May 2, 2024 - Mea culpa. I think I overrated this the first time trying it in 2020. After this third time drinking 2007 Rayas, I believe I succumbed to irrational exuberance the first time I tried it. This is an excellent wine, but not perfect, as I rated it then. Very floral with cherry and bramble notes. Not ethereal. Time would have to create better balance, not just flavors, for the score to increase.
March 22, 2024 - Opulent, and hedonistic in style, the wine is all about hitting your pleasure buttons with waves of peppery, black cherries, kirsch, garrigue, black plums, and blackberries. The creamy, sensuous finish builds as it lingers. Drink from 2024-2040.
March 1, 2024 - Liked it a bit more than last time. Less jammy and ripe, and hopefully it will shed all the baby fat with age. Only decanted for an hour but it probably needs much longer to drink today. If you only have one bottle, give it another 8-10 years before considering to open it.
February 23, 2024 - Perhaps not a perfect bottle, the nose showed primarily sous bois.
Dark berries on the palate with mature complexity, a hint of brett which I suspect muted the fruits somewhat.
Classy structure, though.
January 20, 2024 - Internationale du Gout - Vertical series #1: Rayas dinner with Morrocan fusion food; 1/19/2024-1/20/2024 (Singapore): Matched against the '05. I wanted to dislike this wine based on confirmation bias around the 07 CdP vintage which has unfortunately produced overly alcoholic and pruney wines at most addresses. Surprise! While the fruit profile was leaning noticeably riper with more plum and liquorice this still showcased a consistent Rayas package in terms of aromatics and overall integration. In context of the vintage and the likes of Clos des Papes, Charvin, Beaucastel, Pegau, Janasse etc... this a ballerina. If the fruit does not grow more stewed over time I see this has a chance of closing the gap with the '05 and '06.
January 13, 2024 - Grandiose! Mais ça lui aura pris plusieurs heures pour s'y rendre...
January 6, 2024 - 10 hour decant really just barely did the trick here. The second half of the bottle was quite brilliant as the wine started to flesh out. Manuka honey, wilted roses, candied prunes, ripe strawberries, burnt incense, liquorice, medicinal herbs. Really spicy and big in the mouth. This is hotter, darker and more medicinal against the 2008; certainly does not score points for elegance on the Rayas scale. But nonetheless it’s darn attractive and immensely complex and with time, might just take off to the next level.
December 25, 2023 - Opened in Otto e Mezzo HK.
We played around with this bottle. It was first slow-oxed for 3 hours before we poured a small bit to try. We then decided to decant 1/3 of the bottle and enjoy that first, before returning to see how the rest of the wine in the bottle was doing.
Anyway, this was absolutely incredible. Denser and darker than any other Rayas that I've had, but with air it didn't seem clunky or poorly integrated. Red fruit was bursting out of the glass, alongside its signature herbaceousness. The alcohol gave a hint of welcome spice that was present but not unpleasant. Everything was so powerful: a true example of an iron fist inside a velvet glove.
This was undisputed WOTD for everyone. Even small pours shared with newcomers joining hours later kept outclassing other wines that were being opened as the day went on.
It blows my mind that this is likely to continue improving with a bit more age, because it's already so good now with enough air. However, if you really do have the itch to try this, go ahead - just give it the patience it deserves, both in the breathing and the drinking over time.
November 26, 2023 - Von allem zu viel - ein wilder Ritt - vielleicht auch keine perfekte Flasche
November 18, 2023 - In a flight of 07, 08 & 10 Rayas reserve, this stood out as the darkest, inkiest, richest, deepest, most extracted wine, full of vintage characteristic. Was it the best of the flight, or the night? No. These highly rich wines no longer do it for me, though I'm sure some will love it (in time). For me the '10 was the king of the hill, even if it needs even more time. It's just the more complete wine.