【Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos】
The vineyard faces southwest, allowing grapes to ripen beautifully. The altitude difference from the base to the top of the slope is nearly 80 meters, naturally resulting in varying soil conditions. The top is dominated by Kimméridgien rocks, slightly interspersed with Portland rock. The soil is very poor, well-drained, and produces wines with a cooler, more austere style. While the bottom, while also rocky, is richer in clay, producing fuller-bodied wines. While wines produced uphill and downhill vary, overall, the wines here are characterized by high acidity, a rich minerality, and a weighty palate, offering excellent aging potential.
A rising star in Chablis, a renowned white wine region in northern Burgundy, Roland Lavantureux's rise has been remarkable.
In 1978, after graduating from oenology school in Beaune, Burgundy, Roland Lavantureux founded his winery in the village of Lignorelles in Chablis, leveraging his keen vision, natural intuition, and unwavering Burgundian pragmatism. Since 2010, his two sons, Arnaud and David, have taken over management of the winery: Arnaud oversees the vineyards and cellar, while David oversees marketing and sales.
The winery has flourished under the leadership of the new generation. The two brothers have continuously refined the quality of their wines and the precision of their terroir, expanding the family's holdings to 21 hectares and adding numerous single vineyards. While accurately expressing the Chablis terroir, the new generation has taken it to the next level, imbuing the wines with even richer layers and a more varied palate. Major wine critics and publications have awarded the wines high scores of 95-97 and rave reviews, and the wines have become a regular fixture in many Michelin-starred restaurants across France. This dazzling new star in Chablis is steadily rising.
During the export process, Roland Lavantureux was spotted by renowned fine wine merchant Kermit Lynch in the United States, who signed him as their agent. Kermit Lynch also imports renowned Burgundy wineries such as Romanée-Conti, François Raveneau, Arnaud Ente, Coche-Dury, and Bizot, highlighting Roland Lavantureux's potential.
Kermit Lynch highly praised Roland Lavantureux's wines, praising their prominent minerality, high-quality acidity, and precise expression of the quintessential Chablis style. He also identified the new generation of winemaking brothers Arnaud and David Lavantureux, along with their close friends Isabelle and Maxime Raveneau, the younger siblings of François Raveneau, the leading Chablis producer, as future representatives of Chablis.
The winery currently produces a small number of wines, with a total of 7 white wines, covering everything from Petit Chablis to Bougros, the essence of the Grand Cru vineyard. Each wine has a refined and pure style. The winery is now steadily rising, and the next top Chablis winery is already foreseeable.
