Or it epitomizes Chablis.
Not sure why you would seek a wine that exhibits no typicity. And I’ve never heard that said about Raveneau, either. But I’ve only had 7 or 8 bottles of Raveneau, mostly due to the price. Never found it atypical for Chablis, just very good Chablis.
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Not really. Chablis has a rustic mineral character that the French have never thought too much of. Raveneau transcends that and tastes more like regular White Burg, which is why it’s priced more like regular White Burg on the secondary market. In France it’s priced as Chablis which is why it’s so cheap.
??? We seem to be saying the same thing. Restaurants/retailers in France are more likely to withhold certain wines from the market for special customers who pass their “truly love the wines” test. Maybe that happens in the US more than I realize, I don’t know. I’ve just seen it more in France.
Am also not sure what is romantic about any of it.
There’s no gauntlet being thrown Noah. If you think all Chablis basically tastes the same, you should absolutely not buy expensive Chablis. I agree with you.
I personally find quite a bit of differentiation between certain wines, and so buy and drink on that basis. I don’t for other wines (I can’t tell much of modern Napa apart), but I do not presume to suggest that other people do not.
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Appreciate you confirmed for the US market. I know for a fact it’s unhealthy to keep wanting something I can’t attain, so at least I’m glad I can just give up and think “it is what it is”, rather than keep thinking “maybe I can get it if I search hard enough”.
While I do wholeheartedly agree there are many white Burgundy producers who make equally good wine as the two producers I mentioned, style is more of a differentiator than quality in this discussion, because white Burgundy is such a diverse region.
The issue is, both producers seem stylistically in a unique spot in my view, though taste is a subjective experience. I’ve never had any Chardonnay that’s as intense and expressive as Raveneau, and I do agree with many that it’s quite different from Dauvissat. Dauvissat seems a lot reserved in phenolic ripeness based on examples I had. Not that one is better, just different.
Lamy-Caillat has a particular grippy texture that I really like to see in my white wine, and that’s quite unusual in Chardonnay. I have one producer that kinda scratches my itch for that texture, but it’s not too similar stylistically with Lamy-Caillat.
My experience is limited compared to you and others, but this is my perception.
Now, I’ve had privilege to drink some of the “trophy” Burgundy wines at really good prices when I was in Europe: Roulot, Rouget, Croux bottling of Guffens-Heynen, Guilbert-Gillet, Bernard Bonin, to name a few. And while they were all really good wine, I either didn’t like them stylistically or can find something that scratches the same itch at lower prices, if at lower quality.
Lamy-Caillat, Raveneau, Coche have been the three that have proved most difficult for me to find at release prices.
Hi Mikael, thank you for the kind words. I know a few importers who works with Raveneau, but I think in all markets I buy, ex-importer prices are always high. A retailer I buy often from sells Raveneau 1er cru for $400+ when they sell Dauvissat Clos for about $200. I doubt they change their markup drastically just for Raveneau when they keep really, really good price for other producers, thankfully.
For Lamy-Caillat, getting allocation in US and UK is nearly impossible it seems. I doubt they export to Japan, but I emailed them asking about their importer to Japan a few months ago, but got no response unfortunately.
That said, I think I’m all good for now. I’m generally happy with what I have and posted this question with a thought of “what if there’s a way to get my hands on those wines with a bit more efforts…”.
That’s saddening to hear. I’ve never had Coche, but the other two are basically the only producers I badly wish to get a few bottles at reasonable prices. Many other “hyped up” producers didn’t really ring the bell for me, so far.
I totally agree with your advice. I have a few producers I love in the $50-$200 cost range that I can buy, but as you say, some are just not quite like anything else. Raveneau and Lamy-Caillat are the only ones that I can’t find something else that scratches the same itches, and hence this post.
That said, I also agree it’s unhealthy to want something I can’t get and this is ultimately just wine at the end of the day 
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this is one of the funniest things I’ve ever read here.
Which part? SMH
A shame in that case, in the past I could find very fair pricing in Japan for certain producers.
Hopefully you can get your hands on a few bottles!
This whole thread is reinforcement of some of the positive attributes of Bordeaux
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