Roasted tomato and shrimp dish on the menu, so I thought Chablis would be a great choice.
First bottle: 2010 Dauvissat 1er Vaillons
Troubling color, troubling nose, all confirmed by textbook bruised apple juice palate. Grrr.
Second bottle: 2010 Dauvissat 1er Vaillons
Had to know if the other remaining bottle was affected. It was.
Third bottle: 2010 Raveneau 1er Montee de Tonnerre
Medium yellow-gold color. Nose has faint lemon meringue character at first, then some honeysuckle and saline notes. Palate shows light lemon, straw, acacia, and mineral notes with a medium-short finish. On day one, I was frankly underwhelmed by how tight this was. Day two confirmed that I should have left more in the bottle, as the wine broadened on the mid-palate with more butterscotch, lemon, and a hint of hazelnut. The finish got longer as well. Recommend decanting if drinking now or hold for a few more years.
I bought very limited amounts of Dauvissat in the last decade. These are my oldest remaining bottles. I had been drinking them on the young side and enjoying them. I left a few as long-odds lottery tickets. These two didn’t yield.
Oddly, enough I opened the same bottle of Raveneau this weekend. Though in great shape, I, too, found it a little ungiving at first. I did get the saline, oyster shell thing on opening, which I don’t always in Raveneau, which sometimes tends to drink more like standard white Burgundy. The wine sort of woke up, during the second half of the bottle and showed enormous minerality in the finish. Still, I would hold these if I had more, which sadly, I don’t.
The Raveneau was a singleton for me as well. I think you may be onto something Sarah Kirschbaum . I used to simply apply a rule of thumb to drink the weak vintages of Raveneau at an age where other producers’ strong vintages would be ready and to age the strong vintages longer than normal. I think the decanting observation is another facet of the same gemstone. I prize the remaining bottles of Raveneau I own. I so rarely see it in my market.
Thanks for the note Fred. I have a couple of '10s and '14s I won’t touch for many years (the last vintages I could get at $200), and a '96 and a '90 which may or may not be in good shape still but I will be an optimist . Had an '09 a few years ago at Fearrington that was pretty much like you describe.
Had an 04 Dauvissat les Clos and an 09 Raveneau Valmur over the weekend (shared with Dr Wine of Cellar Tracker renown), both thankfully healthy. the les Clos was opened 1 1/2 hours ahead and the Valmur I believe double decanted a similar time ahead. Each wine was a little closed coming out of the gate, but opened up fairly nicely over the course of the afternoon. (an 07 Clos ste Hune and 07 CFE pop and poured really never had a chance to open up). I would agree with Sarah and Fred and the general theme here–I’m more likely to want to decant a serious Chablis than pretty much any other wine that I have.
From 5 years ago–Don Cornutt generously opened one for me while I was visiting:
"2010 Raveneau Chablis Montee de Tonnere
This took a while to open up, but open up it did and gave you that sublime strength that seems to accompany virtually every Raveneau bottle. Tensile steel and mineral with light waves of apple, lime and very light chalk. It does have a slight lingering sweetness that I’ve found in some 10 Chablis. Regardless, a pleasure to sip at slowly."
I’ve popped a 10 and 12 Rav Valmur in the last 7 months or so. Both showed wonderfully after a few hours of decant. I have had trouble with the MdT though. These suckers never seem to open .
The few times a bottle made it into Day 2, it was always better than on day 1, even though I usually opened it a few hours before drinking.
So now I try to open them a day in advance, leaving the bottle open at 10-12°C after taking out a small sip. Sometimes that’s not enough and only by the second glass does the wine open.
Well except the 2010. Not a great year for Ramonet imo.
. Had an '09 a few years ago at Fearrington that was pretty much like you describe.