Винный справочник
Producers
Domaine Raveneau
There is one undisputed king of Chablis - and its name is Raveneau. Said to be “the explanation of Chablis”, holding a glass of Raveneau is akin to holding the entire wealth of Chablis expertise in your hand. A melange of history, terroir, region and well just damn-near perfection, Raveneau is to poetry what the rest of Chardonnay is to prose.
Raveneau, Raveneau, wherefore art thou Raveneau?
The Raveneau family are so famous - both nationally and internationally - that everyone is eager to get their hands on a bottle of their wine. However, the old supply and demand rule does not apply here; yields are low, particularly for their three Grands Crus, thus wines are exceptionally hard to find. The 8.30-hectare vineyard produces just 3,000 cases annually for their nine wines, with only 0.54 given over for the exceptional Grand Cru Clos (the darling of many a wine critic, and surely the jewel in their crown). Of their three Grands Crus and six Premieres Crus (which are almost as revered as the Grands Crus), if you are desperate to get your hands on a bottle, you might have better luck in a French Michelin starred restaurant, as allocations have remained steady to restaurateurs despite Raveneau’s stellar ascension.
Buy it - but be sure to sell it (or drink it)
With fine wines now outstripping watches, cars and jewellery (average growth of 9% in 2018, a figure matched only by collectable art), savvy investors should start looking at adding or increasing the Raveneaus in their portfolio. The annual increase on Burgundy fine wine alone was 33%, driven by the famous “Rs”- of which Raveneau is one (the others being Roumier, Rousseau and of course Romanée-Conti). However, the very finite nature of some fine wines, i.e. that the drinking window has set boundaries, means that unlike watches and jewellery, wines should be considered a temporary investment, unless you are looking to actually drink it. A Raveneau Grand Cru Clos should comfortably age for 20-25 years, so while investors should be mindful, there is no urgency to offload this wine.
Notable facts and vintages
  • Overseeing winemaking and farming at the family domaine, Isabelle Raveneau is one of the many young women “driving that transformation of Chablis into a place that makes important, collectible wines” as observed by Jon Bonne in a July 2019 artice for business magazine Fortune.
  • At Sotheby’s final sale for H1 2019, all lots featuring Raveneau fetched above their high end estimates, in part making for a record sales period for fine wines at the luxury auction house.
  • 2017 Dom Francois Raveneau Les Clos is considered wine of the vintage (in a year where Chablis was challenged with spring frost) according to MW Tim Atkin pointing to its age-worthiness noting “It would be a crime to drink it young”.