2021 Chablis Blanchots Grand Cru

Isabelle Raveneau greeted me at the hottest address in Chablis. Literally. Uncharacteristically, for 2024, the sun was beating down when I rang the doorbell. As usual, this was a comprehensive tasting of two vintages, the 2022s bottled in April and the 2023s in barrel.

“Twenty-two is a very concentrated vintage. It is a ‘new classic’ in a way. Previously, it would have been a vintage like 2007 or 2014, more saline, but new classics are more like 2022. The 2023 vintage is less concentrated as the yield is almost twice the previous year. In 2022, the berries had less juice, whereas in 2023, we had good flowering and more rain, so berries were more gorged. They also have thinner skins. We had cooler weather in August, so the berries took a while to complete véraison. The end of August was sunny and almost too warm in some places, but as we had so much rain before, it didn't matter. We started the picking around 12 or 13 September after the heat wave. We sorted a lot as some berries were acetic. The amount of juice was almost double, so we had yields between 65 and 70hl/ha. Their thinner skins meant that they were easier to extract.”

Raveneau’s 2022s are broadly unaltered from last year’s banded scores, the Les Clos and Blanchots tussling for supremacy. Their Premier Crus are extremely consistent, though perhaps Les Butteaux represents the best value. Still, the price hikes I see in many restaurants will erase that difference. Honestly, it’s probably cheaper to travel to Chablis and order a bottle at a restaurant! Like other comparisons of the two vintages, the 2023s don’t quite reach the same pinnacles, but, hey, this is Raveneau, so the Valmur is exceptional, and Montée de Tonnerre is very enticing.

Isabelle Raveneau greeted me at the hottest address in Chablis. Literally. Uncharacteristically, for 2024, the sun was beating down when I rang the doorbell. As usual, this was a comprehensive tasting of two vintages, the 2022s bottled in April and the 2023s in barrel.

“Twenty-two is a very concentrated vintage. It is a ‘new classic’ in a way. Previously, it would have been a vintage like 2007 or 2014, more saline, but new classics are more like 2022. The 2023 vintage is less concentrated as the yield is almost twice the previous year. In 2022, the berries had less juice, whereas in 2023, we had good flowering and more rain, so berries were more gorged. They also have thinner skins. We had cooler weather in August, so the berries took a while to complete véraison. The end of August was sunny and almost too warm in some places, but as we had so much rain before, it didn't matter. We started the picking around 12 or 13 September after the heat wave. We sorted a lot as some berries were acetic. The amount of juice was almost double, so we had yields between 65 and 70hl/ha. Their thinner skins meant that they were easier to extract.”

Raveneau’s 2022s are broadly unaltered from last year’s banded scores, the Les Clos and Blanchots tussling for supremacy. Their Premier Crus are extremely consistent, though perhaps Les Butteaux represents the best value. Still, the price hikes I see in many restaurants will erase that difference. Honestly, it’s probably cheaper to travel to Chablis and order a bottle at a restaurant! Like other comparisons of the two vintages, the 2023s don’t quite reach the same pinnacles, but, hey, this is Raveneau, so the Valmur is exceptional, and Montée de Tonnerre is very enticing.

Isabelle Raveneau began with a lament for the 2021 vintage, not the first that I had heard during my travels. “Flowering did not go well in 2021, likewise the frosts,” she said. “We have lost around 60%, even 80% in some places. You never know what that figure will be.” As is customary, I tasted the complete range of the latest vintage (2019 this year), in addition to the 2020 vintage in barrel. “The 2020 season started really early in terms of budding,” she continued. “It was a nice spring, and dry in the summer. We started picking on August 28 . We were happy with the size of harvest, a decent crop between 45 and 50hl/ha, just a little smaller than 2018. As the crop was larger than 2019, there is a crispness, and while it’s not classic Chablis, it is more classic than 2019. The 2020 is very drinkable, but such a dense vintage compared to 2019. The 2019 is more powerful than the 2020, since in 2019 there was half the normal crop due to the frost and the hot, dry summer – we lost a lot of sunburned berries. We started the harvest in early September. The wines are more powerful and concentrated, and also higher in alcohol compared to 2020. I find that there is more oak influence on the 2019s because of the smaller crop. The idea is not to flavor the wines, rather just to slowly oxidize them during the élevage.”

Isabelle Raveneau began with a lament for the 2021 vintage, not the first that I had heard during my travels. “Flowering did not go well in 2021, likewise the frosts,” she said. “We have lost around 60%, even 80% in some places. You never know what that figure will be.” As is customary, I tasted the complete range of the latest vintage (2019 this year), in addition to the 2020 vintage in barrel. “The 2020 season started really early in terms of budding,” she continued. “It was a nice spring, and dry in the summer. We started picking on August 28 . We were happy with the size of harvest, a decent crop between 45 and 50hl/ha, just a little smaller than 2018. As the crop was larger than 2019, there is a crispness, and while it’s not classic Chablis, it is more classic than 2019. The 2020 is very drinkable, but such a dense vintage compared to 2019. The 2019 is more powerful than the 2020, since in 2019 there was half the normal crop due to the frost and the hot, dry summer – we lost a lot of sunburned berries. We started the harvest in early September. The wines are more powerful and concentrated, and also higher in alcohol compared to 2020. I find that there is more oak influence on the 2019s because of the smaller crop. The idea is not to flavor the wines, rather just to slowly oxidize them during the élevage.”