Wine Advisor
Raveneau, Chablis Grand Cru Valmur 2023
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Kristaps Karklins
The 2023 Chablis Grand Cru Valmur, derived from a steep, south-facing site, is showing superbly and is one of the wines of the vintage. With more mid-palate amplitude than any other wine in the range, it soars from the glass with a bouquet of extraordinary complexity, featuring notes of iodine, acacia, grapefruit zest and oyster shell. Isabelle Raveneau explains that the parcel is like a small natural amphitheater, and work is mostly done in the mornings since it’s too hot to work there during the day. On the palate, the wine is deep, full-bodied and multifaceted, with incredible concentration, tangy acidity and striking intensity, finishing with a long, saline aftertaste. Both more tensile and slightly more linear than the dramatic Clos that followed it, this is a brilliant Valmur.
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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