WTN: The 3 rules of plumbing

Hot on the left, payday is Friday and s##t runs down hill.

2006 Edmund Vatan, Sancerre Clos La Néore:
On any other day, this gets the accolades it so richly deserves; youthful but pure, concentrated but lacy, singular and yet still complex – a paradox of a wine and all that Sancerre can be. I will put my few bottles away – perhaps, for my daughter – but regardless, for a day far in the future. A great wine of great promise but a pale pretender at the moment.

2000 Raveneau, Chablis Butteaux:
There is chardonnay, there is Chablis; there is very, very good Chablis . . . and then, there is Raveneau. Not every time; more than enough expensive bottles that simply try and fail. But when you cross glasses with one that is on – “on” in a way you will never be able to describe and yet, you will be so moved you have to try – then the price, damnable as it seems, is worth it.
Tonight, I was ready.
It was a day of trepidation and, finally, of hope and now; festivization!
It was a bottle I have had several times . . . and they have ranged from fine to so oxidized as to be undrinkable. So here is another . . . and the old saw is true – there are no great wines, only great bottles.
No white wine has ever shown me this; penetrating, rich aromatics that swing from the crystalline splendor of taut, racy Chablis to the very edges of the envelope in this vineyard –biscuits with butter still warm from the oven, fresh citrus compote – the spreadable kind, lilting minerality, perfect balance, an opulent texture that never steps over into flab or syrup, utterly exquisite acidity on the finish that seems to expand in the mouth once I swallow and then, a glorious, layered, beautiful length that goes on and on until, finally, I can speak again.
I have had a few very fine chardonnay wines at peak; Leflaive, DRC, Aubert, Dauvissat – none are within striking distance – on their best day. Tonight, accompanying shrimp scampi, this is the finest bottle of white wine of my life and the quintessential expression of all that great wine can be – life affirming, joyous, transporting, and the catalyst of that singular moment when one’s individual lows and highs meld with a unique experience to become the fabric of memory. Oh my!

(And for those who are counting, yes, this note is surely about rule number three. So sue me.)

Best, Jim

2000 Raveneau, Chablis Butteaux:
[...] No white wine has ever shown me this; penetrating, rich aromatics that swing from the crystalline splendor of taut, racy Chablis to the very edges of the envelope in this vineyard –biscuits with butter still warm from the oven, fresh citrus compote – the spreadable kind, lilting minerality, perfect balance, an opulent texture that never steps over into flab or syrup, utterly exquisite acidity on the finish that seems to expand in the mouth once I swallow and then, a glorious, layered, beautiful length that goes on and on until, finally, I can speak again.
I have had a few very fine chardonnay wines at peak; Leflaive, DRC, Aubert, Dauvissat – none are within striking distance – on their best day.

I know wherefrom you speak (I think), Jim: two bottles of the '85 Les Preuses from Dauvissat Père occupy that position in my life, but I have yet to have anything from Raveneau, so I hold open the possibility of being blown away yet again. I also have no experience with that climat. Do Raveneau's holdings in Butteaux typically perform as well as those from Les Clos, which I regard as the finest of the GC vineyards?

Mark Lipton

According to Winesearcher Pro, per-bottle Stateside prices for 2000 Raveneau Chablis Butteaux range from $79 at Flickinger Wines in Chicago to $125 at the New York Wine Warehouse. For a wine of that caliber those aren't bad prices.

prices for 2000 Raveneau Chablis Butteaux range from $79 at Flickinger Wines in Chicago to $125 at the New York Wine Warehouse. For a wine of that caliber those aren't bad prices.

Especially since those are close to or lower than new release prices!

Thanks for the poetry, Jim, as vicarious experiences go, it almost felt like I was there.

According to Winesearcher Pro, per-bottle Stateside prices for 2000 Raveneau Chablis Butteaux range from $79 at Flickinger Wines in Chicago to $125 at the New York Wine Warehouse. For a wine of that caliber those aren't bad prices.

Clint,
FWIW, I have had this wine from several sources. As mentioned in the note, some have not been good, some fair and some outstanding. Caveat Emptor.

Mark,
As to your first question; I have had good luck with Butteaux and with Clos.
As to your comment; my favorite vineyard in Chablis is Vaudesir but Raveneau does not have holdings there.
Best, Jim