2011 Chablis Valmur
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Tasting notes
The 2011 Chablis Grand Cru Valmur is excellent, unfurling in the decanter and glass with notes of confit lemon, citrus zest, fresh pastry and a light framing of reduction. On the palate, it's full-bodied, multidimensional and substantial, with this cuvée's characteristic marriage of texture, concentration and focus, concluding with a long finish. Along with the Clos, Valmur is always Raveneau's most backward wine, but in the precocious 2011 vintage it can already be approached with pleasure. Those seeking to catch it at its peak, however, should wait another 4 or 5 years and follow it for a further 10.
Critic scores
Average Score
Allen Meadows, Burghound
Neal Martin
More reviews and scores
If served blind it would be almost impossible to mistake this for anything other than Chablis with its sea breeze, iodine, green fruit and lemon rind suffused nose. The supple yet precise medium-bodied flavors are a study in restraint with their cool minerality and wonderful sense of underlying tension. This is more powerful but also more focused presently than the Blanchot plus the finish is ever-so-slightly more persistent as well. A textbook Valmur.
The 2011 Chablis Valmur continues along the themes set by the Blanchot. Here, too, the flavors are broad and expansive, but there is a little more nuance, detail and mineral cut, all of which help convey energy and drive allied to richness. Constantly changing in the glass, the Valmur takes on more feminine shades of nuance with air. (AG)
Ripe pineapple, grapefruit and mineral aromas convey a stronger impression of energy than the Blanchots today. Rich, broad and large-scaled but youthfully backward, with excellent intensity to the flavors of ripe apple, citrus peel and flowers. Finishes stylish and quite dry, with a subtle whiplash of fruit. Lots of potential here.