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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 90.6 pts. and median of 91 pts. in 40 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by dbg on 3/21/2024: Classic Chinon. Still young. Expect further improvement. Excellent (524 views) | | | Tasted by JCGuthrie on 1/29/2024 & rated 92 points: Pours a lovely light red color. Complex nose of red berries, earth and green herbs. Same on the palate. Very approachable now, with a nice balance between fruit, acid and herbal character. (791 views) | | | Tasted by Wine MOB on 12/29/2023 & rated 92 points: What a great exercise to taste the 15, 16 and 17 and see how vastly different the wines are. 2016 is big, ripe, fruit forward and unrestrained. 2015 and 2017 are much more traditional Chinon. 2015 is lean, with green bell pepper, tobacco leaf, iodine all hiding the sexy black currently fruits. Still very restrained and telling why the estate holds wine back for late releasing. (785 views) | | | Tasted by Julian Marshall on 11/25/2023 & rated 93 points: The nose is a beguiling blend of rose, graphite, violet and strawberry, very appealing indeed. In the mouth, the attack is full of ripe, but not overripe, red berries, leaning towards red cherry and redcurrant, then comes a subtle wave of blackberry, very persistent, before other tastes of strawberry and blackcurrant hit the long finish, which is slightly chalky and green, so refreshing rather than cloying. Fantastic charm and elegance. Drinking well now, but with a long future. (1101 views) | | | Tasted by Putnam Weekley on 7/20/2023 & rated 91 points: Hey! 1st of 4 bottles here, too. I'm taking the occasion of a break in the heat—thanks to a rainstorm—to ingurgitate something I expect to be a little more involved and subtle than the usual high summer drink. Charred hamburger sandwiches on the menu were a factor in choosing it, too.
Decanted clear. The last murky ounce or two remain in the bottle. NOSE: pretty and pristine, with a cut crystal solo of compact little berries, the color of red, blue, and black ink. This ushers by implication a proper arrangement of cool earth, pencil lead, and laurel oil. MOUTH: withdrawn, certainly. Worn fingernail acidity barely registers, though its substance is obvious in the structure. The tannins are fanatically groomed and ripe. The fruit is a chambered string ensemble, with deep, chocolatey cello and mourning viola—perhaps behind a door. As it drinks and chews down a bit, there is a stirring of essential oils and juices from cassis and currant reserves. The trend is good as I break to add fire to the skillet. This wine is an object of significant purity and nascence. It will be some time before it develops anything like suggestions of mushroom or tea. Considering my options, it would be silly to open the next bottle before late 2025, and it might not peak before 2030. 91+
TIME: I should have seen this coming! 24 hours later, resealed tabletop, the last 5 oz. are dreamy. Its like some invisible layer of obscuring carbohydrate dried up and blew away, revealing the sort of literary detail one tends to expect from this producer and this cuvée. (1399 views) | | | Tasted by CWilliam on 5/31/2023 & rated 93 points: 1st of 4 bottles. Loved this. Deep red color. On nose, bright cherry, strawberry, green bell pepper (with airtime), and a hint of tobacco. Palate was similar with a nice contrast between savory notes (tobacco leaf, earth, bell pepper) and tart cherry/strawberry fruit. Medium body/tannins, medium+ acidity and very long finish. 93+/- (1346 views) | | | Tasted by Wine MOB on 1/15/2023 & rated 93 points: Wow!!! This wine is so precise. I was in a wine shop in NYC buying a 1/2 bottle of this wine (not the bottle this note is from) and someone asked me “who buys Chinon” to which the proprietor chimed in that “it is ln’t Chinon. It is Olga Raffault.” I would say thatbthe second part of that statement is true, and while I love the spirit for Raffault, she more than anyone that I can think of is Chinon. This wine is textbook chinon albeit what Mouton is to Pauillac.
Gorgeous black fruits and cherries are framed with bell pepper, tobacco and olive tapenade. Graphite, iodine and wet rocks are all there. Velvety texture and great concentration. God, I hope that the world never catches on to these wines. (1790 views) | | | Tasted by IJC on 11/17/2022: Surprisingly dull, when compared to the bottle drunk 9 months ago (and to the 2014 vintage, drunk alongside). Whatever was present before is gone -No "oomph" - lacking acidity, aromas and the flavors muted. Is it sleeping, or is it done?
Rated 0 on a scale of -1 to +3. (1853 views) | | | Tasted by Vas19 on 10/30/2022 flawed bottle: Either very gently corked or extremely shut down. I'm going to give it the benefit of the doubt and go with the former. (2053 views) | | | Tasted by dbg on 8/18/2022: Pop and pour. Opens over an hour. Dark red to rim. Nice nose of red berries, cherry, cassis, hint of leafy greens. Medium body, ripe fruit, minerality and good balancing acidity, medium finish. Drinking very well young but drinking them all now before they have a chance to develop aged complexity would be a shame. Excellent. (1999 views) | | | Tasted by Jetprof on 7/28/2022 & rated 91 points: Heather enjoyed—Caleb away (1986 views) | | | Tasted by La Ronde on 3/8/2022 & rated 93 points: Dope bottle of Cabernet Franc. I was intrigued by this as I’d already been familiar with other wines from this producer but not this bottling. Barreled for three years with an additional year or so in cellar before release. Good thing I bought two because it’ll probably age for a very long time. For now it’s a delight. Perfectly ripe Cabernet Franc fruit so you know what that means - cassis and blackberry but no jalapeños! Olives though, beautiful, black olives and a very long finish. (2126 views) | | | Tasted by Wine Canuck on 3/4/2022 & rated 91 points: This pours medium ruby in the glass, but notably light toward the rim. The nose is somewhat reticent slowly unfurling to show a classic Chinon profile of raspberry, crushed gravel, burlap, green tobacco leaf, black currant, celery, and charcoal. Even after a few days open it remains only lightly expressive, but what is there is complex and appealing. The palate has a very light and classical frame entering on the raspberry and black currant of the nose, tuning to medium minus tannin and medium plus acid. The finish fizzles out a little short recalling a whips of burlap and charcoal. All in all this very classical bottle of Chinon that really shows it's 12.5% alcohol profile (as per bottle), and unlike some warmer vintage Chinons which show a darker color, more extract, and alcohol, this doesn't seem to reflect the vintage at all. If tasted blind I'd lean more to a cooler year like 2014, 2011, or 2016. This is quite different than say, the wines from Bernard Baudry I've had in 2015, stylistically. I do wonder if this is a bit of a closed phase and will look to age my remaining bottles several years before opening my next. (2629 views) | | | Tasted by IJC on 2/25/2022: Solid, full bodied, only slightly rustic, dark fruited... very satisfying.
Rated +1 on a scale of -1 to +3. (1724 views) | | | Tasted by UrbanGrill on 2/11/2022 & rated 92 points: Quintessential Chinon. (1906 views) | | | Tasted by Jon Harrison on 2/1/2022 & rated 88 points: I love Chinon, especially the wines from the great Olga Raffault domaine.
Maybe my bottle was unrepresentative, but this was light in color. And a very light-bodied, slight wine in the mouth. Not much going on here considering the bottles of Raffault Les Picasses I've had before.
Anyone else?
JGH sommelier CMS-III, San Francisco, CA. (1975 views) | | | Tasted by Buff Tannen, USXFel Presidente on 1/26/2022: Enjoyable initial nose of animal never entirely disappears
Seems strange to never have tasted juneberry in a red before
Bit of mulberry, even less of blueberry
Day 3 a would-be opulent aroma of forsythia with more power, or valerian with less sandalwood
Blueberry; microscopic cola and mandarine, neither ruinous
As others have noted, unusual silken texture not typically attributed to cab franc, like if someone was growing it behind a magic door a little northeast of Beaune
4th and last day probably what this is supposed to be: black olives, black currant. If acidity could be pretty in and of itself, and not merely too much or too little to balance a wine, that would be the case with this polite pleasure, but presently, this wine doesn't fully occupy its glass. Its like looking down a well with water as clear as The Keys, and you can see a photo of this wine at the bottom in perfect detail, and it will be ravishing when it finally burgeons to the surface (1427 views) | | | Tasted by cephomer on 1/11/2022 & rated 92 points: Prof Ned supplied for our blind Xtremo tasting tonite. I've never had this wine b4, but I hope to have it again as I really enjoyed it. Most of us pinned it as a Cab Franc, but I thought it was not as lean as one would expect for this varietal, particularly from the Loire. This wine has somewhat of a round, velvety feel on the palate which I didn't associate with CF. Now I know better....Nose developed nicely, exuding a good amount of tobacco and barnyard. Lots of earthiness and barnyard, as well as green pepper notes on the palate too. There's red fruit too, mostly sour cherries that I detected. Everyone here is saying how this producer is know for her wines aging well. Guess I'll have to revisit. (1590 views) | | | Tasted by dbg on 11/12/2021: Took an early peek at this. Opens nicely over about an hour. Dark red to rim. Nice nose of red berries, cherry, cassis. Medium body, ripe fruit, minerality and good balancing acidity, medium finish. Young, excellent now with plenty of upside. (1827 views) | | | Tasted by winchester-xi on 11/2/2021: Two hours in the decanter before it begins to show much of anything, and even then it remains fairly closed up. A medium-light frame is apparent with good intensity and just a bit of ripe sweetness. I don’t get much of the stuff that bothers the taster below, though there is a hint of stemminess and some minerality poking through eventually. The tannins are there, but pretty well hidden. Amazing that they produced a wine in this style (12.5%) in 2015. Should be great with enough time. (1745 views) | | | Tasted by Pinot Hunter3 on 10/25/2021 & rated 84 points: A rustic Cabernet Franc from a rustic part of France!
The nose is composed with notes of red raspberries, plum and fresh violets, but there is also a coating of barnyard and earthy aromas.
Palate is medium bodied with a velvety texture, good acid and medium tannins. The wine is super earthy with a slightly green astringency running through the fruit.
It is an interesting wine that will develop even more over the next 10 years. It really makes me want some herb crusted lamb!!! (1779 views) | | | Tasted by Richard P Howden on 10/20/2021 & rated 91 points: Nose of herb covered strawberry, mid weight palate with cherry, baking spices, a bit of tannin though still silky, and fine acidic bite on the finish. Medium+ length finish. Not a huge wow but utterly enjoyable with a range of food. BTG at Heirloom. (1795 views) | | | Tasted by RussK on 10/13/2021 & rated 91 points: Russk. I broughtto CDC. A WOTN. Slight nose of clean Brett. Classy. Refined. Restrained. Light to medium bodied. $25 from Astor. Would buy more. 91- pts. (1702 views) | | | Tasted by joraesque on 9/28/2021 & rated 89 points: Ready to go. 12.5% ABV.
88-89 (1519 views) | | | Tasted by Guillaume-en-égypte on 9/20/2021 & rated 91 points: I had been of the opinion that Les Picasses only really started to drink well at about age 10, and a '14 drunk last year only reinforced that opinion. However, this is a precocious (& likely particularly successful) vintage of an old friend. No notes taken, and quite a lot else drunk at table last night, but this is already very good & will only get (much) better.
Stunning value for £16 in the UK
91 +++ (1455 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
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