Internationale du Gout - Vertical series #1: Rayas dinner with Morrocan fusion food
Singapore
Tasted Friday, January 19, 2024 - Saturday, January 20, 2024 by palfr2 with 72 views
Introduction
A wine-tasting group of French expats in Singapore - including some in the wine trade - we had been toying with the idea of a Rayas vertical. It took a couple months to either buy the relevant bottle or repatriate it from far-way European cellars.
Conveniently a bottle of Comando G Rumbo al Norte 19 could be thrown into the tasting to assess whether the hype around this domaine and more generally the terroir of (re)emerging Spanish region Gredos is jusified.
Private Chef Dany was tasked with preparing Fusion Moroccan dishes which we felt would be a very interesting pairing with Grenache. The spice level was purposely dialed at lower end of spectrum so as not to overpower the wines.
The pictures can be seen here:
The serving protocol was to slow-ox the more powerful wines (05,06,07,09) for 48 hours and others (04,11) for 24 hours. Wines were poured in flights of 2 starting with presumed lighter-bodied and turning the volume up as we went. Glasses were Zalto Burgundy which proved very competent.
Tasting notes below center on the relative differences amongst the wines in terms of maturity/readiness to drink, complexity, ripeness level, florality and completeness. I am not dwelling much on flavor descriptors which are common to all Rayas and most Reynaud's reds i.e. the spellbinding nose centered around candy cane and barley sugar, the wild strawberry on the palate as they need no repeating.
Dinner opened with a Henriot Cuvee des Enchanteleurs 1998 to prime everybody s palate for a testing evening. This was paired with caviar generously brought by one of the participant who is turning part-time importer!
Egly-Ouriet Rose disg 2022 was served in between flights and paired equally superbly with the Morrocan dishes.
Flight 1 - Rayas 04 vs Comando G Rumbol al Norte 19 (2 Notes)
Lighter wines paired to start
Flight 2 - Rayas 06 vs Rayas 11 (2 Notes)
Flight 3 - Rayas 05 vs Rayas 07 (2 Notes)
Closing
This was a memorable evening. All the wines showed superbly.
There was a great unity of style on display. All wines were very recognizable as Rayas/Reynaud's creations. One participant observed that the wine-making imprint is likely very strong and what a wine-making this is!!
The 05 and 06 are in the same quality bracket. Arguably both are still climbing. The 06 boasts the most explosive and expressive nose from one, the 05's is similar aromatically but more restrained. Upon airing the 05 shifts an additional gear and cranks further denser matter reveals more flavors. The 07 was a big surprise. I was slightly prejudiced given the known pitfalls of the vintage and less than flattering comments on wineboards. The extra ripeness relative to a '04 or '06 was discernible but not exaggerated.
All in all remarkable wines with unanimous ranking: 05/06/4/07/11/09.
The '04 was 3rd by virtue of good balance, being ready and true to house style. The '11 was very elegant but showing more heat than we would have expected from the year. The '09 came across as a flabbier version of the '07.
The Rumbo al Norte confirmed that the better wines from the fresher altitude terroirs can yield wines of incredible balance and perfume which signature is even closer to Burgundy than a light year Rayas. Grenache with pale colours, absence of cherry liquor/heat and fine-boned tannins. The future is very bright indeed for that region.
2019 Comando G Rumbo al Norte
Spain, Madrid, Vinos de Madrid
(1/20/2024)
Matched against Rayas '04. Very pale color. The lightest by far of any of the wines tasted. Translucid. Lots of commonality with the Rayas across flavor descriptors and scents including candy cane, cinnamon, spices. Some licorice/zan. This was not as expressive and loud as the Rayas in any of their defining characteristics but bested most of them in complexity IMO. It felt a bit less formulaic and was most seamless. Very filigreed and outright discreet even compared to the ligher Rayas.
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2004 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
(1/20/2024)
Matched against Comando G Rumbo al Norte 2019 - After swirling the glass and bringing the glass close tou our nostrils we knew we had moved to the Rayas and Reynaud's nose. Oh that nose!! Yes others are attempting to copy and emulate and you find that signature across the range including Pignan, Pialade and Chateau des Tours. But here and on the wines that followed it is at its most kaleidoscopic. Appreciation of the '04 and its rightful place in the vertical grew as the evening wore on. Not the most complex or packed but entirely true to form and at its peak arguably. Some early evolution and fully resolved palate. Ready. Came in 3rd behind 05/06 in the line-up. In the flight not a lesser wine than the Rumbo. More showy.
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