What makes a King?

Perhaps the vineyards of two great winemaking families in Chablis would do - at least Domaine Raveneau seems to prove that to be the case in the hallowed realms of white Burgundy!

This Is Domaine Raveneau: A Brief History

Domaine Raveneau was established in 1948 by François Raveneau, where he had combined the vineyards that he had acquired with that of his wife's, none other than the Dauvissat's. And if this alone was able to create a formidable domaine - one essentially fully staffed with Grand Cru and Premier Cru vineyards, even if most parcels are incredibly small (smaller than the size of a suburban house) - imagine how much more magnificent the domaine would have been had François's father not sold off most of the family's prime parcels!

Chablis.

Nevertheless times were tough, and it was ultimately the same hardship that both rattled the elder Raveneau yet gave opportunity to the younger Raveneau.

The region of Chablis, nestled between Champagne to its north and Burgundy to its south, is best known for its Chardonnay based white wines, which do well in the clay and chalk rich limestone soils (that's technically known as Kimmeridgian), giving them good structure, ageing potential and also minerality, producing wines that are waxy, honeyed, fruity and rich. Chablis had long been popular, yet following World War II, the region was struck by phylloxera, faced disuse during the wars, and faced slow demand for its wines as a result of the American Great Depression. It was once favoured for its direct proximity to Paris via the river, yet an increasingly developed rail network meant more competition from other regions such as the more southern Languedoc region. That's all not to mention the region's inherent difficult growing seasons, with harsh winters and spring frosts that are a constant struggle for growers trying to get their fruit to ripeness. 

This all led to Raveneau senior progressively selling the family's vineyards through the 1940's and 1950's. Yet by the 1960's and 1970's, with Chablis completely forgotten, it had presented a chance for François Raveneau to get back in the game. He was convinced of Chablis' potential and would start picking up parcel after parcel. His marriage to his wife of the Dauvissat family too would bequeath upon the couple several more prized lots, together securing some 10 hectares of land across 3 Grand Crus and 6 Premier Crus.

Bring Some Cote d'Or Magic To Chablis

With his Domaine established, François would begin to work his magic. Focused on significantly older vines that produce more concentrated fruits, he would heavily prune them in winter to reduce yields, and then hand harvest them - just one of only five estates in Chablis to do so. François would also be the first of his family to bottle his own wines, where the family would previously sell their fruit to collectives - this of course allowed François to establish the Raveneau brand.

And thus after harvesting the fruit, François would make pioneering use of Cote d'Or winemaking in the cellars - barrel fermentation, no new oak, extended lees contact, and then aged for over a year in small 7-8 year old oak barrels called feuillettes. This prevents any interference from the wood, allowing the wines to present themselves naturally, gently opening the wine through its elevage, and at the same time allows for gentle oxidation that rounds out the wines' acidity and further concentrates its aromas and creates a lush creaminess.

Going Beyond Chablis And Into The World

Into the 1970's, the Raveneau reputation as a stellar Chablis producer was widely acknowledged, leading to famed American wine importer Kermit Lynch being particularly interested in bringing their wines into America. Lynch had tasted the wine at the Taillevent restaurant in Paris and had been rumoured to have phoned the estate trying to arrange a visit, and much to his surprise, was instead informed by François that there was no interest on his end - imagine Lynch's surprise given the numerous winemakers bending head over hills to get on his distribution! This made Lynch all the more persistent, and after several years of convincing François to agree to exporting his wines, Lynch had finally succeeded, and by the early 1980's Lynch was able to give Raveneau its grand international debut.

The next generation of Raveneau's, Maxime and Isabelle.

François would eventually hand his estate to his sons Bernard and Jean-Marie, who would continue to stay close to the family's winemaking traditions, albeit with subtle improvements that ensured the wines' consistency. Under their watch, the Raveneau name has continued to flourish in Chablis. They've since been joined by Bernard's daughter, Isabelle, and Jean-Marie's son, Maxime.

Today we're going to try the most classic of Domaine Raveneau - this is the Premier Cru Montee de Tonnerre, that's 100% Chardonnay coming from the Montee de Tonnerre single vineyard. Let's give this a go!

Wine Review: Domaine Raveneau Chablis 1er Premier Cru Montee de Tonnerre

Tasting Notes 

Colour: Straw

Aroma: Really fresh bouquet of bright orchard fruits and white florals. It's gentle yet evocative and entirely rich and powerful. Apples, pears, some sweet lemons on the top, along with some brioche and butter, alittle bit of marzipan and dough as well. There's also some oyster shell minerality here, and just a slight bit of flint smoke. There's a slight barnyard funkiness to it of hay and animal hide.

Taste: The freshness persists to the palate. It starts off with a good scoop of honey, yet crisp, with just a slight acidity to the otherwise sweeter and richer silkiness. More on sweet lemons, apples and pears, there's a more prominent salinity here too, with again that wet stone minerality. It's juicy, rich and almost has a glistening quality to it, cordial like, with a nice fullness to it. There's a slight herbaceousness to it as well.

Finish: The fruits extend through the long finish, here it's more focused on the pears, with a slight pepperiness. It's quite mineral driven too with more on wet concrete.

My Thoughts

Very enjoyable Chablis! This has great concentration and power, it's very rich with an overall sweeter and more fruity and mineral profile. It's vibrant and fresh, with no loss of density throughout, and has a very nice glistening quality to its body.

On the nose, it starts off gentle but yet has a firm richness to it that keeps it evocative and fresh, almost with that rustic purity. It has a very interesting bit of breadiness or doughiness at the core that gives a deep chewy sweetness. The acidity here is quite gentle, and not zingy, although it is definitely apparent, this one doesn't slice the tongue.

The palate was impeccably fresh, leaning towards more sweetness, and was very much like its nose with less of that oxidative quality. It's again fruity and mineral driven, and has a wonderful body to it. The finish too was long and powerful.

I find this Chablis from Raveneau to be incredibly rich, complex and also very balanced. It's never too much of one thing, but brings together cohesively numerous things altogether.

Kanpai!

@111hotpot