2009 Chablis Valmur
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Tasting Notes
The 2009 Chablis Valmur is quite closed. There is plenty of power in the glass, but not much else. Today the Valmur isn’t showing much. It is the only 2009 that appears to be showing the ill effects of its recent bottling. This will be an interesting bottle to re-visit in another 6-12 months. Bernard Raveneau provides unusual perspective with regards to the 2010s. While most of his colleagues talk about a vintage with high acidity, Raveneau points out that the 2010s are actually low in acidity relative to the wines Chablis produced in the 1970s and 1980s. Yields in 2010 were 20% lower than in 2009. The vineyards on the right bank were affected by the irregular flowering, while the vineyards on the left bank were hit by hail in July. August was warm until the end of the month, when rain became a bit of an issue. Raveneau began harvesting the 2010s on September 22, while the 2009s were brought in beginning on September 14. The 2009s were bottled two weeks before my visit. These are two thrilling collections from one of the village’s uncontested superstars. Aug 2011, www.robertparker.com, Drink: 2014-2024
Critic Scores
Average Score
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
John Gilman, View From The Cellar
More reviews and scores
Valmur, with its southern exposure, is a slightly riper wine in 2009 than the Blanchots, but it does not lose any of its superb signature of soil in the more generous and complex aspects of its beautiful fruit tones. The nose offers up a complex and very pure blend of pears, peaches, lemon, a touch of orange, stony minerality and spring flowers. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and very pure and complex on the attack, with a rock solid core of fruit, a fine base of minerality, brisk acids and outstanding focus and grip on the very, very long finish. Today this wine is a tad more fruit-driven than the Blanchots, but there is such great mineral drive on the backend that I have to expect that this wine will lose some of its exuberance of fruit with a few years bottle age and offer up a classic Raveneau Valmur profile. A dynamite bottle. Nov 2010, www.viewfromthecellar.com, Drink: 2017-2045
(with thanks to Alex Goldstein and opened from personal storage). This remains a very young wine with its expressive nose of fresh, cool and restrained green fruit, sea breeze and wet stone aromas that don't display the mild over ripeness of many 2009 Chablis. There is fine detail to the mineral-inflected flavours that culminate in an impeccably well-balanced and gorgeously persistent finish that possesses a lovely sense of harmony. There is a real sense of energy and this is still very much on the way up. I have added one year to my estimated drinking window and this should be one of the best wines of the 2009 vintage. Aug 2013, www.burghound.com, Drink: 2017+
Pale yellow. Sexy nose combines wet stone, citrus fruits and peppery herbs. Fat, rich and sweet, conveying an impression of serious volume without weight. Turns drier and more classic on the back end, finishing broad but quite backward. This will need several years of additional bottle aging. Jul 2011, www.vinous.com
About the producer
The domaine was established in 1948 and today consists of 10 hectares, predominantly made up of Premier Cru and Grand Cru plots. The domaine started producing a Village Chablis in 2007 and a Petit Chablis from 2014 onwards.