2010 Chablis Les Clos
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Tasting notes
One of Raveneau’s greatest hits, this is a wine that unites a producer at the height of its powers with an exceptional vineyard. The 2010 Chablis Grand Cru Clos not only met but surpassed expectations, unfurling from the glass with a deep bouquet of orange peel, oyster liquor, white flowers, mandarin and almond paste, mingled with notes of beeswax and a subtle nuance of smoky reduction. On the palate, it is medium- to full-bodied, concentrated and ample, with a layered, enveloping palate married to huge tension and incisiveness, culminating in a long, precise, chalk-inflected finish. Among the finest wines Raveneau has produced, it is a quintessential Les Clos, endowed with all its hallmark mid-palate amplitude and dimension, shining with proper bottle age. While it already drinks beautifully, it possesses the structure and balance to evolve gracefully for many years to come. I did not hesitate for a moment to award it one of the highest scores The Wine Advocate has ever given to a Chablis, for it is difficult to imagine a wine being any better.
Critic scores
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Antonio Galloni, Vinous
Allen Meadows, Burghound
More reviews and scores
Speaking of the 2010 Raveneau Chablis Clos, it was stunning, just a little less stunning than the Valmur. I usually prefer the Clos to the Valmur, but on this night the Clos is a bit elusive. I am also taken aback by the wine’s exoticism and textural unctuousness, qualities I would have expected to see more in the Valmur. In fact, I hadn’t seen the bottles myself, I would have sworn the wines were mixed up! Readers fortunate enough to own the 2010 Raveneaus are in for a treat.
This hasn't really changed much since my last review just after the bottling though the discreet touch of wood it displayed at that time is now almost completely invisible and allows the expressive nose of white flowers, lemon peel, mineral reduction and seaweed scents to shine. There is the same remarkably intensity to the notably rich, powerful and concentrated palate staining big-bodied flavors that possess real size and weight on the wonderfully long finish. Indeed about the only change is that this seems to be coming along ever-so-slightly faster than I originally envisioned and I have shortened my suggested initial drinking window by 2 years.
The very best elements of vintage and site is expressed by one of Chablis's true visionaries come together in the 2010 Chablis Clos. The aromatics alone are breathtaking, but then endless layers of fruit flow across the palate, captivating all the senses; intellectual, hedonistic and everything else. The Clos has elements of all the preceding wines in the same way Romanée-Conti encapsulates all the wines at DRC. The 2010 Clos shows great balance and class from start to finish. It is a profound wine to savor over the next few decades, although it shouldn't be touched before age ten. Readers who can find the 2010 should not hesitate. It is a magical bottle of wine.