1998 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Pignan Reserve

Community Tasting Notes (23) Avg Score: 89.8 points

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  10/10/2022 - Michael T. Zoppo Likes this wine:

  (Tasted next to a 2008 Fonsalette) Soaring nose with uncanny notes of strawberry and pink peppercorn. This smells and tastes like Rayas. Great, sound bottle. Some would say this is "old" for Rayas, but this wine was on fire. I doubt there's any positive evolution left, so drink up.

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  2/6/2022 - DBdeParis Likes this wine:

  Refer to 10/27/2021 note - this time we decanted 5 hours in advance (off considerable sediment). Result was the wine was brilliantly open from the start while continuing to put on a bit more depth over the evening. Paired great with butternut squash risotto and a mature Nahe GG Riesling...

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  10/27/2021 - DBdeParis Likes this wine:

  We had an evening-long discussion over how this improved with additional air (opened and tested 6 hours & decanted 2 hours in advance). Verdict is yes, keeps getting better. All noted there is an anise/menthol element on the nose that distinguishes this from other Reynaud family wines. Very much does not come across as an old tired wine - and keeps tasting younger as it opens up. Perfume comes out on the nose as the eve goes on. In sum, this small group of Tours/Rayas fans went from underwhelmed to in absolute awe. Last sniff and last swallow the best, as almost always for Tours/Rayas.

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  2/21/2020 - misterstarre Likes this wine: 93 Points

  I mostly agree with what TinyBubbles wrote, below, but I have a different take away. They wrote, "Red cherry and raspberry but lightly medicinal with a metallic back. Dusty earth notes." But there's also fragrant garrigue, and that's where the poetry in this wine lies. That aromatic, earthy, herbal beauty comprised of sage underlined with mint. Yes, this wine lacks the punchy core of sweet cherry and acid of the best vintages, but it's still special in the way that Rayas wines are: like when you're drinking them, you feel yourself on a Southern Rhone hillside with bees buzzing around you, lifted by an uncommonly light bodied, aromatic CDP.

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  1/1/2018 - mukden wrote: 89 Points

  YES Drink Now.

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