Wine Advisor
Raveneau, Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux 2020
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: William Kelley
The 2020 Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux is lovely, unfurling in the glass with aromas of pear, orange oil, lemon, freshly baked bread, beeswax and oyster shell. Medium to full-bodied, taut and structured, it's a serious, concentrated wine with a lively spine of acidity and a long, mineral finish.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2020 Chablis Les Butteaux 1er Cru offers intensity similar to the Montmains, but this is a little more petrolly on the nose, which is beautifully defined and very focused, developing a faint nuttiness with aeration. The palate is well balanced and conveys a sense of energy on the entry. Saline to its core, this fans out wonderfully toward the finish and feels lightly spiced on the aftertaste. Excellent.
About the Producer
Domaine Raveneau is Chablis's finest producer. Jean Raveneau has 7 hectares of vines and produces beautifully crafted wines from three Grands Crus (Blanchot, les Clos and Valmur and four Premiers Crus (Montée de Tonnerres, les Vaillons, Butteaux and Chapelot) All the grapes are hand harvested (one of the very few remaining growers in Chablis to do so) and Jean Marie prefers to pick early rather than late, with the aim of preserving the grapes' acidities. The grapes are fermented in stainless steel vats and the wine are then aged in large oak feuilletes (the barrels have an average age of 7-8 years) for 18 months. Very low yields allied to meticulous wine making techniques are what make these wines so highly prized. They are renowned for their pure, racy minerality and rich, honeyed fruit, as well as for their ageworthiness - it would be a pity not to let them have the five to ten years in the cellar that they need to reach their sublime best.
