Domaine Raveneau is the reference point of Chablis and one of the most difficult allocations in France. Founded by François Raveneau in the 1940s and still in family hands, it works around nine hectares — almost all of it premier and grand cru.

The method has barely changed in seventy years: long, slow fermentations, ageing in old feuillettes (the small 132-litre Chablis barrel), no new oak, and late bottling. The wood is there for texture and slow oxygen, never for flavour. The wines age for decades, and are spoken for before they are made.

Valmur sits at the centre of the grand cru slope, between Vaudésir and Les Clos, on Kimmeridgian marl thick with fossilised oyster shells. It is the grand cru most often called the most complete of the seven — the power of Les Clos with more perfume.

2020 was warm and early yet held its acidity remarkably well in Chablis. Lemon and oyster shell over white flowers and a smoky mineral note; steely and deep on the palate, the acidity chiselled, the saline length remarkable. Give it until 2026, then hold.