Aged Raveneau- Blind: Blanchot Vertical, 1990 Horizontal
Tom's House, Palo Alto
Tasted May 19, 2011 by aagrawal with 598 views
Introduction
I haven't had any experience with Raveneau before tonight, so this was quite the learning experience. We also had a couple of awesome food-related surprises tonight: Many thanks to the two generous group members who brought oysters!
Flight 1 - Blind Pre-wine (1 note)
Blind tasting reveals biases. I think if I had tasted this non-blind, I would have rated it higher based on reputation. It was enjoyable, but I thought the acidity was a little overpowering and off-balance. Still, as someone who grew up liking sour foods, I would love to sip on this on a hot day.
Flight 2 - Blind Raveneau (8 notes)
I was able to pick out the majority of the younger 1990/1993 Raveneau, which I thought were uniform and of high quality. The older chablis were sometimes better and sometimes worse than the younger ones, but they were distinctive. I think drinking the wine at both ages has its merits. Overall excellent wines that will be a new standard for me when I drink chablis.
Closing
Overall, the things that I learned tonight:
1) Raveneau makes great chablis.
2) But, to be honest, I don't think it's so much better that it's worth the price. My sweet spot for chablis is probably a well priced, well made Fevre. Still, I'm not turning down any free Raveneau in the future.
3) The Raveneau that stood out for me (good and bad) were the oldest examples. They had the most character and unique aromas and flavors.
4) I was pretty accurate at picking out the "younger" (ie 20 year old) Raveneau (picked 4/5 of the 1990s and 1993). They were all well made and impeccably balanced, but were also easily replaced in character with a well made Fevre, at least for me.