Domaine Raveneau is a well-known domaine situated in the Chablis wine region of Burgundy. The domaine was established by François Raveneau in 1948. He combined vineyards which he had purchased himself with vineyards owned by the family of his wife (She was a member of the famous Dauvissat wine growers family.)
He expanded the estate by buying several plots of land, including parcels of Grands Crus vineyards, for a relatively low price during the 1960’s and 1970’s. Although the wines received very good critics in France, the domaine was not well known abroad.
This changed in the 1980’s when the wines were exported for the first time to the USA and finally received international recognition. François Raveneau retired in 1988 and died in 2000, but his son Jean-Marie Raveneau already started working at the domaine since 1978 and was assisted by his brother Bernard in 1995.
Currently Domaine Raveneau has 9.29 Ha of vineyards planted exclusively with the Chardonnay grapevine. The estate owns small plots of vineyards in 3 Grands Crus (“Les Clos” 0.54 Ha, “Blanchots” 0.60 Ha and “Valmur” 0.75 Ha) and 6 Premier Crus (“Butteaux 1.50 Ha, “Montée de Tonnèrre 3.20 Ha, “Les Chapelots” 0.30 Ha (now grubbed up), “La Forêt” 0.60 Ha, “Montmains” 0.35 Ha and “Les Vaillons” 0.50 Ha). They also purchased a 0.95 Ha vineyard of Chablis AC, with a first production in 2007.
All grapes are harvested by hand, which is rare in the Chablis region (Only 4 other producers still use this method) and no new oak barrels are used to produce the wines. Since the production is very limited, the wines from Domaine Raveneau are scarce and in very high demand. Furthermore, the wines require some additional bottle aging. Especially the Grands Crus are capable to age for at least 20 years or more.
