Wine Advisor
Raveneau, Chablis Grand Cru Blanchots 2001
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: William Kelley
Raveneau’s 2001 Chablis Grand Cru Blanchot is marked by a bit of botrytis influence this year, which lends this normally rather generous site a decidedly gourmand quality. The wine bursts from the glass with an exotic bouquet of preserved lemon, honey, tangerine oil and peach, the prelude to a textural, full-bodied and concentrated palate impression that retains unerring precision despite its somewhat atypically precocious format. This is at its peak, and now is a very good time to start pulling corks.
About the Producer
Domaine Raveneau is Chablis's finest producer. Jean Raveneau has 7 hectares of vines and produces beautifully crafted wines from three Grands Crus (Blanchot, les Clos and Valmur and four Premiers Crus (Montée de Tonnerres, les Vaillons, Butteaux and Chapelot) All the grapes are hand harvested (one of the very few remaining growers in Chablis to do so) and Jean Marie prefers to pick early rather than late, with the aim of preserving the grapes' acidities. The grapes are fermented in stainless steel vats and the wine are then aged in large oak feuilletes (the barrels have an average age of 7-8 years) for 18 months. Very low yields allied to meticulous wine making techniques are what make these wines so highly prized. They are renowned for their pure, racy minerality and rich, honeyed fruit, as well as for their ageworthiness - it would be a pity not to let them have the five to ten years in the cellar that they need to reach their sublime best.
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