Raveneau Butteaux Vertical at Vin, Vino Wine, Palo Alto, CA

Palo Alto, CA
Tasted Thursday, June 25, 2009 by danstrings with 894 views

Introduction

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Ahhh, Raveneau. Few places in the world are blessed with a VVW wine shop around the corner, where one can taste Raveneau verticals a few times a year. These Butteaux showed real well, with only the '01 raising a few eyebrows. The younger wines were more pure and clean chardonnays, the older wines more the exotic Raveneau signature. I have had several so-so experiences with '01 Chablis lately from Raveneau and Dauvissat. On their own with food they don’t stick out quite as much. But next to more balanced and silky peers the '01 looked reductive and clumsy. Hmmmm..

Flight 1 (7 Notes)

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  • 2006 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux 90 Points

    France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru

    VVW Butteaux vertical with Iron Chevsky -- Fresh and clean, the most "purely chardonnay" of the lot tonight, with lots of that up front big chard fruit on the nose. Crushed minerals, almost powdery with a touch of lychee. Clean and fresh on the palate with not much of the more exotic Raveneau development (yet). Still lovely, a classy chard. (Update: OMG, I didn’t read other reviews til I posted, and my friend Scott below and I were on the same wavelength about the pure chardonnay character. It was almost (almost) like a good CA chard in its pure fruitiness).

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  • 2005 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux 93 Points

    France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru

    VVW Butteaux vertical with Iron Chevsky -- Showing beautifully. Gorgeous silky minty seashell braced by the smells of damp depths of cave. Mellow yet ethereally balanced on the palate. Pure silk.

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  • 2004 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux 93 Points

    France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru

    VVW Butteaux vertical with Iron Chevsky -- Showing beautifully with a teeny bit more of the wild exotic Raveneau development sneaking in. A heady nose that my tasting companion called almost "yogurt like" (I can see that--minerally, thick, heady, intense), but not in a bad way. Crushed minerals, stone fruit, chalk, some of the marzipan and white truffle oil creeping in. Silky yet balanced with acidity on the palate, with a tad of a coppery brightness there too. One of my faves of the flight.

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  • 2002 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux 94 Points

    France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru

    VVW Butteaux vertical with Iron Chevsky -- Lovely. At first I found it a tad over ripe with a teeny bit of glue/postage stamp aromatics, but it evolved in the glass and was just gorgeous and seductive. As it opened in the glass I got truffle-infused orange blossom oil, white flowers, and a fine and unoffensive warm, wet sawdust element. Very rich and round on the palate, a Raveneau hedonist's wine!

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  • 2001 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux 87 Points

    France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru

    VVW Butteaux vertical with Iron Chevsky -- I had just had this a few weeks back and next to its peers the funk and sulfury reduction stood out even more. Not sure about this, on one hand there is that wild white truffle oil, sautéed oyster mushroom, seawater and hazelnut oil which I find sexy. But on the downside the reductive funkiness--kinda like a hit fistful of new copper pennies and not-quite burnt parmesan steered me the other way. Strange that many '01s lately from Raveneau and Dauvissat have been this way. Hmmm...

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  • 2000 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux 92 Points

    France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru

    VVW Butteaux vertical with Iron Chevsky --A big step up from the '01 in freshness and balance. Toasted hazelnut oil, exotic spices, classic white truffle oil. Good honeyed notes on the palate, good acidity and a wonderfully toasted parmesan note.

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  • 1999 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux 91 Points

    France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru

    VVW Butteaux vertical with Iron Chevsky --Classic exotic Raveneau with some age. A bit funky, balances that edge of sulfury funky reductiveness and wild exotic truffle oils and toasted hazelnut. Good acidity. Aging well, still fresh and lively.

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Closing

Thanks again to VVW for hosting such spectacular events! And to my friend Iron Chevsky (in green shirt, below, paying the bill and buddying up to Marshall) who was a sanity check for my descriptors!!!

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