Domaine François Raveneau - 2018 Vintage Preview
17 July 2019

Isabelle Raveneau hired 33% more harvest helpers to bring in her 2018 crop. For the first time since 2011, her cellar was full; the domaine's full yield potential was reached. Moreover, she called the grapes "excellent", and Isabelle is not one to embellish.

In contrasting the heat of 2018 to 2003, she said that the 2018 grapes had more juice in them and that the 2018s have better drinkability. Recalling 2011 again, she mentioned that the pH and acidity of the grapes were comparable to 2011, another relatively warm year with a rather abundant crop.

Vintages 2003 and 2011 in Chablis are not ones that have received lavish praise, and in my view 2018 shouldn't either. However, there is room for selective raving in any vintage, and that I can do for the Raveneau wines - as would be expected. Neither the warmth of the vintage nor the house style marked the wines as much as their terroirs. In a region as distinctly diverse in terroir and as laser-focused on a single variety as Chablis, I always find that thrilling. These finely-tuned wines are already enticing, and I look forward to a second look at them, as Isabelle usually very kindly arranges, when I return this summer. (The wines below are listed in the order of tasting.)

90
Petit Chablis 2018
This is the fifth vintage of Petit Chablis chez Raveneau. Though planted only in 2010, this young vine fruit already makes very grown-up wine. Hailing from just above the Vaudésir Grand Cru, the terroir (just under a hectare) is flat, windy and rocky. This vinous 2018 shows an impressive lanolin-like smoothness and supple concentration on the attack that is nicely contrasted by a waxy texture on the back palate. Mirabelles and flax linger into the finish. I can't imagine that I'd call this a Petit Chablis if I tasted it blind.
Drink: 2020-23 

91
Chablis 2018
Beautifully delineated with fine and taut acidity, this nicely sappy wine is sourced from the backside of Montmains Premier Cru, which also is to say that the vines look north-northwest at Vaillons Premier Cru. Showing freshly cut apple and spice, there is an enticing, lifting note of mint, too. Stony notes turn up on the polished finish.
Drink: 2020-24 

92
Chablis Forêt PC 2018
This medium-bodied Forêt nicely contrasts its briskly fresh vivacity with a sinewy extract. The combination delivers bite with density. The overt aromas of freshly sliced orchard fruit sing through the lingering, seashell-tinged finish. There's not even a twinge of new oak influence to be found. This comes from two, 30 to 35-year-old plots, one in the center of Les Forêt and one towards the back of the valley further down on the slope. 
Drink: 2020-26 

93
Chablis Montmains PC 2018
This Premier Cru feels like it is flitting about with an excited, youthful energy. This is impressive for a Premier Cru that usually shows the opulence of its sunny exposition, and this is even more true given the warmth of 2018. Smelling heady with spring's tree blooms, peaches and spice, there's an accompanying succulence in the mid-palate that brings not just the flavors but also the mouthcoating snappiness of this wine into a lingering, creamy finish.
Drink: 2020-28 

94
Chablis Vaillons PC 2018
Showcasing fruit from the heart - and actual lieu-dit - of Vaillons, with a pinch from the lieu-dit of Sécher, this wine shows a majestic intensity of fruit-driven concentration with heady, earth-driven top notes. Tasting of red apple, straw and lees, the gregariously broad palate shifts this complex mass of flavors into a compelling, long finish framed by toasted almonds.
Drink: 2020-28 

93
Chablis Butteaux PC 2018
Found on the western end of the Vaillons Valley - that is to say that it's cooler, this wine tends to be a bit more reserved and pent up. However, this 2018 shows succulence and sapidity with an almost corpulent palate. Even the flavors taste more opulent than usual with sweet yellow plums and juicy yellow apples. Still, there's the telling zip of cracked white pepper that whispers a reminder of its terroir, regardless the vintage. This is sourced from two parcels equaling almost one-and-a-half hectares.
Drink: 2020-28

94
Chablis Montée de Tonnerre PC 2018
There is a lot of Montée de Tonnerre at Raveneau between the domaine's three hectares and ten parcels. The vines' ages fall between 20 and 60 years. This tremendous diversity makes for a terrific cuvée, and the 2018 Montée de Tonnerre will benefit from more time to display its come-hither qualities. Yet, even today, its reserved nose gives way to a dazzling palate of bruised apples, apricot core and savory spice. There is an underlying zing of tension that escalates all of the flavors into a long finish.
Drink: 2020-29 

95
Chablis Valmur GC 2018
This Grand Cru ignites the nose with fresh floral tones, a touch of leafiness and oodles of citrus peel zestiness. Sassy acidity invigorates the full-ish bodied and creamy palate. Minerally notes of struck flint persistently reverberate across the palate. There is an appealing, come-hither succulence that is hard to resist, but there is also a magnitude of potential that promises much more greatness to come. 
Drink: 2020-30

95
Chablis Blanchots GC 2018
This is one of my favorite Raveneau wines because it is always laser-focused and bursting with brightness. This is due in good part to the altitude of the vines - at the top of the Blanchots slope - and their southeast exposition. Teeming with spring flowers, donut peach and white tea, this is a delicate yet powerful Grand Cru expression that demands full attention to be properly appreciated. Tasting of Comice pears and apple flesh, the zingy but finessed acidity makes for a finessed mouthfeel and extracts from the wine a long, bewitching finish.
Drink: 2020-33 

95
Chablis Les Clos GC 2018
Hailing from heart of this historically grandest of Grand Crus, the Raveneaus farm only 50 ares. So, if you're hopeful to find a bottle, you'd better look for it in a plentiful vintage like 2018! This one is - highly unusually for Les Clos, which tends to take upwards of a decade to soften up - already rather lovely. Its nose is aromatically reserved, but the palate is far more forth-coming with lavish ripe apple, nectarine, heady spice and sweet grain flavors driving right into an ethereal, long finish with an almost naughty, contrasting and moreish saltiness. 
Drink: 2020-34