Description: Powerful nose, combining aromas of citrus and white-fleshed fruit with a mineral note typical of the appellation. Rich and concentrated, the palate has remarkable freshness and length. Fourchaume Vaulorent comprises 3.63 ha of the appellation's 17 ha (climat located on the right bank of the Serein). The exact continuation of the Côte des Grands Crus. Separated by a path from Grand Cru Les Preuses. Strong and rich in minerality, this wine is one of the finest.
Robert Parker: Wine Advocate #186, Dec 2009, Reviewer David Schildknecht - The 2007 Chablis Fourchaume Vignoble de Vaulorent – from their top parcel in Vaulorent – delivers in spades the combination of fusil, chalk dust, and smoky notes that many locals relate to the smell of Kimmeridgian rock itself when broken apart. Whatever its origins, this family of what, by sheer default, can hardly be called anything but “mineral” notes combines harmoniously with luscious, bright grapefruit and lemon as well as high-toned herbal essences for a palate display uncanny in its combination of textural richness and palpable underlying extract with lift and elegance. A more savory sort of mineral character with hidden sweetness akin to raw shrimp or scallop wells up as this takes on air, and the wine’s finish positively reverberates in its oscillation of mineral and citrus, like the resonance of stone church walls after a choir has gone silent. This is bound to offer at least a decade of delicious excuses for metaphor, as well as versatility at table.
Didier Seguier and his team have managed to follow up their amazing 2006s with an equally remarkable collection of 2007s (though he insists that 6 to 9 months after bottling – when I tasted them – “is the worst time for expressing the purity of fruit”!). Harvesting here began early, on September 6 – the earliest start on record save for 2003 – but without feeling any compunction about taking one’s time, Seguier emphasized. Even so, the task was completed in 11 days, harvesting fruit of impeccable ripeness and harmonious though prominent acidity at a time when many growers were wise not to have begun yet. Without question, the rigorous sorting that all of the grapes undergo here is among the keys to the purity and the transparency to nuance of these wines. As usual at this address, even when one reaches the roughly 80% level of barrique (none, new, though) a smell or taste of wood is the farthest thing from one’s mind.
Jancis Robinson: June 09 - More pungent than the straight Fourchaume, and better depth of flavour, with a fine mineral streak through the citrus. Slight smoky reductive note. Tangy finish. Just a bit lacking on the mid palate again
Wine Spectator: Issue Oct 31, 2009 - Green plum, apple and lemon notes are enhanced by a vanilla accent. Firm and tight, with a crisp, mouthwatering finish. Elegant and structured. Best from 2012 through 2020.
–BSStephen Tanzer: July/Aug 09 by Stephen Tanzer - Pale yellow-green. Very fresh aromas of lime, powdered stone, anise and tarragon. Rich, sweet and bracing, combining excellent density and fine-grained texture with terrific cut. Most impressive today on the rising finish, which really grips and titillates the palate. Offers lovely lingering perfume. Fevre's regular Fourchaume actually comes from their 3.6-hectare plot of Vaulorent as well, but the most structured, minerally lots are reserved for this special Vaulorent bottling, with the final selection made just before the bottling.
Allen Meadows, Burghound.com, 93pts - " The barest hint of wood sets off a similar yet even more complex nose that is followed by deep, powerful and very serious broad-shouldered flavors brimming with dry extract and culminating in a dry and relatively austere finish offering enormous length. The intensity here is mind blowing and it's rare to find 1ers with this kind of heft and punch. Impressive and this should age well."
