William Fevre Les Clos Domaine 2011 (1.5L)

94 AM / 94 WA / 92+ VM

As it was from cask last year this remains quite closed but aggressive swirling liberates ripe aromas of sea breeze, pear, lemon rind, oyster shell and mineral reduction plus an abundance of typical floral scents. The large-scaled flavors are overtly powerful and impressively concentrated as there is plenty of palate staining dry extract that also buffers the very firm acidity that supports and shapes the gorgeously precise finish. This explosively long effort possesses exquisite balance and the tightly wound flavors are going to need at least 5 to 7 years of bottle age to really flesh out and blossom. This is also a knock-out. Allen Meadows, Burghound

The Fevre 2011 Les Clos represents another vivid contrast with a corresponding 2012. The intensity of attack and grip of the latter are replaced here by mineral and herbal complexity that sneak up on your nose and a palate notable for its delicacy, transparency and lift. True, you could say that this is looser than the 2012, but thats a judgment relative to a rather extreme exemplar of the latter vintage. Harmonious ripeness of white peach and citrus is shot-through with saliva-inducing oyster liqueur, incorporating shimmering suggestions of things saline, alkaline, seaweed-like and stony. David Schildknecht, Wine Advocate

Good pale, green-tinged yellow. Reticent aromas of lemon oil, white pepper and powdered stone. Minerally and powerful, conveying a strong impression of dry extract. The most withdrawn and imploded of these 2012s today, this seems much less marked by the vintage. A bit inscrutable at present, this very young wine will need a good decade in the bottle to express itself fully. Stephen Tanzer, Vinous Media