Raveneau, Chablis Grand Cru Blanchots 2006

robert_parker95

Reviewed by: David Schildknecht

Raveneau’s 2006 Chablis Blanchots – from some of the estate’s oldest vines – represents a jump in quality, and not just on account of its expected richness, but also for its clarity, satiny textural allure, flavor diversity, and sheer concentration. Brown-spiced apple, apricot, toasted nuts, meat stock, and tactile chalky minerality mingle in a complex colloquy, and for all of this wine’s opulence, the persistence of mineral dimensions it exhibits is extraordinary. I would expect this to reward at least 10-12 year’s aging. Bernard Raveneau is an unabashed partisan of his 2005s – and no wonder, based on the subset of those that I tasted, including a magnificent Valmur which he rightly terms “complete” and “close to his ideal.” Raveneau is less effusive in praise of his 2006s – each of which I tasted from a selection of barrels – opining that lavish fruit and richness are precisely this collection’s fortes. I think he underestimates the depth of his own 2006s, and only hope I have opportunity to revisit some of them in five or ten years. Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 524-1524