2008 Chablis

The second annual Raveneau village wine, his 2008 Chablis combines vivid, irresistibly mouth-watering aromas of pink grapefruit, blood orange, quince, jasmine, and nut oils in a manner that put me in mind already last year of a great youthful Vouvray. (This was not the only Raveneau 2008 to have at age 6 months reminded me – or him – of wine from a different region and grape.) Succulent and rich; polished in mouth-feel; yet with a vivacious exuberance to match its outgoing aromas, this finishes with cleansing refreshment and an uncanny length and sense of lift. To say that it transcends its appellation does not remotely do justice to this wine from young vines of Raveneau’s own selection massale growing near Montmains. Raveneau comments that while he harvested these vines in the first half of October along with his premier crus, it appears as though the inherent risk is going to be a wine of too much richness! Who knows how this will age, though intuition suggests very well for at least 4-6 years. 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