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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 93.5 pts. and median of 94 pts. in 118 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Oli_Vilmo on 3/31/2024 & rated 94 points: Still very rosy, an incredible flowery taste as usual !! (139 views) | | | Tasted by Oli_Vilmo on 10/3/2023 & rated 95 points: So Rayas, flowers evolved (851 views) | | | Tasted by Oli_Vilmo on 5/21/2023 & rated 95 points: Very expressive, a typical flowery Rayas ! (1233 views) | | | Tasted by Collector1855 on 9/10/2022 & rated 97 points: 200 Burgundy Grand Crus from vintage 2000, 4-day blind tasting (Singapore): Pirate bottle. Aaah what a nose. Ripe rich but not oxy very good farmyard funk, a bit too soft on the palate, but so fragrant. Rayas frangrance and everyone else at the table can go home. unfortunately it is no secret anymore and the wines went from 400$ to 2k in one year... :-). If Parker was wrong on ONE wine then it was Rayas. (3873 views) | | | Tasted by fc1910 on 3/26/2022 & rated 98 points: What can maybe top a 904 from 2001?
no easy way out, try this one!
This one is all about finesse, so sublime, basket full of blossoming flowers, white pepper, underlaying red fruit, very delicate and fine on the midpalate, extremly long aftertaste, but this perfect balance......, never would have guessed about an 22 years ols wine blind, so chewy the spice and fruit, so "warm" and delicate the fruit, enjoy or hold another decade++, next bottle close to perfection! ****(*) (2834 views) | | | Tasted by BenBlu on 12/29/2021 & rated 97 points: Day 1 pnp much more accessible than the 01 served along side, gave immediate pleasure but felt like there was more to come. Day 2 recorked it was the real deal and I was able to immerse myself into this beauty: visually fairly cloudy / raw unfiltered and unfined juice (akin to some DRCs from that era) quite murky ruby red but glowing in the glass. On the nose some headspinning whole cluster perfume that is both sweet stems and raw tart rhubarb which give this wine a Burgundian balance and make it a magical drop that only Rayas can bring into glass from CdP. Wow wine - drinking amazing today, I would open the bottle a day in advance to enjoy at its peak now. (2904 views) | | | Tasted by KenPlace on 12/13/2021 & rated 98 points: Incredible wine. As soon as I opened I knew it was special. Certainly mature, but so elegant. Tawny color in line with its 21 years. Nose of pomegranate, garrigue, funky. One the palate, smooth, very elegant, completely integrated. Notes of dark cherries, pomegranate, garrigue. Long. One of my top 5 wines of the year. (2383 views) | | | Tasted by WoodieBayArea on 7/26/2021 & rated 94 points: felt very shut down or perhaps over the hill (?) when opened... little paranoia settled in, then when having three hours later with guests this was an elegant beauty, structure (whatever might have been there over the years was pretty much non-existent -- enough acid for lift, but not more, and zero tannin pretty much)... this had perfumed red fruit and a tiny bit of "je n'sais quoi".... LOVELY!!... but didn't feel like waiting represented a good risk / reward so I will drink up on these (2456 views) | | | Tasted by Collector1855 on 3/20/2021 & rated 99 points: Served blind. Right from the start you knew that there was a winner in the glass. Wonderful nose with gingerbread, smoke, dried fruit, raspberry. Very intense on the palate, ripe but not heavy. Long, aromatic finish. A Wow wine. (3834 views) | | | Tasted by KPB on 11/29/2020 & rated 96 points: I was quite afraid to open this, but in fact the wine is still flavorful and delicious, even at this very advanced age for a Chateauneuf du Pape Grenache!
The wine has the color of old wood: a pale reddish hue on a tawny, almost brown backdrop. On the nose you find cranberry and pomegranate aromas, black tea, soaring floral notes, spice cake, very sweet aromas of red raspberry pastilles. On the palate, the wine has a Burgundian acidity, but the flavors run to ripe red berries. Not much tannin left, but the endless mineral support gives lift and frames the fruit.
Quite lovely! My last bottle, and I think I was lucky to find it still in such good shape. Neat fact: it still has a price tag, $79.99. No idea where I bought it, but I’m glad I did. (2608 views) | | | Tasted by Burgnick on 10/19/2020 flawed bottle: Badly tainted (2645 views) | | | Tasted by hiker_guy on 3/8/2020: Started out very reserved and a little off kilter but time in a decanter really turned this into a lovely wine.
Dense, dark fruit, almost chocolatey on the palate. Lovely fullness without the weight. Long finish. This wine had a denseness that was surprising but very welcome and appreciated. (2830 views) | | | Tasted by Neuneuil on 12/27/2019 & rated 94 points: Brownish red hue. Smokey Sweet cherry nose. Delicate and silky mouthfeel.
Another beautiful showing from the Reynauds (2719 views) | | | Tasted by hprphf on 12/6/2019 & rated 93 points: Zachy's BYO 2019: Nice place to drink, still lots of freshness but showing secondary. Box of spiced florals, soil, touch of sweet, great silky palate. 93+ (2792 views) | | | Tasted by LW31 on 10/23/2019: Lovely. Quite medium bodied, fresh, plummy, classic strawberries on the nose. Accessible. Not a great vintage but charming right now. (2594 views) | | | Tasted by Jammy Wine on 8/31/2019 flawed bottle: Chateau Rayas has more bottle variation than any other producers I know in Chateauneuf du Pape, every 10 bottles of Rayas there will be 1 that is underwhelming, but the other 9 bottles make it completely worth the risk. Unfortunately this was one of the underwhelming Rayas, it doesn’t have anyone wine faults, but it’s diluted and missing the nose. Very soft nose of strawberry, light and metallic. Not sure how to rate this. (2768 views) | | | Tasted by Burgundy Al on 7/4/2019: July 4th Dinner with the Moreaus (Chassagne-Montrachet): Late night pop-and-pour, served double blind. Mature black cherry with sweet spice and well aged leather. Not a powerhouse, but incredibly elegant and layered. Wonderful sweet spice aromas made me first think whole cluster, but then seconds later took me to last night's Rayas served double blind. How often does that happen?!? So enticing and exciting. (2634 views) | | | Tasted by Nanda on 7/4/2019: 4th of July Dinner in Chassagne Montrachet (Chassagne-Montrachet): Late evening night cap. Full and complex nose with mature black cherry and an array of exotic spice, toasted herbs, smoke and potpourri. Fruit is softened and mature. Nicely balanced. Good to drink now, don't see this getting any better. (2297 views) | | | Tasted by WoodieBayArea on 5/1/2019: not notes and a few weeks back, but remember (given obvious expectations) that this wasn't what I had hoped it would be...bummer -- I have heard many great things of some bottles from the 60's and 70's (2140 views) | | | Tasted by Claret & CdP Gang on 2/4/2019 & rated 92 points: CNY reunion dinner, a more savoury than the usual strawberries Rayas nose, drank with the 2008 Perrot Chambolle Fuees, the Fuees is better, this Rayas shows it’s weaker vintage or maybe this bottle was not as fresh as my last 00 bottle, good but just couldn’t compete with the Fuees in its concentration & length
92 (2545 views) | | | Tasted by Jeff Leve on 6/4/2018 & rated 92 points: A very good wine, but perhaps not a great Rayas. The wine is medium bodied, soft, silky, fresh and lively. The fruit is pure, clean and sweet, but the finish is bit short, although it is damn sexy. (4810 views) | | | Tasted by acyso on 5/6/2018 & rated 88 points: Vinetasters: Rayas (Skokie, IL): Served double blind in a Rayas lineup. A hint of brown spice and coffee, as well as a slight touch of brett on the nose here. The palate here also shows a slight bit of brown character, and there's a sweetness here that seems slightly odd in the context of the age of this (probably 15-20 years). However sweet and ripe this is, it doesn't feel hot at all, and this is nicely balanced. Still, this comes off a little thin to my palate. My 7th, group's 4th. (4074 views) | | | Tasted by Claret & CdP Gang on 4/9/2018 & rated 93 points: A Rayas & Henri Bonneau Celestins dinner among friends, drank along with the Rayas 03, 04, 06 and the Celestins 04 & 06, light red, very perfumed, roses & strawberries, a much better bottle than the one drank few months back, with time in the Zalto, a savoury aspect, elegant and fairly light for a Rayas, open and ready
93 (3268 views) | | | Tasted by Vmaster007 on 1/19/2018 & rated 92 points: A bit more masculine than what I am used to, but I really enjoyed this wine. The nose is fabulous as it has delicate spices. The color is typical.
This wine evolved in the glass, so its worth it opening your bottle a few hours in advance. (3278 views) | | | Tasted by retired_and_roving on 12/25/2017: 12 Days of Christmas; 12/21/2017-1/1/2018 (NYC, Vermont, Boston): Popped and poured, no time for a slow ox today. Typical lovely Rayas color and nose. This was very nice, but not quite as good as the ‘00 I had at the Rayas vertical dinner back in October. Maybe a bit more muted with a medium finish. Flavors of cherry, herbs, earth, a hint of licorice - silky elegant mouthfeel. Even when not the best bottle of Rayas - it is always a joy to experience! Merry Christmas! (3597 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| Château Rayas Producer website - Read more about Chateau Rayas
Robert Parker "Vine of the Rhône Valley"
"No one would suspect that inside the drab, unpainted building that houses Château Rayas (sitting unmarked at the end of a deteriorating dirt road in the appellation of Châteauneuf du Pape) are some of the world’s most distinctive wines.
The credit goes to Jacques Reynaud and his late father, Louis, who passed away in 1978. Jacques Reynaud (he reminds me of a cross between Dr. Seuss’s Grinch and Yoda from the Star Wars trilogy) is the brilliant, unassuming genius behind these wines, which are made from low yields from some of the oldest vines in the southern Rhône Valley. Reynaud is assisted by his sister, Françoise, who is cut from the same eccentric mold as her brother.
Château Rayas is the antithesis of modern-day winemaking. No stainless steel, no temperature controls, no new oak, and no oenologists are to be found in the Rayas cellar, which contains a hodgepodge of barrels, demi-muids, and foudres. The stories I could tell about Jacques Reynaud could fill a book, but behind his decidedly antifame, anti-twentieth century facade is an extremely well-read gentleman with exceptional knowledge and a love of many things, including fine food, as I discovered over several meals with him at the nearby La Beaugravière.
Getting precise information on what goes on at Château Rayas is not an easy task. Despite having visited and tasted with Reynaud more than a dozen times during the last decade, I still have not figured out what magic takes place in these cellars. Given the extraordinary quality that emerges in the finest years, I can live without the answers. We have gotten to know each other reasonably well, and I will convey a few stones to give readers a glimpse of Reynaud’s impish character. Early in my tasting experience with him, I became irritated after tasting through four different barrels without Reynaud’s saying one word about what was in each barrel.
Finally, I asked what we were tasting. His response was, “You’re the expert. You tell me.” Another example of his sense of humor emerged over dinner at La Beaugravière while we were sharing a magnificent bottle of Chave Hermitage. I asked him whom he admired the most. His deadly serious response was, “You.”
Grenache Varietal character (Appellation America) - Read more about GrenacheReserve The Wine News | Wine Country This Week | Wine Lover's PageFrance Vins de France (Office National Interprofessionnel des Vins ) | Pages Vins, Directory of French Winegrowers | French Wine (Wikipedia)
Wine Scholar Guild vintage ratings
2018 vintage: "marked by a wet spring, a superb summer and a good harvest"
2019 vintage reports
2021: "From a general standpoint, whether for white, rosé or red wines, 2021 is a year marked by quality in the Rhône Valley Vineyards. Structured, elegant, fresh and fruity will be the main keywords for this new vintage."
2022 harvest: idealwine.info | wine-searcher.comRhône Guide to the wines, wineries and appellations in the Rhone Valley The Rhône Valley/Le Vins de la Vallée du Rhône (Comité Interprofession des vins AOC Côtes et vallée du Rhône)
### Wine Scholar Guild's Rhône valley vintage charts & ratings ###Southern Rhône Guide to the wines, wineries and appellations in the Southern Rhone Valley
Châteauneuf-du-Pape Châteauneuf-du-Pape Appellation - Read more about Chateauneuf du Pape
Another site on this appellation
Vineyards on weinlagen-info
"As I have written many times in the past, the sweet spot for drinking Châteauneuf du Papes is usually the first 5-6 years after the vintage. Then they seem to go through an adolescent, awkward, and sometimes dormant stage, only to re-emerge around year 10-12, where the majority of wines are often fully mature. The best of them will continue to hold on to life (but rarely improving) beyond 15-20 years. It is only the exceptional Châteauneuf du Papes that will evolve for 20-25+ years, and those are indeed a rarity. However, things may be improving dramatically in terms of the longevity of Châteauneuf du Pape, although Grenache-dominated wines, the vast majority of wines produced in the appellation, are wines that do not have the polyphenol (extract and tannin) content of top Cabernet Sauvignons, Merlots, or Syrah-based wines. Nevertheless, the younger generation in Châteauneuf du Pape has taken seriously the farming in the vineyards. There are more organic and biodynamically run vineyards here than in any other appellation of France. The yields, which were already low, are even lower today (20-35 hectoliters per hectare), and of course, the proliferation of top luxury and/or old-vine cuvées gives a significant boost to the number of wines that will evolve past 25 or 30 years. The advantage of these wines is their broad window of drinkability." - Robert Parker
Vintage Chart 1978 to Today
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