Nicolas François
Domaine François Raveneau
Valmur Chablis Grand Cru Chardonnay 2004
Beautiful poise. Light and refined. Soft lemon. Rock pools, minerality, a hint of corn and yellow flowers. Intense but light and dancing on the palate. Great balance and long. Powerful but still subtle. — a month ago
Nicolas Joly
Clos de la Coulée de Serrant Savennières Chenin Blanc 1999
Chilled and opened about an hour before dinner and allowed to gently come to temp. Served alongside charcoal grilled Thai sausage, sticky rice, coconut Thai curry, herb salad, shallot, lime, garlic, chiles. Tonight, this bottle was nothing short of remarkable. A deep golden color with gorgeous notes of squishy tropical fruit, white flowers, and turmeric. Wooly and waxy with acid for dayzzz. Stunning now but this bottle would show well through 2029 without breaking a sweat. — 24 days ago
Domaine François Raveneau
Montée de Tonnerre Chablis 1er Cru Chardonnay 2016
Raveneau really nailed this vintage. A difficult growing season and minimal yields have nonetheless produced a stunning MDT, immensely generous, expressive and multidimensional wafting a floral, citrusy-spice inflicted bouquet layered in pastry cream and stony Chablisen minerality. The palate is magnificently textured, concentrated, long and voluptuous, slightly lower in acidity as 16’s can be, but still with plenty of power, tension and balance that belies the vintage norm. MDT is a tremendous success in 2016. Raveneau is king. 💛 — 24 days ago
Domaine François Raveneau
Butteaux Chablis 1er Cru Chardonnay 2013
Delicate and pretty. Precise with soft edges. Pear and light floral notes. Very lucid and subtle. Lean in, it’s delicious. — 9 days ago
Domaine François Raveneau
Chapelot Chablis 1er Cru Chardonnay 1989
This seems fresher than the 1989 Butteaux (plus, the entire cork, in 3 distinct pieces, came out of the bottle), color is light/medium gold, but fruit doesn’t show the depth of the 1989 Butteaux, both are still alive and solid (at 35 YEARS!?!?), but this Chapelot is fresher, while the Butteaux is fatter/richer, thus I’ll give each the same score! — 17 days ago
Vanessa
“Nothing added, nothing removed” is a phrase some use to describe the philosophy of low-intervention (or “natural”) winemaking. 🌱
The winemaker is like a vessel, carrying Mother Nature’s gifts from the land (and vintage) to your glass, where each sip can transport you to a particular place and time.
Nicolas Joly is an illustrious vigneron revered for his deep commitment to biodynamics and minimal intervention winemaking. 👏 He leads his family’s estate – Famille Joly – located in the prestigious appellation of Savennières in the Anjou-Saumur region of Loire Valley and specializes in top quality, cerebral, age-worthy dry whites made from the Chenin Blanc grape.
This takes patience, strength, and resilience for which the seahorse is a spiritual symbol (among other things). 🌊 It’s no wonder the Famille Joly features this beautiful, gentle creature on its bottle and labels.
This wine comes from ‘Les Vieux Clos’ where vines are harvested at 25 hL/ha which is HALF of the appellation’s allowance of 50 hL/ha. 👀
As a result of favorable growing conditions and these low yields, the grapes were allowed to become ripe, which explains the high alcohol at 14% ABV and round but balanced fruit expression.
This wine underwent a wild fermentation, followed by a natural malolactic conversion (MLC), and then it aged 12 months in large neutral oak with no fining or filtering before bottling.
The color is pale gold. On the nose and palate are harmonious notes of yellow apple, quince, papaya, dried orange peel, citrus blossom, chamomile, ginger, saffron, cinnamon, cream, white pepper, lanolin, wet slate …
It has power and elegance, nuance and vibrancy, with a persistent finish. We think it pairs nicely with the baked herb & lemon salmon, asparagus and couscous.
Cheers to winemakers who share a piece of their land and heritage with the world one glass at a time! 🥂🥂🥂
— 3 days ago