2008 Domaine Raveneau Chablis Blanchot Grand Cru

Pale, green-tinged yellow. Tangy lemon oil, menthol, spices and crushed stone on the very ripe nose. Spicy, ripe and deep on the palate; fatter and broader than the premier crus here but less expressive today in spite of its ripeness and spiciness. Finishes very dry and long, with some evidence of spicy oak. This will likely need a good eight to ten years to approach maturity.

Author: Stephen Tanzer

Issue: July/August 2010

Scents of gunpowder green tea, crushed stone, ocean spray, and grapefruit rind rise from the glass of Raveneau 2008 Chablis Blanchots, which then displays a breadth and richness that one would not have anticipated from the nose. Floral perfume and alkaline, iodine, and maritime mineral notes continue on an almost custardy-rich, seamless palate and into a finish of estimable length, although the overall impression here is relatively restrained, despite the wine's amplitude and textural richness. Certainly the sense of minerality goes all the way through. I suspect this will need more time in bottle than most of its siblings to really blossom and would anticipate being rewarded for a dozen or more years.

Author: David Schildknecht