Chablis Tasting, Rubicon Restaurant
Rubicon restaurant, San Francisco
Tasted Thursday, April 28, 2005 by CSteefel with 1,062 views
Introduction
We finally convened for the Chablis Jamboree on Thursday evening at the Rubicon restaurant in San Francisco after much planning and wine searching. Robert Thornton drove all the way from Los Angeles, arriving just in time to avoid missing the first flight of wines. A lively group of 16 were present, large enough that the conversation ranged from the Chablis at hand, to the film Mondovino, to any number of other topics I couldn’t follow. I myself particularly enjoyed moving up and down the table getting people’s thoughts on the various flights, an eclectic bunch of wines if ever there was one. Most of the wines showed recognizable Chablis typicity, but still the stylistic differences were quite interesting.
Flight 1 - 2002 (4 Notes)
All too young, but especially the Fevre les Clos. The Raveneau Chapelot seemed a little atypical of the group, but quite fine in its own way
Flight 2 - 2000-2001 (3 Notes)
The two les Clos are dominated by their acidity now, but the Brocard Bougros is showing surprisingly well.
Flight 3 - 1997-1998 (4 Notes)
The 1997 Raveneau Montee de Tonnerre is a bit of a disappointment. The Brocard VV is the best wine of the flight
Flight 4 - 1995-1996 (4 Notes)
I wasn't wild about the Verget myself, but they certainly were distinctive. The Dauvissat both seem young to me.
Flight 5 (4 Notes)
A flight of powerful, classical Chablis, all with funky sulfur on the nose initially. The Raveneau MdT blows the competition away, as the Dauvissat seems to need some additional years in the bottle. Certainly the raw power is there, but is the finesse?
Closing
I am convinced now that the best Chablis, particularly the Grand Cru, really need at least 15 years and perhaps more to come around.
2002 Jean-Marc Brocard Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos
France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru
Golden yellow in color, this wine showed a fragrant nose of mineral dust and wonderfully pure fruit. Surprisingly accessible and very nicely balanced, this was the liveliest of the 2002 Chablis along with the Fevre Bougros Cotes des Bouguerots, with a clean, bracing palate of intensely flavored citrus and crushed rock given delineation by the acids. A complete wine, it seems to have all the right stuff to continue to evolve and improve effortlessly in the bottle.
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2002 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos
France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru
Very pale yellow in color, this wine was a bit more controversial, with many tasters feeling that the wine was not showing particularly well. Initially, extremely reserved on the nose, time in the glass and some vigorous swirling were able to bring out what was in my mind an extraordinary and exquisitely detailed nose of very finely pulverized rock dust and a faint note of almonds. The fruit was almost in the background on both the nose and in the mouth, as if one had mixed a slurry of equal parts of grapes and chalky rock. Despite the less than forward fruit on the palate, the wine showed strong acidity and great structure on the palate, with a distinct steely character commingling with the rock dust. This was my wine of the flight because of its complexity, but there is no doubt this wine should be allowed to sleep for many years before retasting.
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2002 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Chapelot
France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru
Straw yellow in color, this wine initially showed almost nothing on the nose, despite having been double decanted by Joe Floren at noon. With time in the glass, however, the wine began to evolve nicely, with distinct oak notes showing up prominently with time. Most tasters thought this was an “un-Chablis like” wine, but still quite attractive in its excellent balance of acidity, pure fruit, and very suave tannins. Despite the apparent absence of those characteristic mineral notes, this was still a wine showing beautiful delineation and delicacy, giving it perhaps the most feminine character of any of the wines of the flight.
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2002 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Bougros Côte Bouguerots
France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru
Straw yellow in color, this wine showed the most expressive, fruit-dominated nose of the flight, with distinct notes of tropical fruits emerging with time in the glass. Slightly fat and oily in the mouth, with quite prominent acids that are not yet completely integrated with the other components, this wine reminded me a bit of the 2002 Fevre Vaillons I tasted on another occasion. Very impressive early showing for this wine, which has the underlying acid and structure to improve substantially with time.
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