Founded in 1840, Maison Simonnet-Febvre is a traditional Chablis winery and amongst the oldest in the area. Today Simonnet-Febvre produces a wide range of wines expressing the different terroirs of the Chablis and Grand Auxerrois vineyards.
History
In 1840, Jean Febvre, a cooper from Montbard, bought Tisserand, a wine merchant company, and then specialized in the making of Sparkling Chablis, the ancester of our present Crémant de Bourgogne. Married to the daughter of a broker named Forgeot, the company became Febvre-Forgeot.
The company grew in the 19th century under the leadership of four successive generations. Melanie, daughter of Jean Febvre married Amedee Simonnet, they developped the company together. In 1894, with the death of Mr. Febvre, Febvre-Forgeot changed its name for the benefit of the person who would take the reins and thus became Simonnet-Febvre. Then their two sons, Georges and Camille, took over the business and gave it a significant push with their progressive vision. Modernization of facilities, building of the winery and loading dock, installation of electricity and telephone. These improvements went hand in hand with increasing national and export sales of sparkling Chablis along with still white wines from Chablis coming from Simonnet-Febvre's domaine. Georges will be succeeded by Pierre and then Jean-Claude Simonnet.
Simonnet-Febvre is the only one in Chablis to perpetuate since its origin the production of sparkling wines from the traditional method - now called Crémant de Bourgogne. The grapes still come from the slopes of the Grand Auxerrois area, located a few kilometers away from the famous Chablis vineyards. Ironically, Louis Latour from the 4th generation had celebrated the purchase of the Château Corton with bottles of Sparkling Chablis from Simonnet-Febvre. These bottles were ordered on December 8th, 1891, which was 112 years before Louis Latour finally purchased Simonnet-Febvre.
The Wines
Maison Simonnet-Febvre gives birth to pure and focused wines, each and every one expressing in their own unique way their terroir with the mineral backbone typical of the wines from Northern Burgundy.
It produces a wide range of wines expressing the different terroirs of the Chablis region, from Petit Chablis to Chablis Grand Cru, and the historic Yonne vineyards all gathered under the name of the Grand Auxerrois. These vineyards, which were destroyed when the phylloxera crisis hit the area in the 19th century, have been progressively replanted and have nowadays regain their prestige.
Simonnet-Febvre is also the only one in Chablis to produce a whole range of Crémants de Bourgogne, maintaining a more than a century-old tradition.
Finally with the purchase of 15 hectares of vineyard within the Coteaux de l'Auxois vineyard, Maison Simonnet-Febvre shows it vision of both traditional and innovative viticulture in 'Greater Burgundy'.
