Domaine François Raveneau

François Raveneau founded the domaine in 1948, the year he married Andrée Dauvissat, the sister of René Dauvissat. Just after World War II, wine production in Chablis was at its nadir, and the family initially grew multiple crops to make ends meet. François's father, Louis Raveneau, was selling vineyards, and François was the first to add more. François did not focus solely on wine until the 1960s, when he began bottling at the domaine, the first of his family to do so. The Raveneau family farms the domaine's 10 hectares today.

• Founded 1948 by François Raveneau, the year he married Andrée Dauvissat, sister of René Dauvissat
• François's father, Louis Raveneau, was selling vineyards; François was the first to add more
• Bottling at the domaine began in the 1960s under François, the first of the family to do so
• The Raveneau family farms 10 hectares today

François Raveneau had two sons. Jean-Marie Raveneau worked with his father from 1978. Bernard Raveneau trained further afield, including a lengthy stint at Maison Régnard, and returned to the domaine when his father retired in 1995. In 2012 the brothers split the family duties, with Bernard more likely to man the cellar and Jean-Marie to attend to the vineyards. Bernard's daughter Isabelle began working alongside her father in the winery in 2010, and Jean-Marie's son Maxime joined her in 2017. As of October 2024, the vineyards are mainly Maxime's responsibility, and he and his team do everything by hand.

• Jean-Marie Raveneau worked with his father from 1978
• Bernard Raveneau returned to the domaine when François retired in 1995
• Isabelle Raveneau, Bernard's daughter, began working in the winery in 2010
• Maxime Raveneau, Jean-Marie's son, joined in 2017 and is mainly responsible for the vineyards (as of October 2024)

The Raveneau family farms 10 hectares, split across the right and left banks of the Serein river; the domaine is not certified organic. In Grand Cru Les Clos it has three parcels totalling 0.5 hectares that start mid-slope, facing due south, and climb to the top near the woods; 25% of these vines were planted in 1963, 50% in 1976 and the final 25% in 1989. In Grand Cru Valmur it owns 0.75 hectares planted over 50 years ago on the steepest part of the southeast-facing slope. In Grand Cru Blanchot, where the vines face east, the family owns 0.75 hectares at the top of the slope; two-thirds of the vines were planted in 1935 and the balance in 1970. The Blanchot parcel is too small for the domaine's tractors, so it is ploughed by horse. Its 3.12 hectares of Premier Cru Montée de Tonnerre, nearly a third of the domaine's total, lie in ten parcels split half and half between Chapelot and Pied d'Aloup, and make up the estate's largest cuvée. Of the Chapelot vines, 1.1 hectares are very old, and in generous years the domaine bottles a portion of that wine separately under the Chapelot label. In Vaillons it has 0.5 hectares in three parcels, two in the lieu-dit Vaillons and one in Sécher, all planted in the 1970s. Within the Montmains umbrella it bottles Montmains (0.3 hectares), Forêt (0.67 hectares of young vines near the base of the slope) and Butteaux (1.5 hectares at the top of the slope, part planted in the 1950s and the balance in the 1980s). Village Chablis comes from 1.1 hectares in two parcels, and Petit Chablis from 0.82 hectares above Grand Cru Vaudesir.

• Grand Cru: Les Clos 0.5 ha (three parcels), Valmur 0.75 ha, Blanchot 0.75 ha
• Premier Cru: Montée de Tonnerre 3.12 ha (Chapelot and Pied d'Aloup), Butteaux 1.5 ha, Forêt 0.67 ha, Vaillons 0.5 ha, Montmains 0.3 ha
• Chapelot bottled separately from very old vines in generous years
• Village Chablis 1.1 ha in two parcels; Petit Chablis 0.82 ha above Grand Cru Vaudesir
• Not certified organic

The wines are made, for the most part, as they always have been. The grapes are lightly crushed, slowly pressed and settled overnight, and alcoholic and malolactic fermentations take place in tank with a moderate amount of lees; once malolactic is complete, the wines move to cask. For many years the domaine used the feuillette, the small 110-litre barrel traditional to Chablis. The wines are now increasingly aged in 500-litre casks, and space has been less of an issue since the new cellar was built in 2013. There are no more than six to 12 new casks in the entire cellar each year. The 2019 vintage brought only half a harvest volume.

• Alcoholic and malolactic fermentations in tank, then ageing in cask
• Increasingly 500-litre casks rather than the traditional feuillette
• No more than six to 12 new casks in the cellar each year
• New cellar built in 2013
• 2019 brought only half a harvest volume

Isabelle Raveneau gives the domaine's aim as "to make a small, hand-crafted product, with the best grapes that we can produce, yet they are still a product of their vintage". The domaine does not use contractors. Decanter's Charles Curtis MW finds a distinct aversion to oaky flavours even though cask ageing is traditional at Raveneau, and he characterises Les Clos as a substantial wine that ages very slowly, Valmur as having perhaps less power but more delicacy and finesse than Les Clos, and Blanchot as having the most pronounced minerality and liveliest acidity of the domaine's grands crus.

• Isabelle Raveneau: "a small, hand-crafted product, with the best grapes that we can produce" (Burgundy-Report)
• Charles Curtis MW (Decanter): a distinct aversion to oaky flavours
• Charles Curtis MW (Decanter): Blanchot shows the most pronounced minerality and liveliest acidity of the domaine's grands crus

The range runs from Petit Chablis and village Chablis through Premier Cru Montmains, Forêt, Butteaux, Vaillons and Montée de Tonnerre, with Chapelot bottled separately in generous years, to Grand Cru Blanchot, Valmur and Les Clos. Charles Curtis MW writes in Decanter that the Raveneau reputation rests on the power and longevity of its grands crus, that many consider its greatest wine to be Grand Cru Les Clos, that the top wines sell for several times more than their nearest competitor, and that its Montée de Tonnerre is a peerless example of that Premier Cru.

• Petit Chablis and village Chablis
• Premier Cru: Montmains, Forêt, Butteaux, Vaillons, Montée de Tonnerre, and Chapelot in generous years
• Grand Cru: Blanchot, Valmur, Les Clos
• Charles Curtis MW (Decanter): many consider Les Clos the domaine's greatest wine

Primary sources: none (no producer website used). Secondary sources: https://www.decanter.com/premium/domaine-francois-raveneau-taking-the-pulse-of-chablis-greatest-wine-538472/, https://www.guildsomm.com/public_content/features/articles/b/brian_mcclintic/posts/deconstructing-raveneau, https://www.burgundy-report.com/burgundy-report-extra/07-2021/francois-raveneau-2019/. Last verified 2026-10-12.