2007 Domaine Francois Raveneau Montee de Tonnerre
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Tasting notes
Healthy bright golden yellow. Smoky wet stone, oatmeal and a whiff of truffle on the nose, complicated by honey and pepper nuances; more evolved than the '08 and not a particularly fruity style. Then silky and seamless on the palate, offering surprisingly racy acidity and salty mineral grip. Not hugely complex or ripe but a pleasant surprise and showing very well. Finishes with a slightly phenolic peppery quality. This firm wine should continue to age gracefully on its acidity. Hail cut the crop dramatically in 2007: just 35 hectoliters per hectare produced.
Critic scores
David Schildknecht, Vinous
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Toasted nuts and lemon oil in the nose of the Raveneau 2007 Chablis Montee de Tonnerre (whose quantities were drastically reduced by hail) put one in mind of the Cote d’Or. But from that point on, it turns in a direction not possible anywhere other than Chablis. Honey, citrus oil, and fresh ginger reinforce an impression of bitter-sweetness on the palate, along with suggestions of musk, crustacean reduction, and brine. This finishes with electric vivacity and implacable grip, the sharp concentration of ginger, iodine, lemon zest, and white pepper creating a memorable sense of vibrancy. One should be able to marvel at this for 10-12 years. Bernard Raveneau views his bright, mineral-inflected 2007s – picked from September 10-16 – as potentially richer versions of 2004, since the former, he indicates, have gained in textural allure during their elevage. That also explains why he did not plan to bottle most of these 2007s until late spring or summer, and I have accordingly not tasted them since bottling. (Incidentally, Raveneau is very excited and intrigued by his 2008s, wines with an effusion of floral and herbal youthful aromatics that he says he has never before encountered, but whose finished results he speculated might combine aspects of 2006 and 2007.) Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel (510) 524-1524
(the crop was cut in half by hail) Pale color. Closed nose hints at honey. Then surprisingly incisive and classic on the palate, with terrific citric cut and firm minerality; not a fleshy style but not hard either. In fact, this is surprisingly showy and perfumed now. Still, five or six years in the bottle should bring greater complexity.
(just a half-crop made due to hail) Medium yellow color. Honey, fresh herbs and a peppery note on the nose. Chewy and tactile, with a suggestion of orange and less obvious minerality and refinement than the Butteaux. Fresh and dry on the back end, with suggestions of orange zest and rocks and a lightly phenolic character. The Raveneaus did a fining at the outset, and a longer debourbage, as these hail-affected vines were more vulnerable to rot following the August rains.