Domaine François Raveneau, Chardonnay, Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre, France 2018

François Raveneau established the domaine in 1948 by combining vineyards that he had purchased with vineyards owned by the family of his wife, who was part of the Dauvissat wine family.

François was the first member of his family to bottle his own wine; previously the grapes had been sold to other estates to use. François's father, Louis Raveneau had previously owned a number of parcels of land in Chablis, but sold them all during the 1950s. Chablis was going through a difficult economic period due to increased competition from the Languedoc wine region which reduced the demand for Chablis, decimation of the vineyards from phylloxera and the interruption in production due to World War II. François still saw the potential of the region and took advantage of low land prices in the 1960s and 1970s to expand the estate, including parcels in some of the Chablis Grand Cru vineyards.

The domaine holds 9.29 hectares of vineyard land planted entirely with Chardonnay grapevines, in Chablis. The wines are harvested entirely by hand, Raveneau is one of only five estates in Chablis to still use this method.

No new oak barrels are used to make the wines. The wines are fermented in stainless steel and then aged in barrels with an average age of seven to eight years, for twelve to eighteen months.

Raveneau owns sections of three Chablis Grand cru vineyards. These holdings are 0.54 hectares in Les Clos, 0.60 hectares in Blanchots and 0.75 hectares in Valmur.

Further land is owned within six Chablis Premier Cru vineyards. The largest holding is Montée de Tonnerre, with 3.20 hectares, followed by Butteaux with 1.50 hectares. The other four are Foret with 0.60 hectares, Vaillons with 0.50 hectares, Montsmains with 0.35 hectares and Chapelot with 0.30 hectares.

There is also a newly acquired 0.95 hectare parcel of village classified Chablis, on the opposite side of the Vaillons slope. The first vintage from this plot was harvested in 2007.