2016 Domaine Simonnet-Febvre Chablis Vaillons 1er cru 750 ml

Louis Latour’s Simonnet-Febvre has delivered one of the finest whites of 2016 from this soulful Premier Cru site in Vaillons, a site Burgundy expert Rajat Parr calls the “most important” Left Bank Chablis Cru. Today, we have fewer than 30 cases of this fantastic release  to share at the best price in the nation—and of course, shipping directly from Louis Latour’s pristine cellars.

And the 2016 is not to be missed: It’s a supremely vivid wine: Imagine an orchard after a cool rain, wet stones underfoot, and just-picked lemons, green apples, and pears, toasted nuts, and just a hint of wild white pepper—that’s this 2016 Vaillons in the glass, which boasts the richness and weight of the warmer vintage.  

We tasted this Vaillons in a vaulted cellar during our visit to Domaine Louis Latour, which has owned Simonnet-Febvre since 2003. Hosted by managing director Jean-Philippe Archambaud, we learned that Simonnet-Febvre was among the lucky few producers whose Vaillons vines survived the abrupt, damaging hailstorm that swept through the region—marking two years of hail that wreaked havoc on top Chablis vineyards. Showing us the span of his arms, “We missed it by this much,” he said, before filling our glasses with the silver-streaked, light-lemon-gold Vaillons. 

Wine Spectator’s former European Bureau Chief James Suckling praised the wine’s “real concentration and sophistication” in his review. Stephen Tanzer wrote that 2016s are worth cherishing, noting that wines like today’s Simonnet Febvre “appear to be more transparent to their terroirs,” in his Vinous report “Chablis 2016 & 2015: Quality Over Quantity.”  

The 2016 Simonnet-Febvre is exactly what Tanzer is talking about—it lives up to the standards of a great Vaillons with its richness and weight, but is also a wine to savor on its own, maybe alongside warm French bread, hard and soft cheese, and a hunk of honeycomb. Last year, we depleted our collection of drink-now 2015s (keeping a few “save for later” bottles deep in the cellar) because we fell in love with preparing a meal of chicken in a mustard-tarragon cream sauce. Paired with the 2016, we’ll be experiencing a repeat level of “drink now” depletion. Won’t you join us?