Sunday Lunch with Raveneau Chablis and Chave Hermitage

Well, one of our most generous friends decided that it was high time for a celebratory meal featuring two of his favorite producers. Who were we to object?

The red wines were all opened and double decanted 4 to 5 hours before they were served, while the whites (with the exception of the dessert wine) received a couple of hours of air before being poured. Everything was tasted in unblinded flights, and a light lunch was served after the 2 Chablis flights. As you can see below, the Chave wines were divided into 2 flights that were roughly sorted out by growing conditions.

• 2007 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Cuvée Nicolas François

  France, Champagne

  Magnum. Yellow, moderate bead. Medium weight, just off dry. Bitter citrus, vanilla, and real creaminess. Second time I've had this; excellent on both occasions.

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• 2010 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Valmur

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru

  Pale greenish yellow. Powerful, almost spirity aromas with brothiness and pear. Medium weight, not the biggest wine but gains volume as it warms. Real ripeness and sweeter fruit underneath, but this gives way to fine acidity and a tight, taut finish. The Raveneau wood and hazelwood are on display as it opens. Still quite youthful.

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• 2004 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Valmur

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru

  Pale, hay colored. More subdued aromas of lemon and smoke. Lighter weight and less packed than the 2010. Mineral and lemony although a bit of beeswax as well. Linear finish, high acidity. Tart, young, imploded, and bristling with potential. Amazingly unevolved but potentially a classic.

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• 2001 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Valmur

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru

  Healthy yellow color. A weird but highly aromatic mix of honey and grapefruit. As odd as it sounds, the nose reminded me more of Riesling or Sauvignon than Chablis. By far the roundest, most glycerine wine of the flight. A touch of exotic fruit (pineapple), then driving acidity and real soil. The juxtaposition of all of these elements was jarring, and they have certainly not integrated at 21 years of age. A crazy quilt, as atypical as the 2004 is classic.

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• 1995 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Valmur

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru

  Medium yellow. The only Raveneau to show any sulfur today, but also bruised apple, pear, incense, and spice on the nose-quite an aromatic smorgasbord. Dry. Incredibly silky mouth feel and volume although not quite the scale of the 2001. Shockingly fresh, great acidity for a 1995, and a long, stony finish. It has been a long time since I've had a 1995 French white Burgundy, but my recollection, this one runs circles around most of them in having much firmer, well defined structure. A real revelation in that sense.

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• 2014 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru

  Pale yellow. Herbs and bright citrus. Medium weight, no wood imprint. Discretely ripe orchard fruit and citrus on the entry, wonderful texture. Elegant, polite, poised, and long. It unfolds slowly and finishes with great soil and stoniness. Still a baby. The least powerful of the 4 vintages of Clos, but an absolute beauty that I would bet on over the long run for its finesse and sense of completeness.

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• 2005 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru

  Light yellow. Fragrant citrus, much riper than the 2014. Sweet orange attack, beautiful glycerine feel followed by rising acidity and a structured finish that is drenched in soil and leaves a feel of stone dust on the tongue. The interplay between perfectly ripe fruit and the mineral/acid elements is just thrilling, and it still has many years to go.

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• 1996 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru

  Yellow and it even retains a glint of green! Scents of citrus, secondary perfume, and the only wine with a whiff of truffled maturity. Medium weight, much more grip and less flashy feel than the 2005. Flavors of bitter citrus, broth, and herbs. I'd say this had the most Chablisien mix of all of the wines today with some of the oyster and iodine as well. Nothing sweet or excessive about it. A very great old style Chablis, and it is not fully mature either. Wow, what a privilege to taste this in all of its glory.

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• 1990 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru

  Yellow, same shade as the 1996, meaning incredible color for its age. Pear rather than citrus. Rich and regal. Rounder and more texturally alluring than the 1996 with more intense orange rind in the mouth. What feel and length! Like the 2005, its combination of perfectly ripe fruit and back end acidity is totally winning.

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• 2013 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Blanc

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Magnum. Medium yellow. Exotic aromas of ripe pear and pineapple. Full bodied but not heavy or oily. Excellent acidity, moderate soil, good length. OK, I'll never be a huge fan of Rhône whites, but this is really good.

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• 2012 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Magnum. Ruby except for faded outer 10%. Pine needles and flowers. Medium to full bodied. Stemmy, brambly black fruit with the added complexity of licorice, earth, and dark chocolate. Surprisingly flowing and ready, especially out of a large format, although it finishes with moderate ripe tannins and has some late grippiness.

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• 2011 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Deep ruby color. Aromas dominated by green notes. Medium weight, very elegant weight on the palate. Black and red fruit with a modicum of ripeness. Excellent acidity, good length. Very, very good and one of my favorites of the flight, but I found the finish to be marred by a strident underripe element that diminished the harmony of the wine.

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• 2006 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Slighter lighter ruby than the 2011. Sharp fennel on the nose. Lighter and less ripe mixed fruit than the younger wine. Drier, leaner feel and full of earth. Yes, it is quite elegant, but like several wines in this flight, it seems overbalanced toward the herbal elements rather than the fruit. I would worry about this drying out with further aging.

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• 2002 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Medium ruby. Weedy, menthol, soil filled nose. Lean feel with high acidity, some earth, and blueberry fruit. Although it improves toward the finish, the entry and mid-palate are hollow and austere. No. This has collapsed since I last tasted it six years ago.

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• 1994 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Light ruby core with browning outer third. Stemmy aromas with a whiff of ground coffee. Medium weight, fluid and elegant, good fruit/herb balance, and the acidity is lower than most of the other wines in this grouping. Chocolatey finish that is a bit short. Lovely, savory, autumnal wine that is still hanging in there but needs to be drunk. Probably better when I had it in 2016.

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• 1991 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Browning throughout. Blueberry, menthol, wintergreen, and more than a bit of VA. Medium to lighter weight. Faded blue fruit. Dry, earthy finish with excessive acidity. This vintage has gotten a lot of props recently and was wonderful when I last had it in 2008 (!), but today it was simply over the hill.

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Sadly, the 1999 which was originally included in this flight turned out to be badly corked and was not served.

• 2010 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Opaque. Powerful aromas of menthol and bitter chocolate. The biggest of all of these wines, but it still retain an amazing sense of balance and restraint. Deeply imbued sweet fruit, charcoal, and acidity, penetrating, endless finish despite a ton of drying tannins and soil. This just proves that great wines always taste great no matter how young and unready this might be. I have only wistful feelings for the lucky souls who own it and have the youth and patience to enjoy it 30 years from now when it will be approaching full maturity! Great wine.

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• 2005 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Deep ruby. Ripe, sweet fruit approaching surmaturité and perfumed green herbs on the nose. Slightly lighter weight and higher acidity than the 2010. Fabulous mixture of blueberry, soil, and other savory flavors. Drier tannins and tighter structure than the 2010, but this too is superb with the balance and bones to allow it to age for a very long time. It is not as open or immediately enjoyable as its younger sib and is probably more likely to go through periods of being shut down, but it seems like another sure thing.

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• 1995 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Dull ruby, faded edge. Red berry and secondary aromas along with aggressive fennel scents. Medium bodied. Some remaining sweet fruit and a citrus twist, but then higher acidity, lots of terroir, and it finishes lean and dry. On its downhill leg, I think. The balance and feel were not particularly pleasing.

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• 1988 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Light ruby, watery rim. Fragrant herbs and light fruit. Light weight. Supple entry with faded red fruit and orange rind. Then it turns more peppery and ends with soil and little remaining tannin. As was another bottle last year, subtle, lovely, complex, and emblematic of the Chave style. Not a "wow" wine and probably never at the qualitative level of either the 2010 or 2005 which preceded it, this is more old style and was deeply satisfying. A great way to end the skein of Chave vintages we were fortunate enough to taste today.

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• 1990 Domaine des Baumard Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru

  France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru

  Light golden. High toned and honeyed. Gorgeous Chenin Blanc texture and weight. Moderately sweet pear fruit and pineapple with fabulous balancing acidity, spiciness, and excellent length. An over performing dessert wine.

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Needless to say, this was an event that brightened up an unusual rainy September day here in the Bay Area. Many thanks to M for providing an extraordinary array of wines and the meal, and to Piccino for being a great venue with food that worked very well with these wines.

The Raveneau Grand Crus were simply magnificent with the exception of the bizarre 2001 Valmur, which we attributed to the vintage conditions rather than the winemaker. Some people might prefer the Clos over the Valmur and vice versa; I can't say from this tasting since the vintages representing the 2 wines did not overlap. Two other things were pretty striking though. First, these wines seemed immortal. None of them were completely mature, even at age 32. Second, if you wait long enough, some of the features that mark Raveneau wines early on such as the beeswax or hazelnut notes do recede, and the wines grow in Chablis character. From this sampling, it seems to take 15 years or so following the vintage for this to happen.

As for the Chave Hermitage, the wines were less consistent and the takeaway lessons were more complicated. On balance, based on this sampling and accounting for variability in older bottles, the most successful wines generally came from warmer years. I had never really thought about Chave this way, but today there were a few examples where greenness and/or high acidity overwhelmed the fruit in the wine. This is something about which I will now be aware if and when other bottles come my way. When the fruit and those other elements are in harmony, the wines can be fantastic, as the 2010 and 2005 clearly show.