The wines of Chablis are celebrated throughout the world, but one domaine dominates the top of all major wine connoisseurs' lists - Domaine Raveneau. Many state that Raveneau makes the finest white wines in the world, but with access to his wines being rarer than hen's teeth it is unsurprising that only the privileged few that can form their own comprehensive opinion.

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History

After combining vineyards that he had purchased with those owned by his wife's family, (she was a member of the Dauvissat wine family), the domaine was established by François Raveneau in 1948.

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François's father, Louis Raveneau had previously owned a number of parcels of land in Chablis, but had decided to sell them all off during the 1950s. At that time, Chablis was experiencing a protracted period of economic difficulties, mainly because of increased competition from wines of the Languedoc region, which severely reduced the demand for Chablis; this was made worse by the decimation of the vineyards from phylloxera, together with the interruption of wine production during World War II and the early post-war years.

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François Raveneau still saw potential for wine-growing in the region, however, and took advantage of low land prices in the 1960s and 1970s to expand the estate, including acquiring parcels in some of the Chablis Grand Cru vineyards.

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François was the first member of his family to bottle his own wine; previously the grapes produced in its vineyards had been sold to other estates.

By the 1970s Raveneau had built a good reputation for his wine within France.

He was very skeptical about exporting any of his wines. Indeed a tale often recounted is that when Kermit Lynch, a wine importer from the United States, who had tasted the wine at a Parisian restaurant, phoned the estate to try to arrange a visit at the domaine, he was informed by François that they were not interested and then hung up.

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It took a number of years to convince François to begin exporting his wine, but Lynch was eventually successful. The first Raveneau Chablis arrived in the United States in the early 1980s, giving the estate its first significant exposure outside of France.

The current proprietor of the estate is Jean-Marie Raveneau, who began working for the estate in 1978 after having studied at the Lycée Viticole de Beaune and assumed a wine making role full-time in 1984. His father François continued to work in the running of the estate until his retirement in 1988. Since 1995, Jean- Marie has been assisted by his elder brother Bernard Raveneau.

François Raveneau died in 2000.

Viticulture

The domaine owns some 9.29 hectares (22.95 acres) of land under vine in Chablis planted entirely with Chardonnay grapevines.

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Raveneau owns sections of three Chablis Grand Cru vineyards. These holdings are: 0.75 hectares (1.85 acres) in Valmur, 0.60 hectares (1.48 acres) in Blanchots and 0.54 hectares (1.34 acres) in Les Clos.

In addition to these, Raveneau also owns parcels within six Chablis Premier Cru vineyards . The largest holding is that of Montée de Tonnerre, at 3.20 hectares (7.9 acres), followed by 1.50 hectares (3.7 acres) at Butteaux. The other four smaller parcels are Foret with 0.60 hectares (1.48 acres), Vaillons with 0.50 hectares (1.24 acres), Montsmains with 0.35 hectares (0.86 acres) and Chapelot with 0.30 hectares (0.74 acres).

A 0.95 hectare (2.35 acres) parcel of village land classified Chablis, on the opposite side of the Vaillons slope, was planted recently in 2003.

All of Chablis' Grand Cru vineyards and many of their better Premier Cru vineyards are planted in soil that is composed of limestone, clay and tiny fossilized oyster shells (Kimmeridgean soil) which is believed to impart more finesse and structure to the wines of the area. Additionally, these vineyards are planted on a south west facing valley slope that receives the maximum amount of sun exposure, located just north of the town of Chablis, along the valley of the River Serein as it flows onward into the River Yonne.

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The grapes are harvested entirely by hand, Raveneau being one of only five estates in Chablis to retain this method.

The wines are fermented in stainless steel and then aged in barrels with an average age of seven to eight years, for less than 12 months. No new oak barrels are used to make the wines.

Prior to bottling, the wine undergoes a fining process, but is not significantly filtered.

Contact details

• Address: Domaine Raveneau, 89800 Chablis France

• Telephone: +33 (0) 3 86 42 17 46

• Fax: +33 (0) 3 86 42 45 55

• Internet: N/A

References

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chablis_wine

• http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/a200808193.html

• http://www.thewinedoctor.com/regionalguides/burgundypart05.shtml

• http://www.terroir-france.com/region/burgundy_chablis.htm

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domaine_Raveneau

• http://www.corkbuzz.com/1/region/burgundy/winery-profile-domaine- francois-raveneau/

• http://kermitlynch.com/files/DOMAINE%20RAVENEAU.pdf

• http://www.decanter.com/wine/producers/Domaine-Francoise-et-Jean-Marie-Raveneau/25770

About the author

Philip Day is an early-retired academic in linguistics who has published many articles.

A North-Midlander (The Potteries) by birth, he currently lives close to the Lancashire Pennines which he regularly explores with his Patterdale terrier, Max.

In particular he has a keen interest in European fine wines and good food and will be contributing further articles in the future for Escapement.uk.com.