As stated in the Bizot thread I just recently returned from a trip to Montreal where me and my girlfriend attempted to eat and drink ourselves to death. Fortunately we never accomplished that goal, but my other goal was to track down and try prized French wines I have no access to at home on Vancouver Island. There were 2 wines in particular that I really longed for and thought I had a decent chance at, Allemand Reynard and Raveneau anything.
The first night we had a reservation at Le Filet and I called in advance to see if they had anything unlisted in their cellar, my request of Raveneau only received a chuckle back, but when I asked about Allemand he said he had a few options that he would have ready for me on arrival. As soon as we arrived we were treated with first class service, maybe because I had already committed to buying a 300 dollar bottle of wine, but I choose not to read into that. I was presented with a 2010 Reynard, 2012 Reynard and 2012 Chaillot. I asked to open and decant the 2010 but keep the 2012 Reynard out and I’d take it to go. We opted for a tasting menu and the food was incredible top to bottom, the stand outs to me being a trio of oysters including one baked (I would never get baked oysters normally) with miso and tempura that was one of the best bites of the trip and also a veal cheek gemelli with foie gras shaved on top.
Now the 2010 Allemand Reynard, I had really hyped up this wine in my head, but it more than delivered. I’m sure this isn’t peak drinking time but it’s when our 2 paths crossed so it was perfect for me. Everything I love about Syrah, the complexity of the fruit, smoked meat, olives, and flowers. The density, but with cutting acidity, it was really breathtaking, top 3 red wines of my life.
The next day we went for Brunch at an upscale bistro that had Raveneau Chablis on their online list for a reasonable tariff, but on arrival looking at the wine list there was one noticeable omission… I asked the server about it and he said he was new, but would ask, he came back shaking his head. I gave him the Larry David stare for a while then said ok and resigned to beer. They had a great deal on an older Rayas, but since it was brunch I wasn’t really in the mood for it but asked if he would sell it to go, he said no problem. This time another server came over and said unfortunately because it’s such a good deal they won’t sell it to go because they want it to be enjoyed in the restaurant. I replied no problem I really respect that policy, but hey do you have any Raveneau? He said yes but he wouldn’t sell that to go either. I said that’s perfect because I’ll sit here and drink it right now. He came back saying they no longer had the base Chablis, but had a 2017 Forets, 2016 Valmur and a 2017 Blanchot. So there it was, my white (burgundy) whale, I had no idea how to choose one so went with the Blanchot knowing full well it was probably too early to drink a Grand cru, but what the hell, we’re only here now. Once again we were provided great service by our new server who decanted the wine and poured for us as we just sat there for 2 hours after brunch until we were the last table left, indulging in the best white wine of my life. To me the things that stuck out were the “purity” and the length. I was surprised at how little oak influence there was to me, this beautiful laser focused lemon and kelp drying on wet rocks (I think I stole this from somewhere) would just go on and on and on. Once again the wine exceeded my lofty expectations and proved sometimes it’s ok to meet your heroes.