TN: Taste-Off: Two Inexpensive Chablis

I picked up a 2017 Domaine William Fevre Chablis at Costco recently ($25) to try. I decided to pair it in a “taste-off” with a 2015 Domaine Laroche Chablis Saint Martin (about the same price) which I also hadn’t tried yet. Poured small glasses of each for my wife and myself to go with our weekly cheese plate and baguette “dinner”. The Fevre was the faintest pale yellow; the Laroche noticeably but only slightly richer yellow. No strong nose on either. My wife was ready to render judgement after a small sip of each, but I told her to hold off until I gave them a more rigorous and complete evaluation. It took me one small sip of each also to decide the Laroche was “meh” and the Fevre was “pretty, pretty good”. The Laroche seemed “hollow” if that makes any sense, as if there was a hole where I expected or at least hoped for some substance. It was not distasteful, but almost tasteless. No discernable fruit. Slight bitter finish. The Fevre on the other hand was a “dancer”, very light on its feet, showing bright delicious lemon fruit, nice balanced acid, a full mouthfeel. Not sure how “serious” a Chablis this might be, but it a very tasty one to me. I sense it is the type of wine that casual wine drinkers would enjoy and even the discerning among us would be pleased to have another glass. Delicious and recommended

Two more basic Chablis you may want to try are by Christian Moreau and Moreau-Naudet. I am more sure about the Moreau-Naudet wines from 2015 and before. Stephane Moreau died in August of 2016. I understand his wife is now making the wine, but I have not tried any yet.

Great value, Fevre

In this price range, I like to try the wines for as many days as possible, and watch their oxidation curves.

Most of the wines around here are only consumed at the rate of about a glass per day, so it’s imperative to find wines which don’t fall apart too quickly.

I think vintage may have trumped producer in your taste off, thanks for the note, will keep an eye out at Costco.

I’ve found several lower end 2015s are “meh” or at best easy.
With very limited exposure to 2017, I’d say Kris is right about the vintage differential.

In general at this price pont I prefer Drouhin-Voudon basic over the Laroche (these are the two standbys on the KGBO general list regularly available here). Fevre is good but not always quite as available here.

I agree that '17 is a much better vintage, but wouldn’t particularly expect '15s to be “almost tasteless.” Most of the '15s Chablis I have had has been too ripe, lacking energy, acidity and tension. Some have been good though slightly more in a Cote d’Or mold.

Michael, I wanted to reconsider my rush to judgement on the Laroche '15, in light of both your comments and also today’s “Jusse” turnaround. I am sipping another glass from the same bottle right now, and thinking “unappealing” is more appropriate than “almost tasteless”. There is a taste, but it is one that I do not recognize as a decent wine taste. Your choice of words might be better ones - the lack of “energy, acidity, and tension” definitely fit. Being “too ripe” might also apply, but it is not a taste that I know. Is it a bitter fruit attack on the palate, versus a fresh fruit sense? Anyway, thanks for your comments and observations. -Jim

Hard to say Jim although I do think bitterness can come from some grapes with overripeness. Mostly with 2015 Chablis, some examples have tasted like a decent white burgundy, but not like Chablis, while others have nearly tasted flat and lifeless, more like generic Chardonnay. But tension and vibrant acidity, overall crispness, are the things I most look for in Chablis. The ripeness of 2015, at least in the young and mostly villages wines I tried, obliterated those vibrant qualities. I did not put much money there, waiting for 2016 and 2017 instead.

Domaine Costal Chablis Les Truffieres imported by Kermit Lynch would be another to put in this group. I think that bottle and WF Champs Royeaux (a different bottle than the appellation wine above). Are the tops for village level Chablis

I’m not a particular fan of either of those wines. It seems to be generally agreed that Raveneau (which I’ve never had) and Dauvissat are the tops, but they are priced accordingly. Billaud-Simon, Pattes-Loup, Patrick Piuze, Droin, Tribut, and Louis Michel are all names I prefer to Fevre’s CR or Costal. For a similar price to the Fevre CR (which is the lesser negociant entry compared to the Domaine bottling Jim tried) I like Gilbert Picq or Chablisienne, which is a coop but still makes very good Chablis for the price.

I’ve had 1ere (montee de tonnere, vaillons, etc) from Louis Michel and Billaud-Simon but not their village chablis, nor any the others you mentioned. I would assume based on the very good examples I’ve tried that village chablis would be top notch, too. I appreciate the difference in opinion re: Costal Truffieres and Champs Royeaux, but stand by my assertion that these are good wines to compare at the $25 and under price point, having tried multiple vintages of each.

Sorry Joe, didn’t mean to suggest they wouldn’t be a good comparison. I was just responding to your statement that they “are the tops in village level chablis,” and suggesting alternative villages chablis I like. Most of those I mentioned are admittedly over $25, though I’ve found Droin and Michel 1ers and villages at under $25 from time to time, and even B-S, Tribut and Piuze villages for under but in the more distant past. IMO the Fevre CR for the sub-$20 price point is certainly a good bargain, particularly in a strong vintage, but I haven’t enjoyed the Costal wines I’ve had and sometimes feel like Lynch is pricing things higher than they should be by attaching his name.

Awesome note - thank you! Quick questions:

1. What temperature were these served at?
2. Did you note big differences at the same temp with aeration?
3. What happened when the wines got closer to room temperature?

Cheers!

The wines were first served at refrigerator temperature and a couple of small glass of each were consumed with a cheese plate over an hour or so. Only aeration and warming was what occurred after pouring into the glass, but we had a consistent preference for the Fevre bottling over that short time. We did not really notice or pay close attention to any changes taking place. I like your thinking though, and will try this with the remaining glass or so of these two wines. At the risk of biasing my “experiment”, do you have an expectation on what might take place as the wines aerate and warm a bit, Larry?

Jim,

Thanks for the feedback - and the additional questions. Truly hard to say, but my guess is that the Laroche would take on more body as it warmed closer to room temperature, but the bitterness might be enhanced, and not in a good way. The Fevre would probably ‘sing’ even more - but I would wonder how it’s texture would show since it was ‘lighter’ than the other. But this is just conjecture - and why we play the game, right?

Cheers

I was curious to taste these two wines over time a little more attentively, prompted Larry’s questions and to see what changes might occur. These wines were opened three days ago and tasted as in the TN, then vac-vined, and refrigerated. I had a small glass of each last night and the same tonight. I took a tiny sip of each wine just out of the fridge tonight and found them very similar to the original TN. I had my first real tastes with 10 minutes at room temperature. The Laroche had a slightly sour fruit bitterness touching on lemon , a bit disjointed aftertaste, and still what I called a ”hollow” taste; the Fevre was beautiful fruity lemon crispiness continuing fluidly to a brief and pleasant lemon-jolt aftertaste After 20 minutes I tasted again. The same sensations as earlier, with the Laroche still lacking in acid, energy and tension (borrowing Michael’s fitting words) and the Fevre hitting all the right notes for me, lemon even more pronounced. Would love to have this with a nice piece of fish in a lemon butter sauce. I am not a Chablis drinker (might become one), but this reminded me a bit of a good Sancerre, or at least having the same citrusy edgy energy that I enjoy in Sancerre. Maybe that is why I am so much more enjoying the Fevre. Went back to the glasses at 30 minutes and slowly finished them over a half hour or so. The Laroche seems to have lost its bitterness, has some faint fruit, but is still a bit unappealing and hollow to my taste. The Fevre seems to have calmed down a bit, all tastes still there but at lower volume not as scintillating, nicely balanced, maybe becoming more “grown up”, a wine one could actually think about a bit. I am enjoying it very much but it has become softer, not in a bad sense . I am sure that I much prefer the Fevre, but not sure which of the stages I actually prefer. Interesting. Thanks Larry.

Had a bottle of the 17 Laroche Saint Martin this weekend and it was great. Extremely crisp packed with bright citrus and white blossom.

They’re still good! And very much in the same style. 2017s showing very well a month or so ago when I visited.

St Martin is quite a big cuvée from Laroche, you would likely have better luck with the Vieille Voye bottling, especially in 2015.