Jean Chauvenet Vosne-Romanée Aux Raviolles 2022

Domaine Jean Chauvenet was founded in Nuits-Saint-Georges in 1969 and today is run by Jean’s daughter Christine and her husband Christophe Drag. The domaine farms roughly 9.5 hectares, including an unusually deep collection of Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Crus, and has built its reputation on structured, classical pinot noir designed to age. Farming is increasingly organic in approach, harvesting is by hand, and the cellar work remains traditional: complete destemming, a short cold maceration, two to three weeks of cuvaison, and élevage of roughly 18 months before bottling without fining or filtration.

Aux Raviolles is a tiny 0.31 hectare parcel at the southern edge of Vosne-Romanée, close to the boundary with Nuits-Saint-Georges. The vines are around 40 years old and grow on relatively silty, sandy soils, which tend to give the wine a little more finesse and aromatic lift than Chauvenet’s more firmly structured Nuits bottlings. The 2022 is 100% pinot noir, fully destemmed and fermented in the domaine’s usual classical manner before élevage in barrel, with about 30% new oak. It is still a substantial Vosne rather than an especially delicate one, but the site brings more perfume and polish to Christophe Drag’s naturally taut style.

The 2022 shows blackberry and dark cherry with violet, licorice, pepper and exotic spice, alongside a distinctly rocky, mineral note. The palate is concentrated and energetic, with firm tannins and bright acidity carrying the fruit through a long finish. It has Vosne’s perfume and spice, but with a muscular edge that reflects both the vintage and Chauvenet’s Nuits-Saint-Georges sensibility.