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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 91.6 pts. and median of 92 pts. in 188 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by evjoh on 7/13/2022: It’s like drinking a supreme pizza. Aged tobacco, roasted green veggies, dried raspberries, supple tannins, lively acid. This is not a fruit forward wine but that’s consistent with the younger vintages I’ve had of this. Plenty of life left. (1886 views) | | | Tasted by Janstan on 1/3/2022 & rated 90 points: Well melded and balanced wine. went excellently with pork tenderloin with a fig, orange apricot glaze (2276 views) | | | Tasted by JFW on 8/2/2021 & rated 92 points: Been holding this for some time. Mold on the top of the cork. Quite fragile. The Durand was necessary. Very floral. Brick-like color. Some tea-like notes as well. Was expecting more of the classic green pepper, but didn't pick up on that. Maybe a little smoke and leather. We don't drink a ton of old(er) wines, so this definitely presented 'old' in a bit of an 'old soul' kind of way. Exciting to've held this so long and to open it to celebrate 13 years. (2515 views) | | | Tasted by dbg on 5/18/2021: Every bottle of this secondary market purchase in 2019 has been consistent. Black mold on top of cork but remainder of cork pristine, fill into neck like prior bottles suggesting excellent storage.
Medium ruby with some bricking at rim. Takes about an hour to open up after pop and pour, showing a complex nose of red fruits, leather, moist earth, tea. Medium body, palate follows the nose, nice sweet aged complexity, excellent balance. Still some tannins but no harshness on a medium-long finish combined with plenty of fruit suggest this has years of good drinking ahead of it. Excellent-Outstanding. Nearing the end of my stash on this with only one bottle left. Will be sad to see it go. (2677 views) | | | Tasted by BillBell73 on 2/6/2021: This bottle was definitely on the quiet side but still in very good shape. The usual Raffault aromatics and graceful structure but you have to lean in more than usual with this bottle. Lovely. (2883 views) | | | Tasted by mdefreitas on 12/25/2020 & rated 93 points: Drinking wonderfully, with maturing red fruits, herbs, tobacco, earth and stones. Herbaceous but not vegetal. Nice, pillow-soft tannins. Still full of life. (2174 views) | | | Tasted by DougLee on 12/11/2020 & rated 93 points: Decanted for 45 minutes. Dark garnet color with scarlet edges. Nose of savory green leaf, beautifully fragrant floral notes, currant, rocky earth, plum pits. Layers of lively plum, currant, anchoring earthy green elements, and tobacco gracing the palate. Smoothed tannin and still-bright acidity to keep things moving. Long finish of satisfying dark plum and peppery earth with grip and depth in spades. A surprisingly agile, fresh, and totally enjoyable wine at age 30. (1754 views) | | | Tasted by oldwines on 10/24/2020 & rated 92 points: Decanted around 5pm and tasted over the next 5 hours. Medium garnet color with just a hint of bricking, fresher looking than I expected. Nose had cherry, florals and some smoky, earthy nuances. Over time it evolved quite a lot and had chocolate, sour cherry, some menthol and a nice juicy finish. Bright and energetic for a 30 year old wine. Elegant and reserved yet layered and very interesting. Not on its last legs by any means. (2059 views) | | | Tasted by SteveG on 6/29/2020 & rated 89 points: Last bottle, now 4 years later, seemed a little muted, could be anything from mild TCA to bottle variation to simple age. Still tasty with faux chicken cassoulet. (2794 views) | | | Tasted by jviz on 5/29/2020 & rated 93 points: Served double blind, a big thanks to Nutty08 :) same bottle
This had a pale garnet color, which should have alerted me to its age, but the fresh acidity and vibrancy of the whole package had me fooled that it was a younger wine. The nose is strong, and leads with a full dose of green bell pepper. Some tomato leaf and band-aid follow on a second look later in the evening, confirming the diagnosis. The palate is lively and there are still quite a lot of dark fruits on it, that is, not too tertiary. Tannins are fully integrated though (another clue to its age) and soft, and long...
What a treat. True to form, a valuable learning experience. (2282 views) | | | Tasted by Nutty08 on 5/29/2020 & rated 93 points: This needed a couple hours to open up, but still a step down from bottles in 2017. Aromatics are strong, but more muted than prior bottles. Bell pepper, pipe tobacco and smoke notes. Palate was rather inegegrated, soft entry typical of older wines, but formed up showing acidity and mild tannins on back end. Good finish. This actually improved with air—but I don’t suspect further aging will enhance the experience. (2126 views) | | | Tasted by Mtnmd1 on 4/7/2020 & rated 93 points: Wow! As dbg stated in his last note. Amazing nose. Soft silky. Expressive. Fascinating cork - upper third a shriveled moldy plug and the lower portion pristine. (2191 views) | | | Tasted by dbg on 3/6/2020: Every bottle of this secondary market purchase in 2019 has been consistent. Black mold on top of cork but remainder of cork pristine, fill into neck like prior bottles suggesting excellent storage. Medium ruby with some bricking at rim. Beguiling nose with complex mix of red fruits, leather, moist earth, tea. Medium body, palate follows the nose, nice sweet aged complexity, excellent balance. Still some tannins but no harshness on a medium-long finish combined with plenty of fruit suggest this has years of good drinking ahead of it. Outstanding. Several had this as WOTN, most had it as Chinon of the night. (2189 views) | | | Tasted by dbg on 1/21/2020: Another bottle of this secondary market purchase in 2019. Black mold on top of cork but lower 90% of cork pristine, fill into neck like prior bottles suggesting excellent storage. Medium ruby with some bricking at rim. Beguiling nose with complex mix of red fruits, leather, moist earth, tea. Medium body, palate follows the nose, nice sweet aged complexity, excellent balance. Still some tannins but no harshness on a medium-long finish combined with plenty of fruit suggest this has years of good drinking ahead of it. Each bottle has been better than the last. Is it me or the wine? Excellent to outstanding. (2233 views) | | | Tasted by andtheodor on 12/31/2019 & rated 93 points: Best bottle yet. (2105 views) | | | Tasted by Neecies on 12/3/2019: Oh wow. Shows old Loire character, by the pyrazines were a bit dominant. Needed more air time. (2070 views) | | | Tasted by dbg on 11/8/2019: Second bottle of this secondary market purchase in 2019. Black mold on top 1/5 of cork but lower 4/5 pristine, fill into neck like the last bottle. Medium ruby core, bricking at rim. Expressive nose of red fruits, leather, moist earth, tea, touch of funk but no bandaid or barnyard. Medium body, palate follows the nose, more sweet aged complexity than the last bottle, good balance, not as much tannin on the finish. Showing more mature/better than last bottle. Excellent. (1904 views) | | | Tasted by dbg on 10/31/2019: Secondary market purchase in 2019. Black mold on top 1/4 of cork but lower 3/4 pristine, fill into neck. Medium ruby core, bricking at rim. Expressive nose of red fruits, leather, moist earth, tea, touch of funk but no bandaid or barnyard. If this has Brett it’s been well-stored and showing only hints of the good leathery version. Medium body, palate follows the nose, some aged complexity, good balance, still some furry tannins on the finish. I’d expect this to hold another 5 years at least if well stored. Excellent. (1836 views) | | | Tasted by Mr T on 10/21/2019: a little funky on nose when first opened but that blew off and it rounded out some and fruit emerged. with time, nice red fruit that more than stood up to the acid. Really very nice and all the more so for the money and at this age. Pretty wine (1846 views) | | | Tasted by MartyL on 10/18/2019 & rated 90 points: Every bottle of this is seemingly different. This one was pyrazine city (bell pepper if you like it, weedy if you don’t). For me, tobacco leaf aromas dominate. There’s some fruit but it’s very very quiet and the wine is more vegetable than fruit if you know what I mean. Jill found this undrinkable but I liked it. (1837 views) | | | Tasted by WST on 10/12/2019: Not as nice as previous bottles. More horsey brett and green pepper pyrazines than I had noticed in the past, although some of the funk blew off with time. After an hour, it had settled down into a nice, late middle-aged cab franc, more tertiary than secondary. (1805 views) | | | Tasted by sung251 on 9/27/2019 & rated 93 points: There is a good reason why I think this is the best qpr wine from all of loire valley after Domaine Huet and this bottle did not fail to deliver. At first the wine was a bit reserved but with a 30 min decant a lot of classic loire valley cab franc notes. The Green bell pepper, red fruits with a bit of blue, fine grained tannins, and earthy compost notes. Based on the description it may sound very generic but what sets this wine apart is the intensity, precision, and balance in which it delivers all of those components. This is a very fine example of a classic expression executed with near perfection. It is great now but there is no rush should still hold 5 years no problem in my opinion. (1702 views) | | | Tasted by wirelesswine on 5/21/2019 & rated 93 points: Brought to a Loire-themed offline and opened in a flight next to the '89 Raffault Les Picasses. Both wines really shined, with a slight advantage to the '89 with a touch more acidity and intensity of fruit, but this particular wine really drank far younger than one would expect, there was tons of structure remaining with great notes of pyrazine, flowers, and berries, accompanied by some of the tertiary notes that played a great accompaniment. (2104 views) | | | Tasted by SARED on 4/28/2019 & rated 91 points: This was a Kafka-esque metamorphosis (in reverse) -- I want to get another bottle to just follow it again. It needed 5+ hours of air to convert from something rotten into grippy cherry fruit. Indeed, I'm a bit flabbergasted.
5:42PM. Send passive aggressive email to retailer after double decant. Nose smells like rotten bell pepper, rotten tomato, and rotten linoleum/card board. Palate was a bit of the same. Cork wasn't great... top 1/4 was dried out pale white, while bottom 3/4 showed soft and stained the full 3/4 densely.
7:42PM: Check in after 2 hours and wine still no good. Maybe slightly better, but could be placebo effect.
9:00PM: Wine is better... nose is still off putting but less so. Palate is now approachable, but is an herbaceous bitter sweet coca cola herbal tonic. Nice, full, almost silky texture.. seamless.. but green herbal tonic. Quite the change from the open, but not appealing to me. Reminds me of a sweet Spanish vermouth I can't place my finger on.
11:45PM. Wow. WTF. Going to call it a night and had took a sip out of the open glass I had.. nose was closed with only a subtle hint of the off putting aroma (that I struggle to articulate). the palate was deep red and purple cherry, bell pepper, grippy tannin, albeit with a bit heat and rubbing alcohol on the finish. the wine was much different! I grabbed a glass from the uncorked bottle and it was better! The same cherry fruit, bell pepper, suave but gritty tannin, and less of the rubbing alcohol finish.
12:00AM: I grab some toast and cream cheese (didn't have brie and this wine didn't feel like gouda to me) to finish a glass that was well deserved waiting it out!
So on this bottle, the sweet spot was (i) not on PNP, and (ii) probably wouldn't be the next day. Definitely an interesting bottle of wine to follow.
At exactly 12:00AM, I am giving this wine a 91-92. A complete metamorphosis from a wine I thought was corked, then a herbal tonic! (2293 views) | | | Tasted by fred o. on 4/27/2019: movie night (in spirit, Santa Barbara, CA): Lightly browned ruby with translucence. Nose tomato, light pyrazine, red fruited. Palate silky/sappy red fruits, with some green pepper and a savory quality; tannic finish. Very nice depth, still seems very young, noticeably tasting younger than a 1989 tasted alongside even considering the 1-year difference. 92 pts (1933 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Jancis Robinson, MW
JancisRobinson.com (3/30/2017)
(Olga Raffault, Les Picasses Chinon Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By John Gilman
View From the Cellar, Jan/Feb 2017, Issue #67, The 2015 Vintage In the Loire Valley (Part Two) and Plenty of Older Chinon Notes
(Chinon “les Picasses”- Domaine Olga Raffault) Login and sign up and see review text. | By John Gilman
View From the Cellar, Jan/Feb 2012, Issue #37, The Annual Loire Valley Report: The 2010 Vintage and Other Recently Tasted Gems
(Chinon “les Picasses”- Domaine Olga Raffault) Login and sign up and see review text. | By Chris Kissack
Winedoctor, November 2007
(Olga Raffault Chinon Les Picasses) Subscribe to see review text. | By John Gilman
View From the Cellar, Jul/Aug 2007, Issue #10, Recently Tasted Loire Valley Wines: The Garden is Open
(Olga Raffault Chinon “les Picasses”) Login and sign up and see review text. |  By Gary Vaynerchuk
Wine Library TV, WBW French Cabernet Franc, Episode #435 (4/2/2008)
(Olga Raffault Chinon Les Picasses) #3; VaynerPAZZZ; COLOR-medium dark; NOSE-solid barnyard poop components (like a 4H Fair); TASTE-very classic; lighter mouthfeel than the 2 previous wines; I like the complexity & inkiness; beautiful cabbage flavors on the mid-palate; dry & tart; smooth; a little tired (it might be taking a nap at 4:30pm while watching "Matlock"); missing a little pizzazz; a little lighter and awkward than I expected; I like, but a PAZZZ for $42 bones; drink now; JG-92; GV-87 87 points | By Jon Rimmerman
Garagiste (2/29/2008)
(RAFFAULT Chinon Picasses) Friday SPECIAL - 1990 Dear Friends, This was just confirmed and it is quite dear to my heart. I now we’ve already had a Friday Special so I'll call this Friday Special - 1990. I’ve seen bottles of this wine around, originally released 15 years ago, but this is the first true library stock I’ve come across - it has not been sitting around in the US waiting for a home or languishing in a warehouse somewhere. This is a very unique opportunity to experiment with an aged bottle of Chinon from a great vintage - at a very enticing Friday Special price. You can do whatever research you need to but this is an absolute steal of a deal from a wine region most of us rarely see with significant age. Let’s face it, there is a lot of 1990 Bordeaux on the market - it’s not what I would call hard to find if you have the funds to support the habit - but 1990 Chinon? Now that’s rare. As in Bordeaux, the Cabernet Franc of Chinon had a stellar vintage in 1990 and this wine is a testament to just how gracefully the toothy and tannic wines of this area can age - almost a combination of aged Gevrey and St. Estephe with a wild streak of animal and forest floor. The lean and whimsical nature of aged Loire Cabernet Franc is not for everyone but it is certainly worth the educational exercise alone as a litmus test of your own palate and taste for older wine. Those of you that already know you lean toward the esoteric message in a bottle quality of this region, can jump in with abandon. A rare opportunity to get inside the often eccentric glass elevator of aged Chinon - it just may change the perception and direction of your wine cellar at a price that can make all of us question why we spend extreme sums on older wine when we simply don’t need to. ONE SHIPMENT ONLY at this price with perfect provenance 1990 Olga Raffault Chinon “Les Picasses” (Cabernet Franc) Please give us your maximum number and we will allocate accordingly Thank you, Jon Rimmerman Garagiste Seattle, WA Loire9380 | By Lyle Fass
Rockss and Fruit (1/12/2008)
(Olga Raffault Chinon Les Picasses) Is there a better deal in fine aged red wine from France on the market right now? This showed better than I remember. Last time I had this was in April and I do not remember it being this good. Profoundly funky noseof herbs, VA, nuts, red fruits and wet earth. Oh yeah this was the Raffault barnyard in full effect. The palate was wonderfully cocnentrated and almost decadent in a Chinon-herbal-slightly unripe-fecal-only in the Loire Valley kind of way. Really unique palate with layers of fruit/earth/herbs/mineral assaulting your palate like a good layer cake at your Great Aunt's shiva. Great wine as it got the metaphors going big time. | By Lyle Fass
Rockss and Fruit (4/26/2007)
(Olga Raffault Chinon "Les Picasses") I never knew shit could smell so good. Well..actually I did. Also there was exotic spice, clover, red fruits and three footbal fields of barnyard aromas. But oh so alluring. Palate was ripe and voluptious with sweet tannins and an intriguing herbal aspect. If you wanted to nitpick the acidity was a bit low but that is if you are really looking for something wrong with this wine. It was positively decadent wine and a testament to how great Chinon cna be with some age. The palate had a laciness that is similar to nice aged Burgundy. Great stuff. I gave a sip to some guy who was drinking some horrible over-oaked California Sangiovese next to me and he hated it. Actually made a face. Different strokes. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of JancisRobinson.com and View From the Cellar and Winedoctor and Wine Library TV and Garagiste and Rockss and Fruit. (manage subscription channels) |
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