The Producer
The Domaine François Raveneau was founded in 1948, when François Raveneau married Andrée Dauvissat, who also came from a family of Chablis winemakers. At that time, the couple still practiced polyculture, like many families in the region, before François fully dedicated himself to viticulture in the 1960s-1970s. He then gradually developed the estate, notably by acquiring plots in some of the great terroirs of Chablis. His son Jean-Marie joined him in 1978, followed by his brother Bernard in 1995. Today, the third generation, represented by Isabelle and Maxime Raveneau, continues the family work.
The estate operates about 10 hectares of vines in Chablis, spread across three Grand Crus and six Premier Crus, to which Chablis and Petit Chablis are added. Among the most emblematic terroirs are Blanchot, Les Clos, and Valmur, as well as Montée de Tonnerre, Les Vaillons, Butteaux, Chapelot, Montmains, and Forêt. True to its philosophy, the estate pays the same attention to each of its plots, from Petit Chablis to Grands Crus, in order to allow each terroir to express its own personality.
Today, Raveneau remains a family estate deeply committed to a traditional approach to viticulture and winemaking. The wines are made with measured intervention, with the aim of preserving the expression of the terroir and Chardonnay. The estate is particularly recognized for its Chablis of great depth, precise and mineral, capable of developing remarkable complexity over time. Isabelle and Maxime Raveneau thus perpetuate the family legacy on the approximately 10 hectares of the estate, with a philosophy summarized by the site: all plots and all wines are subject to the same attention to detail and quality work.
The Wine
Lieu-dit of the Premier Cru Monts Mains, located at the very top of the slope, the soil of Butteaux is very clayey. The climate there is windier and colder. The vines were planted 1/3 in the 1950s and 2/3 in the early 1980s.
Tasting
The Butteaux are very serious, deep, and mineral wines. Reserved, sometimes austere and closed in youth, the wines of Butteaux have a very good aging potential.
Scores and Notes
95
Wine Advocate
91
Vinous