2008 Chablis Foret

The Raveneau 2008 Chablis La Foret – like his village wine, from young vines – displays a vintage-typical aromatic medley of iris, grapefruit, sage, green tea, white currant, and crushed stone. (Here, the exuberant 6 month old wine’s nose reminded me of Sancerre.) Firm in feel, palpably extract-rich and persistently bright, this cuvee’s fresh citrus, herbs, and lingering stoniness provided a rather 2007-like sense of cool restraint that contrasts with the sheer forwardness of its aromas. I suspect that it will reward those with a few years of patience and perform well for the better part of a decade. Bernard Raveneau had been among those growers most bursting with enthusiasm about his 2008s when I had visited the following April, likening them to 1996s but with effusively floral and high-toned herbal aromatics such as he said he had never experienced in his young wines. As with the 2007s (and compared with 2009s that Raveneau expected to give shorter elevage), the collection here was bottled largely in late spring and early summer, only two wines having been bottled when I tasted them this April. (The others were in tank or pre-assembled for me.) But it was already clear by then that this collection has justified its author’s initial excitement and confidence. Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 524-1524