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Red

1990 Olga Raffault Chinon Les Picasses

Cabernet Franc

  • France
  • Loire Valley
  • Touraine
  • Chinon
Drink between 2009 - 2022 (Edit)
CT91.6 188 reviews
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Community Tasting Notes 174

  • evjoh Likes this wine:

    July 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.

  • Janstan Likes this wine: 90 points

    January 3, 2022 - Well melded and balanced wine. went excellently with pork tenderloin with a fig, orange apricot glaze

  • JFW Likes this wine: 92 points

    August 2, 2021 - 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.

  • dbg wrote:

    May 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.

  • BillBell73 Likes this wine:

    February 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.

    1 person found this helpful Comment
1 - 5 of 174 More notes

Pro Reviews 11

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JancisRobinson.com

  • By Jancis Robinson, MW
    3/30/2017 (link)

    (Olga Raffault, Les Picasses Chinon Red) Subscribe to see review text.

View From the Cellar

  • By John Gilman
    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) Subscribe to see review text.

  • By John Gilman
    Jan/Feb 2012, Issue #37, The Annual Loire Valley Report: The 2010 Vintage and Other Recently Tasted Gems

    (Chinon “les Picasses”- Domaine Olga Raffault) Subscribe to see review text.

Winedoctor

  • By Chris Kissack
    November 2007 (link)

    (Olga Raffault Chinon Les Picasses) Subscribe to see review text.

View From the Cellar

  • By John Gilman
    Jul/Aug 2007, Issue #10, Recently Tasted Loire Valley Wines: The Garden is Open

    (Olga Raffault Chinon “les Picasses”) Subscribe to see review text.

RJonWine.com

  • By Richard Jennings
    5/25/2009 (link) 92 points

    (Olga Raffault Chinon Les Picasses) Medium garnet red color with clear meniscus; big herbaceous, olive, tobacco nose; focused, pointed, tart and ripe Cab Franc, tart red fruit, mineral and tart cherry palate; medium finish 92+ pts.

  • By Richard Jennings
    11/27/2008 (link) 93 points

    (Olga Raffault Chinon Les Picasses) Medium red violet color; smoky, iron, olive and pepperoni nose; great, tart, herbaceous, olive, pepperoni, iron and blood palate; medium-plus finish 93+ pts.

Wine Library TV

  • By Gary Vaynerchuk
    WBW French Cabernet Franc, Episode #435, 4/2/2008 (link) 87 points

    (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

Garagiste

  • By Jon Rimmerman
    2/29/2008 (link)

    (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

Rockss and Fruit

  • By Lyle Fass
    1/12/2008 (link)

    (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
    4/26/2007 (link)

    (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.

Wine Definition

  • Vintage 1990
  • Type Red
  • Producer Olga Raffault
  • Varietal Cabernet Franc
  • Designation n/a
  • Vineyard Les Picasses
  • Country France
  • Region Loire Valley
  • SubRegion Touraine
  • Appellation Chinon
  • UPC Code 610373581930

Community Holdings

  • Pending Delivery 3 (0%)
  • In Cellars 306 (34%)
  • Consumed 580 (65%)

Food Pairing

Community Recommendations

charcuterie, cheeses, meats, Pork Chops

Who Likes This Wine

100% Like It  56 votes

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