine. What is true Chablis? It is the purest expression of Chardonnay. It is NOT White Burgundy; Chablis is closer to Champagne than the Burgundies of Beaune.

2004 William Fevre Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses

This is truly Grand Cru. Awesome natural richness, length, minerality/acidity, purity. It kept changing, too; I would decant this. Flinty nose. A honeyed richness comes out after being open for an hour. This is the kind of wine that that you can ooh and ahh about from the moment you pop the cork until the last drop is poured down your throat. A couple of years in the cellar would bring this wine to perfection; it’s damn close enough now.

Unlike most Grand Cru White Burgundy, this Chablis sees precious little oak. Most Chablis producers seem to think if it’s Grand Cru (or even Premier Cru) that they have to lavish it with new oak so people will get their money’s worth. Boo! This is why sometimes the AOC Chablis is much better than Premier/Grand Cru. But from top to bottom, all of Fevre’s domaine Chablis is awesome.