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2004 Raveneau Chablis Foret

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Year: 2004 Appellation: Chablis 1er Country: France CellarTracker Rating: 91.3	$84.99
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Burghound Issue 24
Producer note: Bernard Raveneau opined that in his view, "2004 has turned out much better than we thought it would. Even after a great September essentially saved the crop, the wines have improved enormously during the course of their élevage. We started picking the 29th of September and brought in double the size of the 2003 crop, which is to say around 70 hl/ha. The crop was reasonably clean though we did do moderate sorting because of oidium. Even with the high yields, we obtained good sugars of around 12% and chaptalized only half a degree as in a racy and pure vintage like '04, high alcohol would not be a plus. Acidities were also very good at between 6 1/2 to 7 grams. We did a fairly lengthy débourbage and both fermentations were relatively long and this I believe is a good thing as the musts definitely needed some additional richness because initially, I found the wines to lack real mid-palate fat. And because we were reluctant to work with the lees as much as usual, the longer fermentations helped add this sense of texture. You will notice more reduction than is normal for our wines at this time of year and I believe that is because there was no rain at all in September to wash away the sulfur applications to combat the oidium. In terms of quality, I quite like the vintage and I find it to be somewhat similar to 2000 but with more concentration and there is no question that 2004 is riper. The wines should age well over the medium term though as always, time will tell." As Raveneau suggests, several wines were indeed reduced though this should not be a problem once they're prepared for bottling. The '03s had just been bottled 2 weeks before my late June visit and while variable, there are some lovely wines though they clearly do not compare, either in style or quality, to the brilliant 2002s or 2004s.

Tasting note: A classic green fruit and oyster shell nose complements the rich, full and forward flavors that are supple and sweet and finish with real verve and a lovely texture on the cut-like-a-knife backend.