Tasted in Lignorelles with David and Arnaud Lavantureux, 23 January 2019.
Domaine Roland Lavantureux
4 Rue Saint-Martin
89800 Lignorelles
Tel: +33 3 86 47 53 75
www.chablis-lavantureux.fr
David & Arnaud on 2018:
“2018 was simply magnifique. We are ultra-happy, not just to have made some wine but also the quality of what we made – the previous vintages were complicated, but just about everything looks great for the 2018s – they really have the balance. ”
David on the last 2 years:
“Here it’s less than 40% of a regular volume in 2017 – the lowest volume harvest here for 30 years. It was much worse for us than in 2016 which was an average volume but 17 was catastrophic we lost approaching two-thirds of the volume and that’s such a shame when you see how great the vintage is. There’s no commercialization in bulk here so we have no reserves for the clients so it’s very tough – the best we could do was to delay the sales of the 2016s to keep some flow of sales through the year. But with 18 we will have enough! The style of 2017 is generally rich and large but with super balance – in 4-5 years they will be great. We like to stock the wines at least 6-7 months in bottle before selling – it’s additive to the quality.”
The wines…
A great set of wines – a number showing accents of oak – but most of that will already be gone in another 6 months or-so. Excellent stuff!
All natural cork is used here, nothing peroxide treated. Wax topped from the Vauprin onwards.
Here is the only wine that with 100% stainless-steel for all vinification and elevage. All from Lignorelles
Hmm a nice width, a little saline and citrus, tighter below. Lovely volume, complex, open, ooh that’s classy – complex, saline, citrus and completely delicious – bravo!
2017 Chablis
All the domaine’s wines are vinified parcel by parcel – this comes from a single parcel in Lignorelles but a big parcel of 5ha and is the biggest cuvée of the domaine. 25% barrel elevage
Also quite a tight nose but showing a similarly nice width of saline and citrus. Extra volume here, more overtly mineral but with accents of citrus adding to the accessibility. Great texture, fine width, beautifully finishing.
2017 Chablis Vieilles-Vignes
3 parcels in Lignorelles – vines planted by grandfather – 50-60 year-old vines. Here with 40% barrel elevage, all the higher crus with 50%
A deep nose, almost creamy. Ooh extra depth, more energy, a creamy richness, wide – clearly a little oak in here but a wine of delicious depth and complexity. Excellent, really juicy finishing.
2017 Chablis 1er Fourchaume
Ooh – a sparkly, complexity – lots of small fine notes – no overt barrel. Wide, great texture, growing intensity, an energy here too – just a touch of oak in the finishing flavours. Excellent – at least!
No, not my bad spelling, this is a villages climat – a high parcel in Lignorelles, south, south-east facing, but 300m high so cool and exposed.
The most open of all these – with a freshness of citrus in the high tones. Ouch – ooh that’s fine – opure, clarity, you could cut yourself on this – such great focus. A little fume oak in the end – but a great wine in waiting – bravo!
Hmm – wide, faintly creamy freshness and citrus – very inviting. Ooh, nice line again, layered, fresh, mouth-watering. So juicy finishing – I don’t find many Beauroy great – but here’s one.
Too steep for animals here and slippy too – so everything done by hand. A similar exposure to Vauprins, but at lower altitude, virtually no soil here vs plenty in Beauroy, and what there is here is much whiter. Half with barrel elevage.
A little firework reduction. Ooh even more direct, fine intensity, shimmering with energy, layered finishing – high-level complexity – no overt oak before the finish. Ooh, so good.
Bought
Really perfumed and wide, some oak here. Wow – what a line – pure mineral but nothing austere, sweet, layered, a river of fresh flavour. So great!
Bought.
Wider, more overtly complex here – tiny complexities – the Vosne of these wines. More composed, wider, pure mineral again, though. Great width – flavour-wise this is a little more guarded than the Bougros – but it’s also great!