Tag Archives: Francois Raveneau

Raveneau’s Grand Cru Blanchot 2009

Down by the river with #raveneau #grandcru #blanchot #chablis @lafolieauxerre #2009 #francoisraveneau #thankful

Down by the river with #raveneau #grandcru #blanchot #chablis @lafolieauxerre #2009 #francoisraveneau #thankful

A week crawling through Chablis is blissful beyond imagination. Though 2016 has been and will always be the most challenging and complicated in recorded recent history, Chablis will survive and its ethos will persist. I will be penning a chilliad of Chablis thoughts, memories and tasting notes in the coming months, but for now there is Raveneau.

The peerless Kermit Lynch has referred to Domaine François Raveneau as “the most sublime and the most celebrated estate of Chablis.” Production is minuscule, quality at the apex of the Chablis psyche and availability rare as endangered species.

Dinner at Auxerre’s Restaurant Le Folie was accompanied by a Raveneau rarity, the Grand Cru Blanchot 2009. On this I wrote my note.

Domaine François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Blanchot 2009, Burgundy, France

It would be misleading to address Raveneau’s Blanchot as chardonnay even as we know it as such because Raveneau produces wines as unique as door keys. They are so inimitable and each will only open the gate to its own unique perception. Blanchot is the southernmost of the seven Chablis Grand Cru climats and blankets the southeastern side of Les Clos. The Raveneau narration does not convey the notion of manifest feeling but instead splits the axiomatic atom of the climat. A sip and you are inside the Blanchot, gliding and passing through rock as if you are the ethereal and the wine is the solid foundation of thought, pathos and avowal. There are aromas that combine citrus and umami with a sweetness that can’t be denied or defined. The wine is just a child, complex, shy and yet unable to express both its meaning and power. But you try to get inside its head, stumbling over kimmeridgian rock replete with the smithereen-crushed shells of ancient fossils. This is a calm young Blanchot and you melt away while under its spell. Three more years should render its hidden meaning. Drink 2019-2034.  Tasted July 2016.

Singular setting. Diversified flavours. In a word, merveilleux. @LaFolieAuxerre #julienmartinat #auxerre

Singular setting. Diversified flavours. In a word, merveilleux. @LaFolieAuxerre #julienmartinat #auxerre

Good to go!

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WineAlign

Burgundy crush course: Get your learn on

Crush Wine Bar

by featured writer Jascha Baraness

Dinner at Crush Wine Bar

455 King Street West,  Toronto, (416) 977-1234

Executive Chef: Trista Sheen

http://blogs.canada.com/2012/05/30/burgundy-crush-course-get-your-learn-on/

It had been many months since my last ‘producer specific’ wine dinner, so I took it upon myself to organize a sequel. Focused around the wines of the two great Chablis producers Francois Raveneau and Vincent Dauvissat; we called it the Ravissat dinner. 

There was a second theme for the evening too, much less specific however, Red Burgundy.

We started the evening with one of the world’s most misunderstood wines, a Chateau Chalon’s Vin Jaune, which paired perfectly with a decadent charcuterie board.

Dinner itself was of a slightly modified menu prepared for a Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin by Chef Sheen. Given our white and red themes for the evening, chef’s creations were extremely appropriate.

The Chablis:

2009 Domaine Adhémar et Francis Boudin Chablis 1er Cru L’Homme Mort

2006 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis 1er Cru Fourchaume

2008 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis 1er Cru La Forest  (flawed)

2004 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons

2003 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux  (corked)

2004 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux

2005 Simonnet-Febvre Chablis Grand Cru Les  Preuses

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was nice to have such a range of different styles from the same region.  Equally impressive were the Ravissat wines (at least those that were sound).  They’re made to such a high standard that tasted blind, their 1er cru wines could easily be mistaken for Grand cru.  With tremendous fruit density, complexity and incredibly low yields usually reserved for the Grand cru vineyards, these wines showed poise and finesse that other producers just can’t match.

In my humble opinion, best in show was the 2004 Butteaux from Raveneau which made me want to kick everyone out of the restaurant so that I could be alone with the wine.  Breathtaking.

The reds followed:

2006 Domaine de Montille Beaune 1er Cru Les Perrières

2004 Domaine de Courcel Pommard 1er Cru Grand Clos des Épenots

2004 Bouchard Père et Fils Volnay 1er Cru Caillerets Ancienne Cuvée Carnot

2002 Domaine Ghislaine Barthod / Barthod-Noëllat Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Cras

2002 Louis Latour Corton-Grancey

1996 Domaine Bruno Clavelier Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts Vieilles (corked)

1999 Domaine Humbert Frères Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Craipillot 

All wines showed exceptionally well.  The Clavelier being the most anticipated and the biggest letdown (corked).  Once again, in my humble opinion the best red in show was the Barthod, Les Cras (which was my red contribution to the evening – and a little redemption since my Dauvissat had been flawed).

We finished the evening with a lovely sweet one.

1994 Dr. Fischer Ockfener Bockstein Riesling Beerenauslese (Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer)

The wine wasn’t quite showing the vibrancy that we had expected, but then again it may have been palate fatigue.

All in all, a lovely dinner with great friends and a great lesson in the importance of buying producer specific wines in Chablis and Burgundy.