2023 Chablis Vaillons 1er 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.