- 2016 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons - France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru (7/11/2025)
PNP. Medium yellow color. Meyer lemon, honey and some salty sea brine on the nose. Deep palate, glycerol laden texture with orchard fruit flavors and some tingling acidity on the finish. This is a rather ripe Raveneau that is redeemed by a crisp, chalky and slightly bitter finish. I like the package, this is my first from a 6 pack of Vaillons, and seems to be an early drinker. (93 points)
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Thank you for the note. I absolutely love Raveneau’s Vaillons and think it’s a very underrated wine in Raveneau’s stable. I generally like it more than Butteaux.
I’ve personally had pretty decent luck with 2016 Raveneau and Dauvissat, but I’ve seen some very unfavorable notes on the vintage, so it’s nice to see that I’m not totally crazy 
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I’m just starting to try the 16s from Raveneau. 2016 was a challenging year in Chablis as they had frost, hail, heavy rains, mildew, hydric stress and even some sunburned fruit during the growing season. Raveneau harvested late, they began picking on the 24th of September and alcohols were generous at 12.8 to 13.4%. The alcohol shows up in the texture, I find Chablis is very transparent that way, but my sense is the wines have reasonably good acidities and that helps to preserve the balance and freshness.
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Thanks for the note - I had this wine on Thursday and totally agree with your take. More ready to go than I’d expect most Raveneau of that age to be. Won’t be one for the longest haul, but, it is nice to not have to wait forever for this to be ready to go!