2024 William Fevre Chablis Champs Royaux, Burgundy

William Fèvre is one of the great names of Chablis, established in 1959 when William declared his first vintage from family vineyards. The domaine grew to hold an enviable collection of Premier and Grand Cru sites and became a reference point for the region. Champs Royaux is the gateway to that pedigree, made with the same focus on freshness and unmistakable Chablis character as the more exalted bottlings.

Fruit is drawn from vineyards across the Chablis appellation, planted on the limestone rich soils that give the region its distinctive mineral edge. The 2024 season was cool and demanding, with rain and mildew dramatically reducing yields, but careful growers produced wines with excellent acidity and classical shape. For Champs Royaux, that means less tropical generosity and more citrus, orchard fruit and stony freshness, which suits the style beautifully.

Pale straw with green flashes. Lemon zest, green apple and white peach lead the nose, joined by grapefruit, white flowers and a faint fennel note. Crushed chalk and oyster shell sit quietly underneath. The palate is crisp and finely textured, with citrus and apple carried by bright acidity before preserved lemon, fresh almond and a subtle saline character take over on the clean, dry finish.

Oysters with nothing more than lemon would be bang on, alongside salt and pepper squid, steamed snapper with ginger, crab and zucchini linguine or asparagus with brown butter and almonds. Our pick is the squid, hot and crisp with plenty of lemon alongside a properly cold bottle.

Cellaring: Drink now to 2032.