WTN: terrific Fèvre

I bought a black winter truffle this weekend and made risotto for two, and we decided to open a William Fèvre 2002 Chablis Grand Cru "Les Preuses." I had a bottle of Les Clos on deck in case of pox, and a bottle of aged Châteauneuf Blanc batting third in case of double-pox -- but the Preuses was a walk-off homer (sorry, sorry, but pitchers and catchers report in 22 days). Limpid light straw, gentle citrus-flower and honey nose, great interplay on the palate between flinty sharpness and waxy, mushroomy richness; long and complex. And the truffle seems to turn the volume on the wine up to 11. This isn't in decline, and could still develop, but I have no regrets at all about opening it now, and the pairing was sublime.

[David M. Bueker]

Lucky you. 2002 is the poster child for pox at Fèvre.

Yeah, I'm aware. I opened one of these a year and a half ago and it was DOA. This was my last bottle of Preuses, and I think the Clos is my last as well. Crossing my fingers but not holding my breath...

[David M. Bueker]

A little story about Fèvre and the 2002 pox problem. The 2002 Fèvre Bougros Cote de Bouguerots was the wine I was drinking (in my hotel room, which I had retreated to in the 6th inning...it's only weird if it doesn't work) the night the Boston Red Sox sealed their World Series victory in 2004 against the Cardinals. I knew nothing about premox at the time, and so ordered six of that wine to drink over several years to toast that championship.

The first of those six was opened for opening day, 2005 with other Sox fans. Gorgeous bottle.

The remaining five were all poxed. I opened the last one after the 2007 World Series victory, hoping it might be good. Dead and gone. The bottles went off that quickly.

Wow. That's remarkable. I wasn't tasting Chablis of that vintage or era with enough frequency to have witnessed the suddenness of the change. I'm still really, really reluctant to spend much $ on GC Chablis (or indeed other white Burg) with an eye to aging... which is a shame, because when it's like this, it sweeps me off my feet.

And thanks for keeping the baseball connection going. I'm still enough of a Boston fan to forego any "Pox on Sox" jokes (though I'm also a Red Hot Chili Peppers fan, so...).

" great interplay on the palate between flinty sharpness and waxy, mushroomy richness; long and complex. And the truffle seems to turn the volume on the wine up to 11."

Just so. That is the most remarkable moment in a great wine, when it turns up the power----and I mean power. Electricity. Nervosite'.---in response to and in symphony with the food.

It's that triple-lagniappe of wine, food and the synthesis of wine:food that keeps us loyal to the fruit of the vine.