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Senn-d off (part 2): Chablis at Nico Osteria
Chicago, IL
Tasted October 5, 2015 by acyso with 464 views
Introduction
At the Senn-d off, we decided that it might be fun to throw together one more dinner before Mark left us for Peru. Since I had never gone to Nico Osteria, and hearing all the good things about it, I decided to hold a little Chablis night there, organized with the help of the somm Bret (who unfortunately wasn't there tonight). We had an amazing dinner with course after course of delicious seafood dishes. A huge thank you goes out to the staff, who made us feel so welcome and took care of everything for us. It won't be long before we're back.
Flight 1 (10 notes)
White
2013 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis 1er Cru Séchet
88 points
This was immediately very approachable, with a very smooth and round texture, as well as plenty of tropical fruit on the palate. This was zippier straight out of the bottle, but fleshed out a lot with air. I wasn't too enthused with the rounder texture and softer acids here.
White
2012 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis 1er Cru La Forest
90 points
Extremely reduced at first, but that blew off in no time. Then, everything starts showing up, building up different layers of fruit and mnerality, all bound together by some taut acids. I really enjoyed this a lot.
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White
2011 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre
93 points
Spot-on stuff. Ripe and fat nose, with lots of tart white fruit and a slight bit of florals. This has really high density, and lots of richness, balanced by some searing acidity. On the back end, you get a slight bit of chalkiness which I found really intriguing. Super clean, precise, and linear. My wine of the evening.
White
2011 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Les Forêts
88 points
In contrast to the power of the 2011 Montee de Tonnerre, we had the Forets, which was much, much more fruit forward and showing copious amounts of ripe fruit and less acidity than the MdT as well. Rounder, and a bit of a simpleton, this was a very foursquare and uninspiring bottle of Raveneau.
White
2000 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Les Forêts
flawed
Advanced colour. Uh oh. A bit of fino sherry on the nose. Empty, hollow palate. The pox.
White
2007 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Monts Mains
93 points
This had a peculiar and very prominent smoky nose, with some reductive aromas of gunflint and sulphur. Extremely powerful, white hot acidity. However, this didn't have as much richness and density on the palate as the 11 MdT did, although I found this to be even racier and linear.
White
2004 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos
90 points
Slightly almondy on the nose. This was a surprisingly fruit-forward bottle of Chablis, especially given the vintage. There's plenty of acidity for that fruit to fall back on, so no worries in that department. There's a weird bit of funk (something I've picked up in many Dauvissat bottlings) that I just can't get over though.
White
2004 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons
90 points
I didn't even realize I had tasted this bottle a few months ago, and to be honest, this wasn't like my previous note at all. Again, given the vintage, I found this to be more fruit-forward than I would have expected. There's a slight bit of salted caramel or something like that on the palate, that adds richness to the wine, though it was a little bit weird. I loved the acidity here.
White
1995 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos
88 points
You know, at this point, I should just give up on Dauvissat. I just don't understand the wines. This is quite ripe, with a bit of yellow fruit. Awesome density and power, but there's a slight bit of funk that I just can't get over. There's acid here as well, but the bottle as a whole just doesn't seem to be that well-integrated. Lots of good raw material, but put together in a way that I just don't really get.
White
2006 Dauvissat-Camus Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos
85 points
A bit of sharpie marker and high-toned organic solvent on the nose, and again a bit of weird mushroomy funk. Darker in colour, I'd like to joke that this saw a bit of botrytis. Lovely material here, with lots of dense fruit and mineral notes, but there's just not enough acidity to carry the day.