October 2023 Loire Dinner (Mathilde - SF): Fully resolved tannins, great length and concentration, and elegance. Textbook, archetypal Chinon is a good way to describe it. And I have such fond memories of the '85 Raffault Picasses; one of the wines that turned me onto Loire Cab Francs. A trip down memory lane.
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Loire Tasting (Mathilda Bistro, San Francisco): Perfectly mature, fully integrated wine with a lovely nose of dark fruit, leather, underwood, and tobacco. Good acidity on the palate with tarter fruit, cherries, forest notes, and a suggestion of sweeter fruit. Nice and lingering finish. Really lovely, perfectly aged wine. It's not the most complex wine but very satisfying and enjoyable.
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Berserker Offline (Mathilde Bistro - SF): Textbook aged Chinon. Complex, especially on the nose, with old library leather & books, humidor, earth and macerated cherries, with a bit of green pepper thrown in. Lots of concentration and depth on the palate, and although it's clearly excellent and even beautiful in a way, it doesn't really move me for some reason. Interesting to compare my reaction to the 02 Breton Perrières, which objectively is the lesser wine, but has a je ne sais quoi that stirs me deep down. Others liked this way more, putting it up near the Rougeard for red WOTN. Perhaps it's just the Raffault style. I'm very sorry Olga, it's not you, it's me!
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The wine at present displays a fantastic balance between primary and tertiary qualities. The nose on opening was completely earthy—wet soil, wet leaves, rainy autumn day in the forest, etc. With air, there emerged stewed plums, strawberries, raspberries, and pepper. The palate showed very similar qualities—but with lighter touches of red fruit—with enough tannic grip and depth to indicate this wine still has time at its peak.
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This is on the line between weird and excellent. at first extremely bretty with an almost metallic nose, thought was flawed. After 2 hours in decanter it’s like … confit of sweet green bell peppers? Roasted over a smoky fire? Yeah, weird. But nice sweetness, ripe tannins and depth. I think theirs some VA going in here and I can’t say it’s entirely enjoyable but suspect this is bottle specific.
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Another excellent example of how Cabernet Franc in the hands of the greatest producer develops with age a unique profile that delivers depth, complexity and a touch of elegance. The 1989 has more faint hints of the classic barnyard characteristics, plenty of moist fall leaves, smoky wood, dark cherry and dark wood. But it lacks a little bit of the gutsy,funky characteristics that make the 1985 and 1990 so irresistible. It is also a bit lighter. Drink now.
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Earth, tobacco, plush red fruits, and an interesting ginger (fresh spice) note which I've never picked up on in Loire Cab Franc before. No lingering tannin, medium bodied with an elegant finish. Very easy to drink, fully mature but seems like this would hold at least a few years before starting any decline. Excellent today, off the list at Bloomsday.
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Online Blind Tasting: Cabernet Franc plus some Pirates: *** tasting note based on 0,1l bottle. Half of the bottle tasted completely blind on day one, other half tasted two days later *** Glass: Zalto Universal Clear, deep tawny color. Clean, medium intense, developing nose. Some barn, spices, green pepper, lovage. Very deep and quite fresh. Dry, high, wonderfully integrated acidity. High, fine tannin. only 12,5% abv. Medium body. On the palate really spicy and a bit mature (15 years probably) and ripe notes. But also very fresh and juicy. Wonderful balance, very elegant. Silky, velvet texture. Very deep and with a lovely grip. Wonderful pressure and tension. Long finish with ripe red fruit and spices. CabFranc at its full peak! Such a surprise to see that it was already 30 years old! I would give it at least another decade, even though it will probably not improve. Wonderful experience! 93-94
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Six years since I last tasted it, the 1989 Les Picasses is showing even better, bursting from the glass with a rich bouquet of cherries, berries, smoked meats, cigar ash and loamy soil. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping, with ripe tannins, bright girdling acids and a sapid, even carnal finish, it's a lovely old school Chinon in its prime.
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Astonishingly fresh, clean, vibrant, sharply defined flavors - unexpected in a bottle 31+ years old. An attack of flavors: tart, pomegranate and red currant; stem that I read as "green," a friend called "feral;" earth notes, all woven together, and exploding out of the bottle, like the opening bars of Beethoven's Fifth.
Beautifully clear, sediment having solidified along the length of the bottle; the color dark yet transparent, a slight touch of garnet in the meniscus. Drank half the bottle and reserved the balance for round #2. Stay tuned...
Rated +2 on a scale of -1 to +3.
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Best Olga R. Vintage I’ve had of many. Nicely mature. Lovely intense minerality, acidity. Alcohol on the low side (12.5% on the label). Fresh. Bell pepper and tobacco.
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Once again, direct bullseye.So nicely and lushly well balanced, rich, full of animale scents, beautiful cabenet franc aged dark black and red fruits, a nose of animal hide, moist dark earth, brambly scents and hay. Consistent with last two bottles so ready to drink with no decant and worth every penny if you can find it.
Utilizing the Ah-So pushed the cork into the bottle! Nonetheless a superb showing. Bloody, rusty garnet color. Nose of musk, plum blossom, cassis, currant, hints of stem. Layers of bulbous beef blood, wild sauvage, satisfying green leaf, and tangy red currant on the pliant palate. Nice acidity and smoothed tannin leading to a long finish of red currant fruit anchored in green notes deepening into concentrated grip and earth. Amazing paired with grilled lamb chops at Deception Pass SP.
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Consistently a very nice wine! The nose has notes of green/vegetal flavors, dark fruit, and bell pepper. This started out quite green, which blew away somewhat with air. Still, it was a bit more pronounced than the 4 previous bottles I've had. Lots of fruit still present on the palate with medium tannins and some leather notes. Nice finish. Tasting much younger than a 31 year old wine.
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So tough to resist! Perfectly blended now, with a milder viscosity and a searingly focused cabernet franc barnyard edge: a ton of farm scents, plenty of aged meat, an elegant purple fruit nose, dark cherry ring, and a magical nose with charcoal scents that retains its robust fruit through the bottle. No need to decant. As time passes, this has moved over completely to the right side of the barn.
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A lovely medium garnet in the glass with no obvious signs of age. Beautiful smoky, slightly vegetal aroma- I think I could recognize this anywhere as Raffault. Absolutely delicious, fairly mind-blowing with lightly smoked and seared lamb chops...this should continue to drink well for years. Truly magical wine.
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Dark fruit, green bell pepper, leather, and cigar flavors on the nose. Good acidity with flavors of dark berries, black berries, tart plum, and blood orange on the palate. Long finish. Excellent wine, in a really nice spot right now.
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Perfectly in balance and displaying the full rich and sophisticated side of aged, high quality cabernet franc. This ex-cellars release on again underscores how Raffault is the master of Chinon. Dark red/black alive colors greet the nose with that great mourvedre-like mushroom scent mixed with buried dark fruit, smokey wet oak and soil and a hint of forest green. Smooth till bottle’s end. No decant needed.
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movie night (in spirit, Santa Barbara, CA): opaque lightly browned ruby, some sediment. Nose tomato and green pepper, savory. Palate silky red fruit, nice depth; still seems young. Outstanding QPR. 92 pts
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My birthday celebration, 2019 edition: Drank side by side with 1989 Pichon Baron and I preferred the Raffault. The fruit is somewhat muted compared with what I expected based on other notes but the tertiary elements were there to provide reasonable complexity. A really nice wine.
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Nice showing. Doesn't show quite the intensity I recall from my experiences 5-6 years ago - the fruit seems to be dialed back in terms of intensity and brightness, though there's plenty of savoury earthiness, a whiff of bell pepper, and a touch of leathery funkiness apparent on the nose as well which all add complexity without detracting. I liked it, though it seems a touch past peak.
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Has been a little over 2 years since I have had these - now it’s nearly 30 and it’s splendid. Earthy, soft, lush and lovely and elegantly muted flavors. Green pepper, cherry and earth are the principal drivers. Surprisingly alive and vivid. An incredible wine.
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What a beauty. Another great bottle of this. Perfectly elegant blend of earth, blood, an iron tang, but still with some red fruits showing. Pairs perfectly with black truffles. Needs to be decanted and give it a few minutes but then shows well for over 2 hrs.
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Sadly my last bottle, but still this wine continues to impress lovely nosebof dried green pepper, mushrooms, earthy minerals, dried dark berry, palate still feel fresh with a nice primary and secondary fruit interplay, fine well integrated tannins, medium acidity and medium plus length
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Mushrooms, herbs, underwood, smoke, leather, and dark cherries on the intriguing nose. Good acidity, with red fruit, iron, and orange flavors on the palate. Long finish. Beautiful wine, like an old Bordeaux with a bit more funk and green notes. Delicious!
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Les Barres vertical for 冬至 (Chicago, IL): A stark contrast to the 1977. This is much more rounded, and still have a lot of generous red and black fruit on the nose. There's of course a goodly amount of pyrazine here, but the ripeness of the vintage really helps flesh out the wine. This was also a very super clean bottle, showing earth, but no untoward funk. Very nice.
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Wonderful elegant and fully resolved wine. Strong minty notes on nose, with a earthy palate with a touch still of green pepper. No tannins of course and soft finish. Think these should hold for several years more but wouldn’t hold past another 5.
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2 hour slo-o. Like the 1985 we drank along side this it had a wonderful earthy bouquet and palate with terrific balance and depth and a lengthy finish.
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Brought to Paley’s Place and paired with Wagyu beef. Darker garnet color. Nose of green leaf, earth, plum pits, black currant, and a blast of floral notes one hour in. Smooth and resolved on the palate with dense layers of currant, leather, beef blood, and integrated green pepper cut with earth and slow satisfying grip. Still refreshingly acidic with a enough tannin around to add bite. Longer finish of leafy plum fruit and stone. Last sips were best. I suspect this would have shown even better with a longer decant.
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Herbal patch meets rich fruit on the nose. Good structure: plenty of tannin and acid. Still youthful. A very Bordeaux-like wine on the palate. I kept getting cigar wrappers, dark cherries and a touch of cough medicine. My favorite of a vertical comparing '79, '89, '93, '02, '05, '10 and '11.
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This was a superb bottle. This was like sticking your nose into the mane of a horse, just uncanny. Lots of earth, herbs, and leather too. Palette was still totally alive with enough backbone to stand up to some rich pork dishes. Easily the WOTN.
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Light tawny with gradual fading to the rim. Classic nose of green olive and secondary perfume. Perfect light weight with mellow, balanced feel. Remarkably, it retains some gentle sweetness of fruit as well as some cinnamon spice and even a whiff of bitter chocolate. Earthy (but clean), fine acidity, and minerality complete the long finish that still has mild tannins to resolve. This was pretty much as good as mature Loire red can get, and this particular bottle could have lasted another 5 years. When Raffault is not marred by brettanomyces, it can be very, very good. In contrast to the fading '89 Couly Dutheil tasted today, this was plump, fresh, and just delicious.
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Perfectly balanced between acidity and juicy tannin. Layers of flavor over several hours. Had this with grilled chicken and vegetables. Beautiful wine. Oldest Loire I have had.
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Superbe pureté en bouche, délivrant des notes de fruits rouges, de cuir, de poivron vert. Tout à fait prêt à boire, les tanins sont soyeux et raffinés. C'est un vin qui se laisse boire très facilement, un vrai séducteur. Je l’adore.
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The 'good' 89 at a recent Raffault vertical. Great expression, lots of lush fruits, touch of brightness, leather and earth. Long life ahead, but singing now.
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Olga Raffault Vertical (Cherry Circle Room): Nose: The nose is highly perfumed and elegant with herbs, violets, wild flowers, raspberries, cigarette ash, anise, leather, earth, and herbs.
Taste: Medium bodied with medium+ acidity and medium+ tannins. The tannins still play a supporting role with the acidity remaining quite fresh. The feel is refined and regal with herbs, violets, anise, red cherries, cigarette ash, and raspberries.
Overall: This is flat out gorgeous. It's perfumed, refined, and ethereal that makes you notice and enjoy.
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It is so great, at my age, to fall in love. And I have - totally, completely, passionately. With this wine - it is beguiling. Remarkably fresh for its age - yet with a maturity of flavor that grabs and holds attention. A bit of vegetal nose, smelling a bit like cooked green beans, echoing the green pepper it undoubtedly wore as a youth. Fresh acidity, soft red flavors but mostly masculine earth and leather. A totally gorgeous wine and satisfying experience. I love this wine.
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If you like old school bordeaux for the 80's this has more than a passing resemblance. Drinking nicely, in a quite a good spot. It pours with a dark purple core and medium minus bricking at the rim. The nose isn't massive but very complex and integrated showing blackberry, green bell pepper, green tobacco leaf, leather, soil, gravel, peanut butter, and leather. The palate still has a little tannic grip and medium acid with a long old bordeaux like finish. Great wine.
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Olga Raffault Les Picasses - Past & Present Tasting (New York, NY): Library release bottle. Stood up for 24 hours prior to serving. Fill level was to the bottom of the neck. Cork was intact with minimal seepage. Black charcoal looking substance (assume dried wine) under foil on top of cork. Slow ox'd for 1 hour prior to tasting. Color was red with slight browning. On the nose this also had a bell pepper note although much less pronounced than the '85 and '87. On the palate this was also more vibrant with red fruit, nice acidity and bell pepper. Nice long finish. This one seems to have more life left in it. The group and my favorite of this flight.
Loire Valley (Pearl&Ash, NYC): Dark cherry color, vibrant and bold. Sweet cherry taste is also bold and fresh, followed by the echoes of traditional vegetative flavors of pepper, tomato leaf, some tahini, and tobacco. Still a baby.
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A real beauty - soft, elegant, earthy and inviting. A gorgeous wine that simply could not express itself more completely. The mouth feel alone is worth the price, yet it's followed by inviting red fruit, brambles and damp earth. Nothing short of beautiful.
Clos Rougeard Dinner (Absinthe, San Francisco): Nose is fairly limited; palate has fully integrated tannin, medium-plus acid, no real fruit; short finish. This is disappointing for me. 85 After 1 hour of air the nose has much more complexity with slight spice, palate is still a bit flat over the hill. 87-88
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Clos Rougeard and a Fiorano at Absinthe (Absinthe SF): Moderate minus ruby to a garnet rim. Reductive (burnt rubber). Raw, slightly decaying green peppers. Sandalwood (brett? development?). Well-managed, well-integrated, furry Brett - almost warm and comforting in nature. Sweet dried bell pepper. Dried blueberry and coffee grounds (pyrazinic in origin).
medium minus body high acid medium tannins
Lean and harsh, with astringent green pyrazines on the nose. Tart acid on the finish. Not as generous and classic as the ’90, though this had interesting things to say.
Score: Between 8.5 and 9
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Q1 Tasting - Cabernet Franc wines (Our Apt): Wine #14: Drank as part of a blind tasting of Cabernet Franc. Coming on the heels of a baby, the maturity of this wine was clear. Seemed to be in a really nice spot right now. Fruit still there - red current and cherry cough syrup. Very enjoyable wine. The winner of the tasting was the '87 version of this. (5 pennies)
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really interesting and good, don't know what I was expecting, but this was one of the most savory red wines I have tasted, the note of green pepper is still present in the mid-palate, but it is blended into a melange of savory flavors, wine is fresh and well balanced and the note of dark fruit comes out on the longish finish...
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Clear brick red with an orange rim. Popped and poured. The wine changed through the evening. Reminded me of a crozes hermitage. Started out with an elegant barnyard funk. Red fruit, cherry and raspberry. The tannins were integrated and the finish long. Medium plus body. A bit of mild spice. Later the funk disappeared and the spice and fruit came forward. What a pleasure!
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The 1989 Olga Raffault is drinking beautifully, bursting from the glass after a brief decant with a nose of ripe griotte cherry, subtle tobacco leaf and dried herbs. On the palate the wine is very glossy and textural, as well as quite large-scaled for a Chinon, and its tannins have nicely melted away. Generous, juicy and sappy—at early maturity. But I would have liked just a little bit more depth and focus.
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PNP. Very strong green pepper and tobacco aromas, along with some plum and berry fruit and floral notes. Also leather, dusty earth and oak. Nice acidity, very smooth tannins. Drinks easy.
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Holy shitsnacks! Explosive bouquet of savory herb and earth on the nose. Greets the palate with ripe cherries and currants, giving way to savory and pungent field mushrooms. Incredible!
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'Les Picasses' lies along a riverbank on a fairly steep slope that is primarily alluvial clay overlaying chalk and limestone. The vines are over 50 years old and the site is known to produce wines with fabulous minerality. As such, the Olga Raffault 'Les Picasses' Chinon 1989 has had time to mellow, and the aromas are quite lovely—lavender, game, worn leather, barnyard, and cellar dust. There is a throaty, sensual wildness to this wine, punctuated by a vein of bright acidity and minerals. It has just about everything I love in Loire Valley Cab Franc
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Less cerebral and less delineated than my last bottle, very enjoyable nonetheless. Once again, fresh-tasting for its age. Everything came together after about 2.5 hours in the decanter when the wine was deeply umami and had a slightly milky texture. Before the wine smoothed out, there was real pleasure to its jutting elbows, its pointier tastes and smells. This bottle seems to be a more recent library release, with a brown rather than a white label.
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Light ruby, watery at the extreme edge. Complex, poised, secondary and tertiary perfume. Light weight and essentially lean, green olive and tobacco leaf, marvelous acidity (especially thinking back to this very ripe year) and finishing minerality. I see that other tasters have noted problematic levels of brett, but this bottle was very pure with a late note of ground coffee that I also found when I tasted this in the spring. Dry, dry aftertaste. I suppose you could have unearthed more fruit in this 5 or 10 years ago, but I think it is holding very well and provides an "essence of Cabernet Franc" experience if you value this varietal and the charms of a mature, old fashioned wine. Just think about it-low everything: ripeness, alcohol, pH. Not at all a wine for the current prevailing taste.
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Alas,, this is starting to move down the right shoulder. Still a wonderful soft, fully funky cabernet franc wine delivered with elegance and a full finish. The tobacco, dark cherry, barnyard (more restrained) and underbrush scents are all fully developed on the palate. But the frequency of interference from acidic overtones made this less compelling than the last bottle.
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Some wines offer an added dimension that can't be captured in words. The word that come closest for me is "sparkle." It refers to the sensation that there is a lively aspect to the wine that transports waves of aromatics and flavors across your nose and palate. This was the case here. Ruby colored with no signs (in challenging lighting) of its 25 years. Yet it's maturity is evident in the cornucopia of complex flavors. Some brett, dried plums (but not prune), tobacco, spices and distinct minerality on the finish. The only detraction is that the leather mentioned in so many prior notes, tonight was tarry and the tobacco note was too dominating - particularly as it aired in the glass. Bravo, nonetheless!
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Hard to imagine this as 25 years old. Some aspects, yes, but its freshness and bright acidity say something else. Very dusty, green peppery nose. A bit vegetal but intriguing, leaving you just wanting to keep your nose in the glass. Dry warm leather. Very light bodied but it tastes much bigger than that. Stems and dusty with a bright red fruit. Cranberry? Cherry? Hard to say. A backbone of minerality, light tannin, a finish carried by the acidity, the dustiness and the green pepper. What a spectacular experience. I am so sorry to be nearing the end of the bottle.
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Drinking exceptionally well still with more legs left. Very elegant and a good companion for wood oven fired pizza's at Eric P's backyard party. Stunning. see my prior notes.
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Dinner at Browntrout (Browntrout, Chicago IL): Nose: There is a seamless quality to the nose with red cherries, earth tones, leather, some herbal notes, and lots of roses. There is excellent depth with a savoriness to it as well.
Taste: Medium bodied with medium+ acidity and silky tannins. The feel is more towards the feminine side with red cherries, earth tones, red berries, leather, herbs, and a touch of roses.
Overall: This is a very pretty and mature Olga Raffault. While it's mature, it is far from being in decline and can go a good while longer.
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Dinner at Browntrout (Browntrout - Chicago, IL): I love with that tastes and smells of dirt, and Raffault's wine usually deliver in spades. No exception here. Smells like what you'd think a farmer's hands would smell like and it felt really authentic and real to me. The palate had the classic cabernet franc notes of tobacco, red fruits, and pepper. Just yummy and rustic.
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Dinner in Chicago with new friends (Browntrout (Chicago, Il)): Classic aged Cab Franc on the nose - green herbal, complex with breadth: meat and dark aspects and some sort of olive or herbal quality. Soy. Not as good on the palate - quite tart and a little thin compared to the nose: herbal, minty. Savory tart finish. Nose - 5/6, Palate - 4.5/6, Finish - 4/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1/2 = 14.5/20.
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Dinner at Browntrout (Chicago, IL): Tons of Chinon perfume on this bottle -- lots of bell pepper, green herbs, a bit of animale, and some barnyard funk. The palate is a bit tired -- the fruit seems to have faded off, leaving behind an austere, and likely masculine, skeleton. Whatever elements remain are quite large-scaled, the chewy tannins, the powerful bell pepper flavours, the somewhat overbearing acidity, and the dirt. There's so much dirt. Day after: this has fleshed out a lot, and the hollowness that I detected initially has rounded out. Somehow, more red fruit is showing, and the dirt and herbal aromas have all integrated together much better. Just proves there is plenty of life left in this wine.
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Bramble berries, toasted herbs, coffee grounds, and bell pepper on the nose. Still has some freshness on the palate, with baked cherry, plum, roasted bell pepper, savory spice, and coffee flavors with the slightest hint of Brett. Resolved tannins and a rich finish. Really drinking well now. Could hold, but not likely to improve for my tastes.
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Light ruby. Wonderful red fruit and mint nose that adds a significant component of brett as it airs out. Essentially light and earthy, terrific acidity, and a surprising bitter cocoa aspect. This is excellent and seems middle aged as opposed to fully mature.
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A great bottle of the 1989. It tasted good from the moment it was decanted, unlike another bottle not long ago, and then kept getting better over 3 hours. Tea-like with a rose hip smell and taste early on, it became more opulently textured over time. It developed cocoa flavors and a mushroomy (porcini?) smell that paired well with aged steak. I had an impression of a forest floor when drinking it. Above all, its vibrant freshness was quite stunning in combination with its very savory and mature characteristics. The freshness is what separated this bottle for me from a recently drunk and very good 1990 Picasses.
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A more elegant wine than the 1985, but I think the latter iconic. The 1989 has more of a Bordeaux sense, with less gutsy cabernet franc muscle and more refined integrated profile. Earthy, not yet fully cab franc barnyard, with a medium body and smooth tannins, followed by a deep dark cherry,smoke and lightly scented meaty aura. Not as mellifluous as the 2002, not as thick as the 1985, and less light bodied than the 1990.
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For some time after being decanted, this was aromatically closed, thin in texture, wan. Then, after 2 hours in the decanter and with about a third of the bottle remaining, the wine transformed from being limp to exuberant. The texture fleshed out, becoming voluptuous, and the wine had a beautiful rosewater smell amongst other more typical notes. A thrilling finale, and one of those occasions where the timing didn't go right with dinner. I'll be more patient serving my second bottle.
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At Pearl & Ash, NYC. Crazy, layered aromatics of mature red fruits, tobacco leaf, fresh cut herbs, and leather/earth tones. Palate starts lean but picks up weight and intensity over the course of two hours. Delicious aged and elegant fruit profile made complex by a flavor profile that echos the nose. Fruit feels younger than its nearly 25 years. Tannin is resolved. Persistent, flavorful finish. A gem.
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This one showed meaty, veering toward a Northern Rhone profile on the nose. Lovely, balanced wine with depth on the nose and palate, but without the spectrum of complexity that I've seen in some other bottles.
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Taste: Medium bodied with medium+ acidity and chewy tannins. The structure is noticeable, but it isn't overpowering with layered tones of celery seed, clay, red fruits, cherries, and herbs.
Overall: This was a beautiful wine. There is really good depth and layering with a refined and feminine style to it.
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The first of two bottles purchased online last year. It was decanted off a medium amount of sediment then poured back into the clean bottle and allowed to aerate slowly for 1 hour before serving with chicken provencale. An extrordinary example of well made Chinon at maturity. The color was a strikingly clear medium brick with suggestions of old leather, baking spices, forest floor, dried roses, and an herbal edge. The tannins were silky smooth and everything was in total harmony. The palate impression was pure, precise, refined, and elegant and it just lasted and lasted. We finished the bottle with a cheese selection and there was another dimension that emerged which I can only describe as ethereal. I hope the 2002 and 2005 I have cellared will some day reach this level.
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Drinks at Grand Sichuan (St. Marks Place Grand Sich, NY): More bretty and funky than the last bottle of this I encountered, but this is still really great with a core of fresh dark fruits, earth and higher toned herbal notes beneath the leathery/meaty funk. It feels remarkably youthful with few signs of its age, and a real freshness to the fruit that suggests there's plenty of time ahead here.
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Tasted blind. Darker than the 04 Clos Rougeard that we had next to it. Almost purple-red. Herbal and rustic with green pepper aspects, stems, smoke and earth. High acid on the palate. Clearly cold-climate red, not rich. Translucent and pure - just lacking some oomph. I guessed Madiran at some point, but should have known it was Cab Franc. Nose - 4/6, Palate - 5/6, Finish - 4.5/6, Je Ne Sais Quoi - 1/2 = 14.5/20.
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This had one of the most open, soaring noses of the night. Currants, twigs, herbs, forest floor and leather. A wine that keeps you looking for descriptors, A pleasant green streak that keeps things lifted and fresh. A wonderful wine to taste by itself or pair with food (which, by the way, went well with a mushroom risotto that night). Lovely, deep and focused.
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Mature wines at Marco's (Milford, CT): Absolutely stunning bottle of Chinon. Layers of rich, pure Cabernet Franc fruit, forestal greenery, earth and developed leathery notes on a polished, medium weight frame. There's fantastic depth and purity to the flavours, great balance and wonderful length. A real wow wine.
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This showed much, much younger than i would have expected. Beautiful wine, and still full of life compared to other mature Chinon I have had the chance to taste.
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Bordal à Bernex (Cabernets majoritaires) (Chez moi): Bouteille en parfaite condition. Décantée 2H avant dégustation. Couleur grenat clair. Nez immédiat de coulis de poivron, magnifique de finesse. Bouche ample, avec de beaux arômes et une trame finement acide qui fait de ce vin un délice. Tiendra encore quelques années, mais à boire tellement il est bon!
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Excellent with pork loin stuffed with pesto/leek/parsley,wlanuts/garlic. Very earthy upon opening decanted and found the earthiness to lessen and the herbaceousness increase. The fruits were not easily identiofibale but present.
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Needed quite a bit of air to show its best. At first it was aggressively green, in a strange funky/chemically way. But after about two hours of air, that faded into a background leafy note, allowing some pretty currant and cranberryish fruit to the come to the fore. The palate has a nice balance between the fruit and an underlying loamy, earthy quality, the acidity is gentle and adds a slight juiciness, and the tannins are mostly resolved, leaving a clean, smooth finish. At peak and drinking very nicely.
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Even better than my previous bottle, younger, very complex and just a tiny bit short. Loire cab does not get much better than this (except perhaps for the Foucaults and Bretons)
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Superb Chinon & my most fave Cab Franc bottling to date. Very nuanced and that evolves with each sip. All the classic expressions of Chinon, but wrapped in elegance. The wild gamey brambly barnyard, rustic, with hints of leather, layers of dark fruits, subtle herbs, hints of dried lemongrass and straw, touch of tobacco, dark olives, and well structured with soft layered tannins that time has mellowed. Gorgeous! Went will with hard & soft funky cheeses, bold pates, meats including smoked herb turkey.
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This bottle showed much younger than the one I had 2 years ago. Still somewhat primary in fruit, although the warm and earthy tobacco tones are prominent too. Delicious wine, very well balanced and well made. But nt as inspiring to me as the one from 2 years ago that showed more mature. Lots of variation here.
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Final Night in DC (Palena - Washington, DC): Beautiful Cabernet Franc. Expressive leather, dried fruit and floral tones mix with earthy mushroom and dried tobacco notes. The palate is mature and elegant with lithe earthy tones and a wonderfully feminine potpourri note. I could drink this all day long.
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No way - on a Long Island wine list at a fair price - had to try it!!
A great showing! Complex and constantly evolving bouquet of dark fruit, herbs, leather, tobacco, dirt, and not too overwhelming bell pepper. With air, the wine puts on lots of weight . Good depth on the palate. Soft tannins. Balanced acidity. Some green notes in the persistent finish. This showed exactly as anticipated and was what I was craving on this night. I don’t always want this particular style of Chinon (preferring a bit more fruit) but on occasion I love it. This bottle made me wish the entire contents of my cellar would hurry up and hit peak drinking. Memorable birthday bottle. A-
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Very fine tannins, smoth and round mouthfeel. Long and balanced. Lovely nose of mature Cabernet Franc. Too bad it was my last bottle, it is just peaking!
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Drank side by side with the 1990 Raffault Picasses. This was a very good bottle, showing well balanced, mature flavors. Structurally this was younger than the 1990 version, with higher acidity and texturally more rustic tannin. The 1990 had sweeter fruit and a silky smooth palate, where this showed a nice mix of fruit, tobacco leaf, earth and a little barnyard.
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intense chery fruit, minerals, spice, baryard, med+ acid and med tannin, very long mineral barnyard/cherry finish ... very well balanced, wood integrated into wine, concentration of flavor
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This seemed very developed to the eye and nose, with major bricking apparent and mushroomy, earthy, vegetal aromas. They were not necessarily unpleasant, but neither were they altogether welcome. The light-to-medium bodied palate held up well, however, with resolved tannins but still some good fruit and a bit of structure on the finish. I have had better bottles of this. I think there is significant bottle variation in this wine - and not just the 1989 vintage. I have had bottle variation issues recently with the 2005 as well, which is not as easily chalked up to variable storage conditions, given how young it is. For starters, I think this producer should make an effort to use higher quality corks. Every time I pull one from a bottle, I routinely notice how short they are.
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Mature, herbal with smooth fruit, green vegetation, and black notes. Some lemon acid. Long finish. Not powerful but nice and brambly with some high tones. Ready to drink, a very pretty, mature Chinon. This bottle had signs of seepage. B/B+
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I spied this on a restaurant menu and was floored at how affordable it was, although seeing a 21 year old cab franc from Raffault meant I would have bought it pretty much at any price. Ciboire! I was un 'sti de chanceux wine drinker that night! Fruit was still there, fresh but balanced with hints of barnyard ("sweaty farm hands" as my wife likes to say), olive tapenade, and good minerality. Mmmmm. I'm convinced: I'm laying down a case of the 2005 will remain patient.
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Good showing for this bottle. It appeared more youthful than the last bottle of this I had. The nose was somewhat muted with barnyard and berry scents, but the palate was where this performed today, with an intriguing spiciness, a mix of red and black fruit that contained a fresh tartness balanced by just the right amount of sweetness, and a medium-bodied feel supported by mild tannins. The finish left something to be desired, but only in terms of length, nothing unpleasant about the flavors.
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The lastbottle of this I tried was as dead as a doornail .Tasted of very little indeed .
So I opened this with some trepidation especially as I was prompted to do so by a weeping cork.
Surprisingly deep red , definitively Cab Franc- cinnamon and fruit on the bouquet . On the palate amazingly fresh and vital , cherries and a slight background of dark chocolate with a woodland note .
Quite marvellous .
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just magnificent. The nose was complex with spices and stewed fruit, and had the great depth and dimension that mature good wine has. And the palate was fully resolved and showed amazing breadth and detail of flavor. It really spread out in the mouth and the fragrance lingered long after swallowing. This is what I hope my 2002 Raffault Chinons will turn into. This is what I hope all of my Chinons turn into.
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Year-End Wine Salon (Mirabelle Restaurant): Pretty nose, leafy, very tannic, sour cherry, tobacco, earth, floral, and rustic. This was a good bottle of a very good wine. My favorite wine of the flight, although it started out very rough and angry. With air, it mellowed and the fruit plushed up.
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Not the best showing for this wine compared to other recent bottles. Although the fill was good, there was more bricking than usual on this, enough that a friend who enjoys wine casually but has never studied it was commenting on the orange hue. The barnyard/manure was also much more prominent on the nose than usual. I often enjoy that dimension, but this was too much even for me. That said, the bottle wasn't flawed or anything and was emptied pretty quickly. Maybe this was just more advanced than other bottles.
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The Salon's first lab (Mirabelle Restaurant Austin, Texas): Showed very well, was quite seedy, herbal, and tart, with some ash and dustiness, black olive, leather, prunes, sour cherry. With high acid, it was a beast in its day and may still improve.
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Found this on a restaurant's wine list for a reasonable price. Tough to tell the color with the dim lighting, but from what I could gather it looked pretty young. The nose had a bit of the barnyard funk that people associate with this wine, but nothing unpleasant or overpowering. It did grow stronger with air and as it warmed up from cellar temperature, but in my opinion it was rather enjoyable. This was surprisingly young on the palate, and if it weren't for some of the secondary nuances on the nose (and the vintage written on the label), I would have easily mistaken this for the 2003. Very quintessentially cab franc. For other bottles with similarly good provenance, this could improve for another five years and last for ten. Really a great value, even at restaurant prices.
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Had at Hearth Roast Pig Dinner. Beautiful nose, but very green vegetal, almost reminded me more of a cab sauv then a cab franc. On the palate a little more cab franc like, medium body, with deep flavors, spice, green vegetal, earth. Still tasted (and to some degree looked) young and vibrant. Another amazing food wine. After trying everything with a 91 Zind Humbrech Gewurztraminer Goldert I didn't think anything could be as food friendly, this managed it wonderfully.
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Saturday Night Soiree (Chez Pelz): Tasted double blind; This bottle tasted incredibly green for my palate. Others liked this a lot more. I liked a previous bottle of this wine so perhaps it was a bit warm. Again maybe the warmth but it seemed past peak to me.
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Party at Jay's. (Jay's): Beautiful nose. Nice and funky, showing meatiness, sweet black cherry, herb and cedar. It's a little leaner on the palate than the fruit on the nose would suggest with a similar flavor profile, but with more of an herbal component. Precise and crunchy. Quite nice, though I prefer the '90 version with its riper fruit and slightly lower acid levels. A-/B+.
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A very good wine with the right stuff. Drinking very well now with beautiful integration. Excellent truffle, olive and faded fruit flavors along with an underlying herbal note. Minerals on the finish. Not necessarily my favorite flavor profile but very interesting and indicative of the joys of a well-aged wine.
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Dinner with Friends (Chez Purdue): As usual, great stuff. Not much more to say than it is awe-inspiring to me with its great structure, but suave tannins, tertiary flavors, and dark fruit. Can last for another good while without going into decline. Drinking beautifully. Three bottles so far, and three successes.
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Certainly the best red Loire wine I have ever had (I have not had too many) – thanks Tom! Elegant, mineral driven wine that is just perfect to drink now. Sophisticated. (92)
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4th of July Blowout (Chez Rick): This bottle was more closed and tight than the previous one. Still a profound wine that shows leafiness, truffle, earth, and plum and currants wrapped into one exceptionally structured package. This bottle needed another 5-10 years to drink at peak. What a great wine and at the current rates (if it can be found), it is one of the finest values in the wine world. One of my favorite reds ever.
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The Raffault was awesome, everything you could ever want a Chinon to be. Beautiful poise and complexity, with nice berries and a wraithlike green ash acid spine. Elegance, yeah, big time. I think I'd even step out and say the best Chinon I've had - and I see now Marc had the same reaction. This did start to pack it in toward the end of the evening, so...
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Amazing wine. Complex earthy mushroom nose with lots of layers. Still some raspberry fruit left, nice freshness, almost resolved tannins. Very elegant and a joy to drink right now. After 2 hours it started to fade pretty quickly, so drink right after opening.
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Dinner Chez Pelz: Popped and poured. A slightly browning edge at first, but with air, the color becomes solid dark garnet red. The aromas of this leap out of the glass and I swear you could smell it from feet away. Leafy mushroom, earth, truffle, and cassis wrapped into a round, fully mature body that leads into a long, long finish. Just a joy to drink and although I think this has many years left in the tank, it is drinking positively stunning right now with all the secondary and tertiary flavors one could wish for. This is a benchmark wine for me. Not only for Chinon, but in general. One of the best wines I have ever tasted. Goes without saying that at less than $50 per bottle, this has to be one of the finest wine values in the world.
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Stellar. I've tasted this wine at least a dozen times and other than one corked bottle, they have all been great. Nose of pencil, grilled meat, red currant, and dusty minerality. The palate reveals subtle floral notes that give way to waves of complex flavors similar to the nose. I am an admitted loire addict, but this is among the best cabernet franc i've ever tasted. Surpassed by only the '86 Raffault 'Les Picasses', and possibly matched by a couple special clos Rougeards. This wine is special, and with relatively modest alcohol, i'd happily drink two bottles in a sitting.
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A nice mature chinon, all kind of evolved green flavor , cedar,olives, earth in a very pleaseant way. Tanins are well rounded so is the acid. a long finish of the same flavors profile. A nice example why chinon should not be drunk young .Will keep my 2002's for years!
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TWITS Cab Franc Event (Dale's house): Nose of an older california cab. Liking this better than the first wine. More ripe, more tanninc, younger / more vibrant. Cleaner fruit. Despite being very clean, it's still nicely complex and elegant. This declined a bit over the time on the table. I liked this more than most others - I liked this marginally better than the first wine, and I think I was the only one. I also liked both wines better than most people.
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10/26/2023 - LW31 Likes this wine:
Super tonight. Really elegant and pure cab. Lovely minty note. Good depth. This pristine bottle still showing in perfect spot.
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10/7/2023 - ylkim30 Likes this wine:
October 2023 Loire Dinner (Mathilde - SF): Fully resolved tannins, great length and concentration, and elegance. Textbook, archetypal Chinon is a good way to describe it. And I have such fond memories of the '85 Raffault Picasses; one of the wines that turned me onto Loire Cab Francs. A trip down memory lane.
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10/7/2023 - glou.sf Likes this wine: 93 Points
Loire Tasting (Mathilda Bistro, San Francisco): Perfectly mature, fully integrated wine with a lovely nose of dark fruit, leather, underwood, and tobacco. Good acidity on the palate with tarter fruit, cherries, forest notes, and a suggestion of sweeter fruit. Nice and lingering finish. Really lovely, perfectly aged wine. It's not the most complex wine but very satisfying and enjoyable.
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10/7/2023 - ohne_musik wrote: 91 Points
Berserker Offline (Mathilde Bistro - SF): Textbook aged Chinon. Complex, especially on the nose, with old library leather & books, humidor, earth and macerated cherries, with a bit of green pepper thrown in. Lots of concentration and depth on the palate, and although it's clearly excellent and even beautiful in a way, it doesn't really move me for some reason. Interesting to compare my reaction to the 02 Breton Perrières, which objectively is the lesser wine, but has a je ne sais quoi that stirs me deep down. Others liked this way more, putting it up near the Rougeard for red WOTN. Perhaps it's just the Raffault style. I'm very sorry Olga, it's not you, it's me!
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6/10/2023 - Oberunter-5 Likes this wine: 96 Points
Lovely; at peak
The wine at present displays a fantastic balance between primary and tertiary qualities. The nose on opening was completely earthy—wet soil, wet leaves, rainy autumn day in the forest, etc. With air, there emerged stewed plums, strawberries, raspberries, and pepper. The palate showed very similar qualities—but with lighter touches of red fruit—with enough tannic grip and depth to indicate this wine still has time at its peak.
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12/18/2022 - ccn wrote: flawed
This is on the line between weird and excellent. at first extremely bretty with an almost metallic nose, thought was flawed. After 2 hours in decanter it’s like … confit of sweet green bell peppers? Roasted over a smoky fire? Yeah, weird. But nice sweetness, ripe tannins and depth. I think theirs some VA going in here and I can’t say it’s entirely enjoyable but suspect this is bottle specific.
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8/18/2022 - Sotto325 wrote: 93 Points
Another excellent example of how Cabernet Franc in the hands of the greatest producer develops with age a unique profile that delivers depth, complexity and a touch of elegance. The 1989 has more faint hints of the classic barnyard characteristics, plenty of moist fall leaves, smoky wood, dark cherry and dark wood. But it lacks a little bit of the gutsy,funky characteristics that make the 1985 and 1990 so irresistible. It is also a bit lighter. Drink now.
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12/19/2021 - IJC Likes this wine:
Fabulous.
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9/15/2021 - SoundinBetween wrote:
Earth, tobacco, plush red fruits, and an interesting ginger (fresh spice) note which I've never picked up on in Loire Cab Franc before. No lingering tannin, medium bodied with an elegant finish. Very easy to drink, fully mature but seems like this would hold at least a few years before starting any decline. Excellent today, off the list at Bloomsday.
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6/18/2021 - NoTrollingerPlease Likes this wine: 93 Points
Online Blind Tasting: Cabernet Franc plus some Pirates: *** tasting note based on 0,1l bottle. Half of the bottle tasted completely blind on day one, other half tasted two days later ***
Glass: Zalto Universal
Clear, deep tawny color. Clean, medium intense, developing nose. Some barn, spices, green pepper, lovage. Very deep and quite fresh.
Dry, high, wonderfully integrated acidity. High, fine tannin. only 12,5% abv. Medium body. On the palate really spicy and a bit mature (15 years probably) and ripe notes. But also very fresh and juicy. Wonderful balance, very elegant. Silky, velvet texture. Very deep and with a lovely grip. Wonderful pressure and tension. Long finish with ripe red fruit and spices. CabFranc at its full peak! Such a surprise to see that it was already 30 years old! I would give it at least another decade, even though it will probably not improve. Wonderful experience! 93-94
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5/4/2021 - William Kelley Likes this wine: 93 Points
Six years since I last tasted it, the 1989 Les Picasses is showing even better, bursting from the glass with a rich bouquet of cherries, berries, smoked meats, cigar ash and loamy soil. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping, with ripe tannins, bright girdling acids and a sapid, even carnal finish, it's a lovely old school Chinon in its prime.
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1/30/2021 - IJC Likes this wine:
Astonishingly fresh, clean, vibrant, sharply defined flavors - unexpected in a bottle 31+ years old. An attack of flavors: tart, pomegranate and red currant; stem that I read as "green," a friend called "feral;" earth notes, all woven together, and exploding out of the bottle, like the opening bars of Beethoven's Fifth.
Beautifully clear, sediment having solidified along the length of the bottle; the color dark yet transparent, a slight touch of garnet in the meniscus. Drank half the bottle and reserved the balance for round #2. Stay tuned...
Rated +2 on a scale of -1 to +3.
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10/31/2020 - ccn wrote: 92 Points
Best Olga R. Vintage I’ve had of many. Nicely mature. Lovely intense minerality, acidity. Alcohol on the low side (12.5% on the label). Fresh. Bell pepper and tobacco.
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7/30/2020 - Sotto325 wrote: 92 Points
Once again, direct bullseye.So nicely and lushly well balanced, rich, full of animale scents, beautiful cabenet franc aged dark black and red fruits, a nose of animal hide, moist dark earth, brambly scents and hay. Consistent with last two bottles so ready to drink with no decant and worth every penny if you can find it.
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7/29/2020 - DougLee wrote: 93 Points
Utilizing the Ah-So pushed the cork into the bottle! Nonetheless a superb showing. Bloody, rusty garnet color. Nose of musk, plum blossom, cassis, currant, hints of stem. Layers of bulbous beef blood, wild sauvage, satisfying green leaf, and tangy red currant on the pliant palate. Nice acidity and smoothed tannin leading to a long finish of red currant fruit anchored in green notes deepening into concentrated grip and earth. Amazing paired with grilled lamb chops at Deception Pass SP.
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7/15/2020 - WST Likes this wine:
Nice, although I prefer the '90.
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5/25/2020 - glou.sf Likes this wine: 93 Points
Consistently a very nice wine! The nose has notes of green/vegetal flavors, dark fruit, and bell pepper. This started out quite green, which blew away somewhat with air. Still, it was a bit more pronounced than the 4 previous bottles I've had. Lots of fruit still present on the palate with medium tannins and some leather notes. Nice finish. Tasting much younger than a 31 year old wine.
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5/3/2020 - Sotto325 wrote: 93 Points
So tough to resist! Perfectly blended now, with a milder viscosity and a searingly focused cabernet franc barnyard edge: a ton of farm scents, plenty of aged meat, an elegant purple fruit nose, dark cherry ring, and a magical nose with charcoal scents that retains its robust fruit through the bottle. No need to decant. As time passes, this has moved over completely to the right side of the barn.
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10/9/2019 - BillBell73 Likes this wine:
A lovely medium garnet in the glass with no obvious signs of age. Beautiful smoky, slightly vegetal aroma- I think I could recognize this anywhere as Raffault. Absolutely delicious, fairly mind-blowing with lightly smoked and seared lamb chops...this should continue to drink well for years. Truly magical wine.
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9/7/2019 - Rajbusto wrote: flawed
Cork had black mold 2/3rds down the cock which had shrunk it. No doubt some air had gotten in and had impact.
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8/8/2019 - glou.sf Likes this wine: 94 Points
Dark fruit, green bell pepper, leather, and cigar flavors on the nose. Good acidity with flavors of dark berries, black berries, tart plum, and blood orange on the palate. Long finish. Excellent wine, in a really nice spot right now.
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7/29/2019 - Sotto325 wrote: 92 Points
Perfectly in balance and displaying the full rich and sophisticated side of aged, high quality cabernet franc. This ex-cellars release on again underscores how Raffault is the master of Chinon. Dark red/black alive colors greet the nose with that great mourvedre-like mushroom scent mixed with buried dark fruit, smokey wet oak and soil and a hint of forest green. Smooth till bottle’s end. No decant needed.
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4/27/2019 - fred o. Likes this wine:
movie night (in spirit, Santa Barbara, CA): opaque lightly browned ruby, some sediment. Nose tomato and green pepper, savory. Palate silky red fruit, nice depth; still seems young. Outstanding QPR. 92 pts
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4/13/2019 - prof b wrote: 91 Points
My birthday celebration, 2019 edition: Drank side by side with 1989 Pichon Baron and I preferred the Raffault. The fruit is somewhat muted compared with what I expected based on other notes but the tertiary elements were there to provide reasonable complexity. A really nice wine.
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4/13/2019 - salil wrote: 89 Points
Nice showing. Doesn't show quite the intensity I recall from my experiences 5-6 years ago - the fruit seems to be dialed back in terms of intensity and brightness, though there's plenty of savoury earthiness, a whiff of bell pepper, and a touch of leathery funkiness apparent on the nose as well which all add complexity without detracting. I liked it, though it seems a touch past peak.
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3/14/2019 - randyjc wrote: 93 Points
Has been a little over 2 years since I have had these - now it’s nearly 30 and it’s splendid. Earthy, soft, lush and lovely and elegantly muted flavors. Green pepper, cherry and earth are the principal drivers. Surprisingly alive and vivid. An incredible wine.
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2/20/2019 - LW31 Likes this wine:
What a beauty. Another great bottle of this. Perfectly elegant blend of earth, blood, an iron tang, but still with some red fruits showing. Pairs perfectly with black truffles. Needs to be decanted and give it a few minutes but then shows well for over 2 hrs.
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12/30/2018 - eoinhharkins wrote: 92 Points
Sadly my last bottle, but still this wine continues to impress lovely nosebof dried green pepper, mushrooms, earthy minerals, dried dark berry, palate still feel fresh with a nice primary and secondary fruit interplay, fine well integrated tannins, medium acidity and medium plus length
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12/22/2018 - glou.sf Likes this wine: 94 Points
Mushrooms, herbs, underwood, smoke, leather, and dark cherries on the intriguing nose. Good acidity, with red fruit, iron, and orange flavors on the palate. Long finish. Beautiful wine, like an old Bordeaux with a bit more funk and green notes. Delicious!
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12/21/2018 - acyso wrote: 90 Points
Les Barres vertical for 冬至 (Chicago, IL): A stark contrast to the 1977. This is much more rounded, and still have a lot of generous red and black fruit on the nose. There's of course a goodly amount of pyrazine here, but the ripeness of the vintage really helps flesh out the wine. This was also a very super clean bottle, showing earth, but no untoward funk. Very nice.
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12/12/2018 - LW31 Likes this wine:
Wonderful elegant and fully resolved wine. Strong minty notes on nose, with a earthy palate with a touch still of green pepper. No tannins of course and soft finish. Think these should hold for several years more but wouldn’t hold past another 5.
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12/11/2018 - pren wrote: 91 Points
闻，funky。口中，在funky的表层下有一个pure，甚至有点甜的core 。有渣子，但不需要长时间醒酒。
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9/23/2018 - cardsandwine Likes this wine:
2 hour slo-o. Like the 1985 we drank along side this it had a wonderful earthy bouquet and palate with terrific balance and depth and a lengthy finish.
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6/24/2018 - DougLee wrote: 92 Points
Brought to Paley’s Place and paired with Wagyu beef. Darker garnet color. Nose of green leaf, earth, plum pits, black currant, and a blast of floral notes one hour in. Smooth and resolved on the palate with dense layers of currant, leather, beef blood, and integrated green pepper cut with earth and slow satisfying grip. Still refreshingly acidic with a enough tannin around to add bite. Longer finish of leafy plum fruit and stone. Last sips were best. I suspect this would have shown even better with a longer decant.
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2/20/2018 - gris Likes this wine: 93 Points
Herbal patch meets rich fruit on the nose. Good structure: plenty of tannin and acid. Still youthful. A very Bordeaux-like wine on the palate. I kept getting cigar wrappers, dark cherries and a touch of cough medicine. My favorite of a vertical comparing '79, '89, '93, '02, '05, '10 and '11.
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10/20/2017 - IzeAgeComing Likes this wine:
This was a superb bottle. This was like sticking your nose into the mane of a horse, just uncanny. Lots of earth, herbs, and leather too. Palette was still totally alive with enough backbone to stand up to some rich pork dishes. Easily the WOTN.
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8/24/2017 - Janstan Likes this wine: 90 Points
Went well with beef, peppers & onions. Lots of barnyard, well knitted.
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3/18/2017 - drwine2001 wrote:
Light tawny with gradual fading to the rim. Classic nose of green olive and secondary perfume. Perfect light weight with mellow, balanced feel. Remarkably, it retains some gentle sweetness of fruit as well as some cinnamon spice and even a whiff of bitter chocolate. Earthy (but clean), fine acidity, and minerality complete the long finish that still has mild tannins to resolve. This was pretty much as good as mature Loire red can get, and this particular bottle could have lasted another 5 years. When Raffault is not marred by brettanomyces, it can be very, very good. In contrast to the fading '89 Couly Dutheil tasted today, this was plump, fresh, and just delicious.
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2/11/2017 - kaush Likes this wine:
Perfectly balanced between acidity and juicy tannin. Layers of flavor over several hours. Had this with grilled chicken and vegetables. Beautiful wine. Oldest Loire I have had.
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1/12/2017 - Chaz Bham wrote: 95 Points
Superbe pureté en bouche, délivrant des notes de fruits rouges, de cuir, de poivron vert.
Tout à fait prêt à boire, les tanins sont soyeux et raffinés.
C'est un vin qui se laisse boire très facilement, un vrai séducteur. Je l’adore.
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12/25/2016 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:
A clean and lovely bottle. Hard spices, pencil shavings, balanced fruit and acidity - delicious wine.
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12/22/2016 - Bakerbd Likes this wine: 94 Points
Crunchy wet leaves, raspberry compote, bell pepper, jalapeno, tobacco. Classic Chinon. Wish I could get more of this.
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12/2/2016 - gblacave wrote: 94 Points
The 'good' 89 at a recent Raffault vertical. Great expression, lots of lush fruits, touch of brightness, leather and earth. Long life ahead, but singing now.
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11/27/2016 - christyler Likes this wine: 93 Points
Wow, this was showing young - and it was great! Classic Loire CF. Classy and elegant. At peak and with years to go.
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11/21/2016 - KeithAkers wrote: 93 Points
Olga Raffault Vertical (Cherry Circle Room): Nose: The nose is highly perfumed and elegant with herbs, violets, wild flowers, raspberries, cigarette ash, anise, leather, earth, and herbs.
Taste: Medium bodied with medium+ acidity and medium+ tannins. The tannins still play a supporting role with the acidity remaining quite fresh. The feel is refined and regal with herbs, violets, anise, red cherries, cigarette ash, and raspberries.
Overall: This is flat out gorgeous. It's perfumed, refined, and ethereal that makes you notice and enjoy.
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11/19/2016 - randyjc wrote: 94 Points
It is so great, at my age, to fall in love. And I have - totally, completely, passionately. With this wine - it is beguiling. Remarkably fresh for its age - yet with a maturity of flavor that grabs and holds attention. A bit of vegetal nose, smelling a bit like cooked green beans, echoing the green pepper it undoubtedly wore as a youth. Fresh acidity, soft red flavors but mostly masculine earth and leather. A totally gorgeous wine and satisfying experience. I love this wine.
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10/1/2016 - Wine Canuck wrote: 93 Points
If you like old school bordeaux for the 80's this has more than a passing resemblance. Drinking nicely, in a quite a good spot. It pours with a dark purple core and medium minus bricking at the rim. The nose isn't massive but very complex and integrated showing blackberry, green bell pepper, green tobacco leaf, leather, soil, gravel, peanut butter, and leather. The palate still has a little tannic grip and medium acid with a long old bordeaux like finish. Great wine.
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9/27/2016 - rlove wrote: flawed
The 1989 Les Picasses didn't show well, with just a pyrazine-driven aroma of green pepper. Flat on the palate. No fruit.
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8/13/2016 - retired_and_roving Likes this wine:
Olga Raffault Les Picasses - Past & Present Tasting (New York, NY): Library release bottle. Stood up for 24 hours prior to serving. Fill level was to the bottom of the neck. Cork was intact with minimal seepage. Black charcoal looking substance (assume dried wine) under foil on top of cork. Slow ox'd for 1 hour prior to tasting. Color was red with slight browning. On the nose this also had a bell pepper note although much less pronounced than the '85 and '87. On the palate this was also more vibrant with red fruit, nice acidity and bell pepper. Nice long finish. This one seems to have more life left in it. The group and my favorite of this flight.
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8/2/2016 - swapdoc wrote:
Loire Valley (Pearl&Ash, NYC): Dark cherry color, vibrant and bold. Sweet cherry taste is also bold and fresh, followed by the echoes of traditional vegetative flavors of pepper, tomato leaf, some tahini, and tobacco. Still a baby.
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7/25/2016 - randyjc wrote: 94 Points
A real beauty - soft, elegant, earthy and inviting. A gorgeous wine that simply could not express itself more completely. The mouth feel alone is worth the price, yet it's followed by inviting red fruit, brambles and damp earth. Nothing short of beautiful.
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3/4/2016 - aagrawal wrote: 87 Points
Clos Rougeard Dinner (Absinthe, San Francisco): Nose is fairly limited; palate has fully integrated tannin, medium-plus acid, no real fruit; short finish. This is disappointing for me. 85
After 1 hour of air the nose has much more complexity with slight spice, palate is still a bit flat over the hill. 87-88
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3/3/2016 - RajivAyyangar wrote: 88 Points
Clos Rougeard and a Fiorano at Absinthe (Absinthe SF): Moderate minus ruby to a garnet rim. Reductive (burnt rubber). Raw, slightly decaying green peppers. Sandalwood (brett? development?). Well-managed, well-integrated, furry Brett - almost warm and comforting in nature. Sweet dried bell pepper. Dried blueberry and coffee grounds (pyrazinic in origin).
medium minus body
high acid
medium tannins
Lean and harsh, with astringent green pyrazines on the nose. Tart acid on the finish. Not as generous and classic as the ’90, though this had interesting things to say.
Score: Between 8.5 and 9
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2/27/2016 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Q1 Tasting - Cabernet Franc wines (Our Apt): Wine #14: Drank as part of a blind tasting of Cabernet Franc. Coming on the heels of a baby, the maturity of this wine was clear. Seemed to be in a really nice spot right now. Fruit still there - red current and cherry cough syrup. Very enjoyable wine. The winner of the tasting was the '87 version of this. (5 pennies)
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1/28/2016 - Pdxwinegeek wrote: 90 Points
really interesting and good, don't know what I was expecting, but this was one of the most savory red wines I have tasted, the note of green pepper is still present in the mid-palate, but it is blended into a melange of savory flavors, wine is fresh and well balanced and the note of dark fruit comes out on the longish finish...
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12/5/2015 - MarkusBig wrote: 92 Points
Clear brick red with an orange rim. Popped and poured. The wine changed through the evening. Reminded me of a crozes hermitage. Started out with an elegant barnyard funk. Red fruit, cherry and raspberry. The tannins were integrated and the finish long. Medium plus body. A bit of mild spice. Later the funk disappeared and the spice and fruit came forward. What a pleasure!
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11/17/2015 - William Kelley Likes this wine: 92 Points
The 1989 Olga Raffault is drinking beautifully, bursting from the glass after a brief decant with a nose of ripe griotte cherry, subtle tobacco leaf and dried herbs. On the palate the wine is very glossy and textural, as well as quite large-scaled for a Chinon, and its tannins have nicely melted away. Generous, juicy and sappy—at early maturity. But I would have liked just a little bit more depth and focus.
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11/1/2015 - AtoZ wrote:
Great. Dried flowers and a touch of green pepper. Has tons of life left.
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8/21/2015 - budh wrote: 91 Points
PNP. Very strong green pepper and tobacco aromas, along with some plum and berry fruit and floral notes. Also leather, dusty earth and oak. Nice acidity, very smooth tannins. Drinks easy.
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7/15/2015 - jcrisp Likes this wine: 95 Points
Holy shitsnacks! Explosive bouquet of savory herb and earth on the nose. Greets the palate with ripe cherries and currants, giving way to savory and pungent field mushrooms. Incredible!
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6/23/2015 - eoinhharkins Likes this wine:
brought to an offline no formal notes but it was fantastic
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6/5/2015 - Christine Havens Likes this wine: 92 Points
'Les Picasses' lies along a riverbank on a fairly steep slope that is primarily alluvial clay overlaying chalk and limestone. The vines are over 50 years old and the site is known to produce wines with fabulous minerality. As such, the Olga Raffault 'Les Picasses' Chinon 1989 has had time to mellow, and the aromas are quite lovely—lavender, game, worn leather, barnyard, and cellar dust. There is a throaty, sensual wildness to this wine, punctuated by a vein of bright acidity and minerals. It has just about everything I love in Loire Valley Cab Franc
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1/7/2015 - Ben H. Likes this wine:
Less cerebral and less delineated than my last bottle, very enjoyable nonetheless. Once again, fresh-tasting for its age. Everything came together after about 2.5 hours in the decanter when the wine was deeply umami and had a slightly milky texture. Before the wine smoothed out, there was real pleasure to its jutting elbows, its pointier tastes and smells. This bottle seems to be a more recent library release, with a brown rather than a white label.
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12/21/2014 - drwine2001 wrote:
Light ruby, watery at the extreme edge. Complex, poised, secondary and tertiary perfume. Light weight and essentially lean, green olive and tobacco leaf, marvelous acidity (especially thinking back to this very ripe year) and finishing minerality. I see that other tasters have noted problematic levels of brett, but this bottle was very pure with a late note of ground coffee that I also found when I tasted this in the spring. Dry, dry aftertaste. I suppose you could have unearthed more fruit in this 5 or 10 years ago, but I think it is holding very well and provides an "essence of Cabernet Franc" experience if you value this varietal and the charms of a mature, old fashioned wine. Just think about it-low everything: ripeness, alcohol, pH. Not at all a wine for the current prevailing taste.
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12/13/2014 - Sotto325 wrote: 90 Points
Alas,, this is starting to move down the right shoulder. Still a wonderful soft, fully funky cabernet franc wine delivered with elegance and a full finish. The tobacco, dark cherry, barnyard (more restrained) and underbrush scents are all fully developed on the palate. But the frequency of interference from acidic overtones made this less compelling than the last bottle.
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11/15/2014 - VDLT Wine Likes this wine:
Some wines offer an added dimension that can't be captured in words. The word that come closest for me is "sparkle." It refers to the sensation that there is a lively aspect to the wine that transports waves of aromatics and flavors across your nose and palate. This was the case here. Ruby colored with no signs (in challenging lighting) of its 25 years. Yet it's maturity is evident in the cornucopia of complex flavors. Some brett, dried plums (but not prune), tobacco, spices and distinct minerality on the finish. The only detraction is that the leather mentioned in so many prior notes, tonight was tarry and the tobacco note was too dominating - particularly as it aired in the glass. Bravo, nonetheless!
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10/26/2014 - randyjc wrote: 93 Points
Hard to imagine this as 25 years old. Some aspects, yes, but its freshness and bright acidity say something else. Very dusty, green peppery nose. A bit vegetal but intriguing, leaving you just wanting to keep your nose in the glass. Dry warm leather. Very light bodied but it tastes much bigger than that. Stems and dusty with a bright red fruit. Cranberry? Cherry? Hard to say. A backbone of minerality, light tannin, a finish carried by the acidity, the dustiness and the green pepper. What a spectacular experience. I am so sorry to be nearing the end of the bottle.
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9/20/2014 - Vinomark wrote: 91 Points
Drinking exceptionally well still with more legs left. Very elegant and a good companion for wood oven fired pizza's at Eric P's backyard party. Stunning. see my prior notes.
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9/18/2014 - KeithAkers wrote: 92 Points
Dinner at Browntrout (Browntrout, Chicago IL): Nose: There is a seamless quality to the nose with red cherries, earth tones, leather, some herbal notes, and lots of roses. There is excellent depth with a savoriness to it as well.
Taste: Medium bodied with medium+ acidity and silky tannins. The feel is more towards the feminine side with red cherries, earth tones, red berries, leather, herbs, and a touch of roses.
Overall: This is a very pretty and mature Olga Raffault. While it's mature, it is far from being in decline and can go a good while longer.
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9/18/2014 - tooch wrote: 92 Points
Dinner at Browntrout (Browntrout - Chicago, IL): I love with that tastes and smells of dirt, and Raffault's wine usually deliver in spades. No exception here. Smells like what you'd think a farmer's hands would smell like and it felt really authentic and real to me. The palate had the classic cabernet franc notes of tobacco, red fruits, and pepper. Just yummy and rustic.
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9/18/2014 - Seth Rosenberg wrote: 89 Points
Dinner in Chicago with new friends (Browntrout (Chicago, Il)): Classic aged Cab Franc on the nose - green herbal, complex with breadth: meat and dark aspects and some sort of olive or herbal quality. Soy. Not as good on the palate - quite tart and a little thin compared to the nose: herbal, minty. Savory tart finish. Nose - 5/6, Palate - 4.5/6, Finish - 4/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1/2 = 14.5/20.
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9/18/2014 - acyso wrote: 90 Points
Dinner at Browntrout (Chicago, IL): Tons of Chinon perfume on this bottle -- lots of bell pepper, green herbs, a bit of animale, and some barnyard funk. The palate is a bit tired -- the fruit seems to have faded off, leaving behind an austere, and likely masculine, skeleton. Whatever elements remain are quite large-scaled, the chewy tannins, the powerful bell pepper flavours, the somewhat overbearing acidity, and the dirt. There's so much dirt. Day after: this has fleshed out a lot, and the hollowness that I detected initially has rounded out. Somehow, more red fruit is showing, and the dirt and herbal aromas have all integrated together much better. Just proves there is plenty of life left in this wine.
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8/24/2014 - LoireFan wrote: 93 Points
Last of six. So very sad.
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8/6/2014 - cartime Likes this wine: 93 Points
Bramble berries, toasted herbs, coffee grounds, and bell pepper on the nose. Still has some freshness on the palate, with baked cherry, plum, roasted bell pepper, savory spice, and coffee flavors with the slightest hint of Brett. Resolved tannins and a rich finish. Really drinking well now. Could hold, but not likely to improve for my tastes.
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5/5/2014 - drwine2001 wrote:
Light ruby. Wonderful red fruit and mint nose that adds a significant component of brett as it airs out. Essentially light and earthy, terrific acidity, and a surprising bitter cocoa aspect. This is excellent and seems middle aged as opposed to fully mature.
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4/16/2014 - Janstan Likes this wine: 91 Points
Good from opening. Forest floor, barnyard, mushrooms. Had with herb crusted chicken
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4/5/2014 - Ben H. Likes this wine:
A great bottle of the 1989. It tasted good from the moment it was decanted, unlike another bottle not long ago, and then kept getting better over 3 hours. Tea-like with a rose hip smell and taste early on, it became more opulently textured over time. It developed cocoa flavors and a mushroomy (porcini?) smell that paired well with aged steak. I had an impression of a forest floor when drinking it. Above all, its vibrant freshness was quite stunning in combination with its very savory and mature characteristics. The freshness is what separated this bottle for me from a recently drunk and very good 1990 Picasses.
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3/29/2014 - Sotto325 wrote: 90 Points
A more elegant wine than the 1985, but I think the latter iconic. The 1989 has more of a Bordeaux sense, with less gutsy cabernet franc muscle and more refined integrated profile. Earthy, not yet fully cab franc barnyard, with a medium body and smooth tannins, followed by a deep dark cherry,smoke and lightly scented meaty aura. Not as mellifluous as the 2002, not as thick as the 1985, and less light bodied than the 1990.
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2/1/2014 - Ben H. wrote:
For some time after being decanted, this was aromatically closed, thin in texture, wan. Then, after 2 hours in the decanter and with about a third of the bottle remaining, the wine transformed from being limp to exuberant. The texture fleshed out, becoming voluptuous, and the wine had a beautiful rosewater smell amongst other more typical notes. A thrilling finale, and one of those occasions where the timing didn't go right with dinner. I'll be more patient serving my second bottle.
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12/13/2013 - djarcara wrote: 86 Points
Light to medium body. Black fruit & bell pepper nose. Bell pepper, stewed tomato, liquorish, cassis flavors. A bit too vegetable. Past peak?
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12/7/2013 - Nanda wrote: 94 Points
At Pearl & Ash, NYC. Crazy, layered aromatics of mature red fruits, tobacco leaf, fresh cut herbs, and leather/earth tones. Palate starts lean but picks up weight and intensity over the course of two hours. Delicious aged and elegant fruit profile made complex by a flavor profile that echos the nose. Fruit feels younger than its nearly 25 years. Tannin is resolved. Persistent, flavorful finish. A gem.
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12/6/2013 - Flavito wrote: 92 Points
Still going strong, certainly the wine of the night, elegant, complex and intense.
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9/30/2013 - brooklynguy Likes this wine:
This one showed meaty, veering toward a Northern Rhone profile on the nose. Lovely, balanced wine with depth on the nose and palate, but without the spectrum of complexity that I've seen in some other bottles.
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6/24/2013 - KeithAkers wrote: 93 Points
Rotating Dinner Series- A Focus on Cabernet Franc (Domaine Wine Storage, Chicago IL): Nose: Very perfumed and feminine nose filled with deep and layered tones of red fruits, cherries, herbs, clay, roses, and some celery seed. This is a beautiful and captivating nose with very good balance.
Taste: Medium bodied with medium+ acidity and chewy tannins. The structure is noticeable, but it isn't overpowering with layered tones of celery seed, clay, red fruits, cherries, and herbs.
Overall: This was a beautiful wine. There is really good depth and layering with a refined and feminine style to it.
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6/16/2013 - VTCellarDweller Likes this wine: 94 Points
The first of two bottles purchased online last year. It was decanted off a medium amount of sediment then poured back into the clean bottle and allowed to aerate slowly for 1 hour before serving with chicken provencale.
An extrordinary example of well made Chinon at maturity. The color was a strikingly clear medium brick with suggestions of old leather, baking spices, forest floor, dried roses, and an herbal edge. The tannins were silky smooth and everything was in total harmony. The palate impression was pure, precise, refined, and elegant and it just lasted and lasted. We finished the bottle with a cheese selection and there was another dimension that emerged which I can only describe as ethereal. I hope the 2002 and 2005 I have cellared will some day reach this level.
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6/2/2013 - BradKNYC wrote:
Wines from all over as we thwart Jay's cellar cull plans. (Jay's.): A fairly typical showing. No real Brett or meatiness here, just clean and crisp black and red fruit, green tobacco and soil. Focused with elevated acid levels and pleasant leanness. A-/B+.
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5/18/2013 - salil wrote: 91 Points
Drinks at Grand Sichuan (St. Marks Place Grand Sich, NY): More bretty and funky than the last bottle of this I encountered, but this is still really great with a core of fresh dark fruits, earth and higher toned herbal notes beneath the leathery/meaty funk. It feels remarkably youthful with few signs of its age, and a real freshness to the fruit that suggests there's plenty of time ahead here.
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5/17/2013 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine: 89 Points
Tasted blind. Darker than the 04 Clos Rougeard that we had next to it. Almost purple-red. Herbal and rustic with green pepper aspects, stems, smoke and earth. High acid on the palate. Clearly cold-climate red, not rich. Translucent and pure - just lacking some oomph. I guessed Madiran at some point, but should have known it was Cab Franc. Nose - 4/6, Palate - 5/6, Finish - 4.5/6, Je Ne Sais Quoi - 1/2 = 14.5/20.
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3/23/2013 - mdefreitas wrote: 93 Points
This had one of the most open, soaring noses of the night. Currants, twigs, herbs, forest floor and leather. A wine that keeps you looking for descriptors, A pleasant green streak that keeps things lifted and fresh. A wonderful wine to taste by itself or pair with food (which, by the way, went well with a mushroom risotto that night). Lovely, deep and focused.
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3/23/2013 - salil wrote: 94 Points
Mature wines at Marco's (Milford, CT): Absolutely stunning bottle of Chinon. Layers of rich, pure Cabernet Franc fruit, forestal greenery, earth and developed leathery notes on a polished, medium weight frame. There's fantastic depth and purity to the flavours, great balance and wonderful length. A real wow wine.
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12/9/2012 - bags wrote:
delicious. not profound, but well integrated and balanced and terrific with red meat. many years left.
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11/5/2012 - nadoum wrote:
This showed much, much younger than i would have expected. Beautiful wine, and still full of life compared to other mature Chinon I have had the chance to taste.
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11/1/2012 - Ericsson wrote: 91 Points
Bordal à Bernex (Cabernets majoritaires) (Chez moi): Bouteille en parfaite condition. Décantée 2H avant dégustation. Couleur grenat clair. Nez immédiat de coulis de poivron, magnifique de finesse. Bouche ample, avec de beaux arômes et une trame finement acide qui fait de ce vin un délice. Tiendra encore quelques années, mais à boire tellement il est bon!
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8/10/2012 - Janstan wrote: 91 Points
Excellent with pork loin stuffed with pesto/leek/parsley,wlanuts/garlic. Very earthy upon opening decanted and found the earthiness to lessen and the herbaceousness increase. The fruits were not easily identiofibale but present.
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7/30/2012 - coremill wrote: 91 Points
Needed quite a bit of air to show its best. At first it was aggressively green, in a strange funky/chemically way. But after about two hours of air, that faded into a background leafy note, allowing some pretty currant and cranberryish fruit to the come to the fore. The palate has a nice balance between the fruit and an underlying loamy, earthy quality, the acidity is gentle and adds a slight juiciness, and the tannins are mostly resolved, leaving a clean, smooth finish. At peak and drinking very nicely.
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7/16/2012 - Flavito wrote: 92 Points
Even better than my previous bottle, younger, very complex and just a tiny bit short. Loire cab does not get much better than this (except perhaps for the Foucaults and Bretons)
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4/19/2012 - Vinomark wrote: 92 Points
Superb Chinon & my most fave Cab Franc bottling to date. Very nuanced and that evolves with each sip. All the classic expressions of Chinon, but wrapped in elegance. The wild gamey brambly barnyard, rustic, with hints of leather, layers of dark fruits, subtle herbs, hints of dried lemongrass and straw, touch of tobacco, dark olives, and well structured with soft layered tannins that time has mellowed. Gorgeous! Went will with hard & soft funky cheeses, bold pates, meats including smoked herb turkey.
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4/11/2012 - cardsandwine Likes this wine:
A stunning Cab Franc. Deep earthy bouquet with great length and purity on the palate and on the finish. Round and delicious. A wine with soul.
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12/22/2011 - brooklynguy wrote:
This bottle showed much younger than the one I had 2 years ago. Still somewhat primary in fruit, although the warm and earthy tobacco tones are prominent too. Delicious wine, very well balanced and well made. But nt as inspiring to me as the one from 2 years ago that showed more mature. Lots of variation here.
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11/29/2011 - tooch wrote:
Final Night in DC (Palena - Washington, DC): Beautiful Cabernet Franc. Expressive leather, dried fruit and floral tones mix with earthy mushroom and dried tobacco notes. The palate is mature and elegant with lithe earthy tones and a wonderfully feminine potpourri note. I could drink this all day long.
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8/2/2011 - CLDWLL wrote:
No way - on a Long Island wine list at a fair price - had to try it!!
A great showing! Complex and constantly evolving bouquet of dark fruit, herbs, leather, tobacco, dirt, and not too overwhelming bell pepper. With air, the wine puts on lots of weight . Good depth on the palate. Soft tannins. Balanced acidity. Some green notes in the persistent finish. This showed exactly as anticipated and was what I was craving on this night. I don’t always want this particular style of Chinon (preferring a bit more fruit) but on occasion I love it. This bottle made me wish the entire contents of my cellar would hurry up and hit peak drinking. Memorable birthday bottle. A-
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4/12/2011 - MRichman wrote:
Loire offline (La Sirene, NYC): Resolved, mellow and mature. Soft and complex. Very nice.
B+/A-
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11/25/2010 - Flavito wrote: 91 Points
Very fine tannins, smoth and round mouthfeel. Long and balanced. Lovely nose of mature Cabernet Franc. Too bad it was my last bottle, it is just peaking!
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8/29/2010 - marc d wrote:
Drank side by side with the 1990 Raffault Picasses. This was a very good bottle, showing well balanced, mature flavors. Structurally this was younger than the 1990 version, with higher acidity and texturally more rustic tannin. The 1990 had sweeter fruit and a silky smooth palate, where this showed a nice mix of fruit, tobacco leaf, earth and a little barnyard.
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8/25/2010 - awinestory wrote: 90 Points
intense chery fruit, minerals, spice, baryard, med+ acid and med tannin, very long mineral barnyard/cherry finish ... very well balanced, wood integrated into wine, concentration of flavor
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7/3/2010 - TheBusiness724 wrote: 88 Points
This seemed very developed to the eye and nose, with major bricking apparent and mushroomy, earthy, vegetal aromas. They were not necessarily unpleasant, but neither were they altogether welcome. The light-to-medium bodied palate held up well, however, with resolved tannins but still some good fruit and a bit of structure on the finish. I have had better bottles of this. I think there is significant bottle variation in this wine - and not just the 1989 vintage. I have had bottle variation issues recently with the 2005 as well, which is not as easily chalked up to variable storage conditions, given how young it is. For starters, I think this producer should make an effort to use higher quality corks. Every time I pull one from a bottle, I routinely notice how short they are.
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6/10/2010 - MRichman wrote:
Mature, herbal with smooth fruit, green vegetation, and black notes. Some lemon acid. Long finish. Not powerful but nice and brambly with some high tones. Ready to drink, a very pretty, mature Chinon. This bottle had signs of seepage.
B/B+
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4/17/2010 - yul2nyc (damion) Likes this wine: 90 Points
I spied this on a restaurant menu and was floored at how affordable it was, although seeing a 21 year old cab franc from Raffault meant I would have bought it pretty much at any price. Ciboire! I was un 'sti de chanceux wine drinker that night! Fruit was still there, fresh but balanced with hints of barnyard ("sweaty farm hands" as my wife likes to say), olive tapenade, and good minerality. Mmmmm. I'm convinced: I'm laying down a case of the 2005 will remain patient.
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2/24/2010 - LoireFan wrote: 93 Points
The juice.
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2/18/2010 - presterjohn wrote:
[Wine Society - might not be Picasses] bovril nose, herby, chewy minty eucalyptus. vg 7
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2/13/2010 - TheBusiness724 wrote: 92 Points
Good showing for this bottle. It appeared more youthful than the last bottle of this I had. The nose was somewhat muted with barnyard and berry scents, but the palate was where this performed today, with an intriguing spiciness, a mix of red and black fruit that contained a fresh tartness balanced by just the right amount of sweetness, and a medium-bodied feel supported by mild tannins. The finish left something to be desired, but only in terms of length, nothing unpleasant about the flavors.
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2/7/2010 - Ardross wrote: 93 Points
The lastbottle of this I tried was as dead as a doornail .Tasted of very little indeed .
So I opened this with some trepidation especially as I was prompted to do so by a weeping cork.
Surprisingly deep red , definitively Cab Franc- cinnamon and fruit on the bouquet . On the palate amazingly fresh and vital , cherries and a slight background of dark chocolate with a woodland note .
Quite marvellous .
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1/6/2010 - brooklynguy wrote:
just magnificent. The nose was complex with spices and stewed fruit, and had the great depth and dimension that mature good wine has. And the palate was fully resolved and showed amazing breadth and detail of flavor. It really spread out in the mouth and the fragrance lingered long after swallowing. This is what I hope my 2002 Raffault Chinons will turn into. This is what I hope all of my Chinons turn into.
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12/13/2009 - steffenpelz wrote:
Year-End Wine Salon (Mirabelle Restaurant): Pretty nose, leafy, very tannic, sour cherry, tobacco, earth, floral, and rustic. This was a good bottle of a very good wine. My favorite wine of the flight, although it started out very rough and angry. With air, it mellowed and the fruit plushed up.
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12/13/2009 - TheBusiness724 wrote: 90 Points
Not the best showing for this wine compared to other recent bottles. Although the fill was good, there was more bricking than usual on this, enough that a friend who enjoys wine casually but has never studied it was commenting on the orange hue. The barnyard/manure was also much more prominent on the nose than usual. I often enjoy that dimension, but this was too much even for me. That said, the bottle wasn't flawed or anything and was emptied pretty quickly. Maybe this was just more advanced than other bottles.
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12/9/2009 - austinwinesalon wrote: 91 Points
The Salon's first lab (Mirabelle Restaurant Austin, Texas): Showed very well, was quite seedy, herbal, and tart, with some ash and dustiness, black olive, leather, prunes, sour cherry. With high acid, it was a beast in its day and may still improve.
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10/24/2009 - TheBusiness724 wrote: 92 Points
Had this again. Experience was very similar to my previous tasting note. This is a great, well-priced wine if you are a fan of the style.
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9/5/2009 - TheBusiness724 wrote: 91 Points
Found this on a restaurant's wine list for a reasonable price. Tough to tell the color with the dim lighting, but from what I could gather it looked pretty young. The nose had a bit of the barnyard funk that people associate with this wine, but nothing unpleasant or overpowering. It did grow stronger with air and as it warmed up from cellar temperature, but in my opinion it was rather enjoyable. This was surprisingly young on the palate, and if it weren't for some of the secondary nuances on the nose (and the vintage written on the label), I would have easily mistaken this for the 2003. Very quintessentially cab franc. For other bottles with similarly good provenance, this could improve for another five years and last for ten. Really a great value, even at restaurant prices.
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8/18/2009 - QwertyMIDX wrote:
Had at Hearth Roast Pig Dinner. Beautiful nose, but very green vegetal, almost reminded me more of a cab sauv then a cab franc. On the palate a little more cab franc like, medium body, with deep flavors, spice, green vegetal, earth. Still tasted (and to some degree looked) young and vibrant. Another amazing food wine. After trying everything with a 91 Zind Humbrech Gewurztraminer Goldert I didn't think anything could be as food friendly, this managed it wonderfully.
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8/15/2009 - Winetex wrote:
Saturday Night Soiree (Chez Pelz): Tasted double blind; This bottle tasted incredibly green for my palate. Others liked this a lot more. I liked a previous bottle of this wine so perhaps it was a bit warm. Again maybe the warmth but it seemed past peak to me.
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6/12/2009 - Cheryl wrote:
Duck, Riesling and A Distinguished Southern Gentleman (New York City, Peking Duck House): No. Green and acidic. Vinegar? No.
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5/16/2009 - BradKNYC wrote:
Party at Jay's. (Jay's): Beautiful nose. Nice and funky, showing meatiness, sweet black cherry, herb and cedar. It's a little leaner on the palate than the fruit on the nose would suggest with a similar flavor profile, but with more of an herbal component. Precise and crunchy. Quite nice, though I prefer the '90 version with its riper fruit and slightly lower acid levels. A-/B+.
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7/26/2008 - Winetex wrote: 92 Points
A very good wine with the right stuff. Drinking very well now with beautiful integration. Excellent truffle, olive and faded fruit flavors along with an underlying herbal note. Minerals on the finish. Not necessarily my favorite flavor profile but very interesting and indicative of the joys of a well-aged wine.
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7/26/2008 - steffenpelz wrote:
Dinner with Friends (Chez Purdue): As usual, great stuff. Not much more to say than it is awe-inspiring to me with its great structure, but suave tannins, tertiary flavors, and dark fruit. Can last for another good while without going into decline. Drinking beautifully. Three bottles so far, and three successes.
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7/22/2008 - dbkitc wrote: 92 Points
Certainly the best red Loire wine I have ever had (I have not had too many) – thanks Tom! Elegant, mineral driven wine that is just perfect to drink now. Sophisticated. (92)
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7/4/2008 - steffenpelz wrote:
4th of July Blowout (Chez Rick): This bottle was more closed and tight than the previous one. Still a profound wine that shows leafiness, truffle, earth, and plum and currants wrapped into one exceptionally structured package. This bottle needed another 5-10 years to drink at peak. What a great wine and at the current rates (if it can be found), it is one of the finest values in the wine world. One of my favorite reds ever.
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6/5/2008 - Brad L wrote:
The Raffault was awesome, everything you could ever want a Chinon to be. Beautiful poise and complexity, with nice berries and a wraithlike green ash acid spine. Elegance, yeah, big time. I think I'd even step out and say the best Chinon I've had - and I see now Marc had the same reaction. This did start to pack it in toward the end of the evening, so...
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6/3/2008 - marc d wrote:
Amazing wine. Complex earthy mushroom nose with lots of layers. Still some raspberry fruit left, nice freshness, almost resolved tannins. Very elegant and a joy to drink right now. After 2 hours it started to fade pretty quickly, so drink right after opening.
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3/23/2008 - steffenpelz wrote:
Dinner Chez Pelz: Popped and poured. A slightly browning edge at first, but with air, the color becomes solid dark garnet red. The aromas of this leap out of the glass and I swear you could smell it from feet away. Leafy mushroom, earth, truffle, and cassis wrapped into a round, fully mature body that leads into a long, long finish. Just a joy to drink and although I think this has many years left in the tank, it is drinking positively stunning right now with all the secondary and tertiary flavors one could wish for. This is a benchmark wine for me. Not only for Chinon, but in general. One of the best wines I have ever tasted. Goes without saying that at less than $50 per bottle, this has to be one of the finest wine values in the world.
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2/20/2008 - CorkPullerPhl wrote: 94 Points
Stellar. I've tasted this wine at least a dozen times and other than one corked bottle, they have all been great. Nose of pencil, grilled meat, red currant, and dusty minerality. The palate reveals subtle floral notes that give way to waves of complex flavors similar to the nose. I am an admitted loire addict, but this is among the best cabernet franc i've ever tasted. Surpassed by only the '86 Raffault 'Les Picasses', and possibly matched by a couple special clos Rougeards. This wine is special, and with relatively modest alcohol, i'd happily drink two bottles in a sitting.
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1/15/2007 - blue wrote:
A nice mature chinon, all kind of evolved green flavor , cedar,olives, earth in a very pleaseant way. Tanins are well rounded so is the acid. a long finish of the same flavors profile. A nice example why chinon should not be drunk young .Will keep my 2002's for years!
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7/11/2006 - trankin wrote: 90 Points
TWITS Cab Franc Event (Dale's house): Nose of an older california cab. Liking this better than the first wine. More ripe, more tanninc, younger / more vibrant. Cleaner fruit. Despite being very clean, it's still nicely complex and elegant. This declined a bit over the time on the table. I liked this more than most others - I liked this marginally better than the first wine, and I think I was the only one. I also liked both wines better than most people.
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