PNP. Med to deep garnet. Lifted crushed red fruit (strawberries) with spices, an elegant nuanced mouthfeel, soft tannins, and long finish which fans out. Served blind in a lineup of South American wines. Will develop more, but very good now. A wine to contemplate
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Magnificent kaleidoscopic nose of blood orange, crushed strawberry, raspberry and spices. We keep coming back to it. When the tasting begins on the nose, it’s promising!
The palate has a very fine attack, on strawberries and raspberries. Then everything comes together, in a very serene way, we then start with the blood orange and it unfolds with spices and earthy aromas. The juice is ample but in the Burgundian way, meaning that it is difficult to detect the warmth of Chateauneuf despite the intensity of the wine. On the other hand, the finish is much more alcoholic, but still integrated into the whole so that it remains consistent with the wine which remains harmonious over a long length.
Excellent, I lack a marker on Rayas to say if it is great or not, but it remains an experience that will not be forgotten.
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Internationale du Gout - Vertical series #1: Rayas dinner with Morrocan fusion food; 1/19/2024-1/20/2024 (Singapore): Matched against the Rayas 11 - this was known to be a winner going in...I and other participants had it before and it is in contention for the better Rayas of the 2000's. The nose! The Rayas nose but one or two notches more explosive and expressive than the next contender in that department. The palate is phenomenal but would not prove the most complex of the evening. It easily dispatched the '11 in the same flight.
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@ Wu’s Wonton King NYC.WOTN. Poopy, earthy, exotic spices, nuanced, long 45+ second finish, crazy amounts of residual tannins left in glass and bottle. Lots of metallic iron notes. Unique and unmistakably Rayas.
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Opened a 2nd bottle in less than a month. This was fresher, much like my friend’s bottle on 12 Nov. Served immediately after popping but should have give it an hour or so to breathe. Blue berries, grape skin bitterness initially. After some time, became perfumed with notes of dried flowers and potpourri. Strawberries, sandalwood. Rayas is Rayas
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Exceptional nose, perfumed like a bouquet of roses, and evolved in bottle as the evening went by. Best to not decant to preserve the delicate structure.
The taste was fresh, sweet white fruit, rind, mild spice. Medium textured, with every sip, your palate realizes this is a special wine.
The finish is long and savory.
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In a flight of 04, 05 & 06 at the Pressoir Rayas dinner. For me 15-20 years is the sweet spot for Rayas reserve. It's when it shows all its volume, spice, pepper and fruit but is firmly in its drinking winner. At this dinner, the 10 was great but not near ready and the ones from the 90s were not as fresh as I might like so this flight really did it for me. The 06 was the surprise of the tasting for me. I thought it came in just behind the 05 for current drinking and definitely has improved over the last few years, with richer and sharper flavor profile. Maybe this was another underestimated vintage coming between two more famous ones, but it is really showing its stuff right now. Very layered wine with floral and secondary tones starting to emerge. Really a treat. I'm lucky to have a few bottles left and I'll drink them over the next 5 years or so.
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Blind tasting and 2 bottles of Rayas 2006, what a coincidence! My bottle was slightly more advanced. Initially light on the palate but gained quite weight over the night. A few of the folks opined this was the more ready bottle. Wild strawberry notes, black berries, slight kirsch, dried flowers. Brilliant!
Notably, the other bottle was fresher, bigger but tighter. Blue berries and grape skin bitterness on the finish. Very enjoyable nonetheless!
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Mouton Rothschild Vertical: This is as good a wine can be. With liquorice, wild strawberry, spices. Medium+ acidity and medium tannin. Drinking beautifully. Decanted for 1 hour.
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Avec Aude et François, à Mazan. Ouvert le matin pour le soir, ça a été, mais comme le dernier verre était clairement le meilleur, il aurait bénéficié de 12-25 heures de plus. La complexité aromatique est incroyable, sur le romarin, les classiques oranges sanguines, une cuillerée de confiture de fraises des champs. Extraordinaire. 95 pts
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Dull ruby. Soaring aromas of ripe black raspberry, licorice, and a touch of garrigue. Medium weight and sappy. Sweet dark red fruit and spice but a little bit blurry at the edges.
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Explosive nose with the tell tale Rayas spices, strawberry, cinnamon, farmyard. A little richer on the palate than I remember it, good freshness though to buffer the fruit. Grand!
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Fragrant nose of roses, flavors of green olive and garrique. The most gorgeous CDP I’ve experienced. I get it. This showed much better than the riper 2007 we drank a few days later
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Verticale de Rayas. Mon no 2 sur 6. Fruits rouges explosif, fraises, framboises, un vin complet, assez ample, profond, fin et élégant à la fois, très longue finale délicieuse. Quelle belle bouteille. 96-97
My no 2. Great bottle. A red fruit bomb, deep, wide, complete, yet elegant and has finesse and so much class. Gorgeous long finish.
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Wine gathering at RJ's; 4/4/2023-4/7/2023 (South Carolina): Beautiful classic Rayas nose displaying sweet ripe red fruit, cherry liqueur, strawberry jam, dry cherry, candied rose petal, strong tobacco, white pepper, root beer, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and mineral. Perfectly integrated palate, layers upon layers of decadent red fruit, warm, sweet and round, but also silky and fluid, medium acidity, strong mineral, and a seamless long decadent slightly dry red fruit driven finish with tobacco and cinnamon at the end. This is very expressive and drinking well.
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Le jeudi soir, nous avons pris une grande décision, soit de boire notre Château Rayas 2006 en fin de semaine. Nous choisissons de suivre à la lettre les recommandations d'Emmanuel Reynaud.
Il fut donc ouvert ce même jeudi soir. en prévision du samedi. Première impression à l'ouverture:
Le goulot sent bon les fleurs et les fraises. Je me verse bien sûr un tout petit verre, avant de remettre le bouchon pour le retour à la cave.
Dans le verre, au nez c’est l’alcool qui ressort avant tout, le kirsch, puis de petites fraises pointent discrètement le nez. La bouche est sévère et renfrognée, austère, peu de fruit. Alcooleux. Ne pas connaître, je serais très déçu. J’ai au contraire un petit sourire en coin, je me dis que ça promet!
On remet le bouchon et rapporte à la cave.
Le 2e soir, vendredi, c’est beaucoup mieux mais encore un peu fermé. On aurait pu le boire et se régaler, peut-être après une heure dans le verre? Mais je pensais qu’il avait un peu plus à donner.
3e soir: Le Verdict
Le nez est typique du domaine, orange sanguine, petites fraises, des herbes de Provence.
La bouche est puissante encore, mais tout est adouci, c’est dense et profond, un cri de la terre! Les épices dominent maintenant, c’est très complexe, garrigue avec encore un peu d’agrumes, savoureux, avec un petit côté décadent. La longueur en bouche est phénoménale. Personne ne penserait Bourgogne sur ce millésime, pas de dentelle, on sent l’alcool, c’est un authentique vin provençal, qui renvoie à la beauté de ce terroir tardif qu'est Rayas, à la fois frais et chaleureux. Il s’étire sur les papilles en un balai poivré souverain. Un ange passe.
Le meilleur 2006 que j’ai pris.
P.s.: Bu dans de simple Riedel ouverture, les grands verres à Bourgogne faisaient trop ressortir l'alcool.
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Still very closed at this point, 17 years is too young for this Rayas, the taste was nice salty fruit, bacon fat, sappy tannins… Will be much better in 5-10 years!!
La Tablee: Rayas Dinner with Gregory Castells & Martine Saunier (La Mercerie): More of the darker fruit style - like a Boysenberry. This was also lovely with a great finesse to it. A wine we bought some years ago for a very different price than what it trades for today and I suspect will need quite a bit of time to be what it could be. Great all the same.
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(Tasted next to a 2006 Pignan) Holy smokes. Super classic Rayas nose, and the palate is TEXTBOOK. I can still taste the strawberries and pink peppercorns. Pure silk. If you don't want to fall in love with Rayas, don't taste the 2006.
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Opened the evening before and left uncorked. Boy did it do miracles. Sublime on day 2, totally open for business, sweet sweaty stemmy granache from the top drawer, lavender, herbs provencales, honey and white pepper. Why we dig Rayas.
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Just a step behind the 08 tasted alongside. Ethereal perfume with the floral stickiness and persistence you find in a great Burg. Out of reach now with the price surge
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Steve Sigmond's 50th Birthday (Minneapolis, MN): Lighter in color than the 2004, more mature, less of the sharpness and precision yet also with more secondary, wandering, wafting notes of garrigue. The pale color belies the simultaneous power of the wine and the purity of the cherry-esque Grenache fruit. Also stunning.
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Uncorked in the morning for dinner the same day. Immediately so much pleasure jumping out of the glass. Richness with sufficient restraint. A noticeable sweetness and steminess melting marvellously. Such svelte tannins too. A hedonistic experience. Rayas is a special wine.
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bottled opened 36 hours prior to tasting. tasted side by side with Rayas 98. Intense nose, subtle traditional Reynaud strawberry notes, spices and animal notes. the palate is velvety and very energetic. great wine that will get better I think. In comparison, the 98 was more delicate but definitely in the same lineage.
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WOW... WOW... this was fantastic... looked and tasted like it was 30-40 years old, massive bricking going on, the elegant yet deep palate was a kaleidoscope of savory and sweet fruit flavors... drank with my friend Sedge who turned me on to Rayas and CdP 20 years ago, and we both were stunned... I bought this for $200... it now goes for $1,300 so I'm sad I didn't load up... just one more in the cellar
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An exceptional bottle. Opened up with classic strawberry and cherry notes and it kept evolving with tea and spice notes in the bottle throughout the 5-hour tasting in the night. As always with great Rayas, extraordinary balance and delicacy.
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Such a wonderful young Rayas. Lots of ripe red fruit, silky smooth with bright acidity. Compared to the 07', I certainly prefer the 06' right now -- it's a lighter wine, with more crunchy fruit as a result of the higher acid, and I think its a more balanced wine as a result.
Ordered this off the wine list at Auberge de la Mole outside St Tropez for 450 Euro, less than half what it's currently trading for at retail in the US. Always fun to find this on a wine list priced at pre covid levels.
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First Rayas I ever tried and I’m hooked. Amazing nose. Fruit forward with an amazing and complex palette of aroma. Opened 1.5h prior to serving - kept evolving in the glass.
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Dégustation Open Dreamer Style chez Simon B: Dégusté côte à côte avec le Rayas 2009; celui-ci à un bouquet complètement enivrant qui enchante la pièce avec ses arômes floraux, fruités, liquoreux et épicés tout en puissance. Classique. Vraiment délicieux et beaucoup plus ouvert comparativement à un 2009 trop jeune moins expressif qui à besoin de temps en cave pour se former.
95-97 pts
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A beautiful wine from start to finish. Aromatically exotic with elderberry, spring violets, and potpourri. Spicy delicate red fruits balanced by bright acidity and unusually long spiced finish. Showy, yet refined and begging to be sipped slowly. Developed nicely in the glass. Really excellent. Hold or drink. Don’s post-COVID Dom Perignon gala.
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The first indoor gathering since Covid (Clarity - Vienna, Virginia): This have evolved slowly since I last had in 2015, showing similar. Expressive nose displaying very ripe red fruit, cherry liqueur, cherry jam, strawberry jam, wet tobacco, garrigue, leather, rose, cola, cinnamon and nutmeg and earth. Very good concentration, very finely layered ripe red fruit, warm and round but also silky and polished, medium acidity, strong earthy mineral, and a seamless long jammy red fruit driven finish with tobacco and cinnamon at the end. This is a classic Rayas. This seems almost light compare to the 07. Nevertheless, it shows very good concentration. Since I find fizziness bothersome, I prefer this slightly.
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Once again Rayas delivers. The fruit is so clean, light and elegant while also being quite powerful. Just a completely beautiful wine, not much more to say other than this is extremely delicious in every way.
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Aération à la Reynaud, 24hrs avant dégustation. Un des plus beaux nez de l’année, une bombe aromatique sur les herbes grillées, la fraise fraîche, un peu de viande fraîche, à la fois très Chateauneuf avec un petit côté qui pinote. Bouche assez sudiste, concentrée, toujours avec du fruit mais c’est surtout la finale qui impressionne, longue mais qui déroute en nous enlignant ailleurs sur des contrées plus fraîches. 96
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Fantastic and wine of the night for me in a night that included many fine wines.. It's getting more difficult to buy Rayas and for good reason. I only wish it was still a bit of a secret.
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Blind. Nose is initially quiet and requires attention, especially next to the '96 Jamet Cote-Rotie in the next glass. Beautiful dry earth and soft blueberry fruit, faintly rustic and somewhat floral. A very unique milky characteristic, both on the nose and the palate, a little like chocolate milk. Palate is big but resolved and has a soft mouthfeel. This level of lightness and elegance is CDP is remarkable and the sort of thing Beaucastel only seems to achieve after 30-years of age. Very good.
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Rayas/Cdp dinner. Tasted next to the lighter but also amazing 2008 and the perfect 2005 which was even more complete, but this 2006 was scratching the 100 point mark as well. When I opened the wine it was instantly clear from the nose that we are in for something special. Here were the amazing tell tale Rayas nose - with spices, cured meat, game, red cherry, musk - that you only find in few other great wines of Leroy, Soldera, etc. The 2006 is just at the beginning of the drinking window with a well structure but elegant palate. It actually closed down a bit over dinner. Start drinking now, amazing wine, makes you wonder why not more CdP producers are trying to reproduce this, far superior style, then the rich, extracted syrupy CdPs. 98+
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Transporting, Transformational, Transcendant. Like no other Châteauneuf-du-Pape Réservé. Yes, my favorite, and if I had to choose, my one and only CDP. Always Burgundian with its textured yet sliky elegance and range of red berries -strawberry, raspberry, barbery, dewberry, cherry, red currant. Needs decanting and after an hour, begins to truly show the perfect structure, texture, and luscious mouth feel. And the aromas are a sensual treat as well, a panoply of pleasure. Any vintage of this wine is a glorious experience.
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PNP, Surprisingly closed (at least compared to the 2008 I opened but prepped well last week) will require at least 2-3 more years of cellar time but all the wonderful characteristics of rayas in the bottle. Perhaps give it a good decant for a few hours before drinking.
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Exceeded my high expectations. Silky and elegant. Simultaneously ethereal and concentrated, figure that one out! Light bodied but oh so complex, with irresistible floral and strawberry aromas that come in waves. Pure energy in the mouth. Notes of strawberry, iron and meat, no animal in this bottle.
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Dense, sweet, creamy - and still young. Tasted vis-a-vis the Pignan, Charvin & Clos des Papes, this came out as a winner for the clean, smooth fruit and the immense balance. As always, this is a very different animal from your regular neuf, it s not a Southern wine as such, more like a Burgundy-wine - but very much made from Grenache. #PB#Kandestederne#Boysofsummer
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Ouverte 24 heures à l’avance, laissé en cave sans bouchon, le vin avait encore une telle vigueur que je me suis demandé si 48 heures n’aurait pas été préférable!
Le nez est envoûtant comme toujours. Du kirsch, fraises des champs, poivre, explosif! La bouche est puissante et concentrée, d’une grande jeunesse, c’est profond et long, savoureux bien sûr. Personne ne prendrait celui-ci pour un Bourgogne, comme le voudrait le cliché! Magnifique, mon seul bémol est que celle prise il y a un an était plus aboutie. 93+
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very good now, well balanced. My guest guessed Rayas blind. A little rough on the edge. I guess it will improve with time. No hurry.
EDIT following my recent (5/2020) with Emmanuel Reynaud over the phone. He told me that he had this 2006 for Xmas 2019, he opened it A WEEK (!!!) in advance and said it was beautiful.
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Bottles drunk with lunch or dinner while in Burgundy; 2/10/2020-2/14/2020 (Burgundy): A wine that was so off putting it was hard to enjoy. Over-ripe fruit with roasted notes that were stewy and sickly across the palate. Lacking any acidity or structure. Adrian really liked this, so I can't explain how our palates complete diverged on the bottle.
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Burgundy, Day 4 (Beaune, France): At Le Bistro de L'Hôtel. No one at the table liked this, which really left me scratching my head a bit, because I actually thought this was quite nice. The nose is perfumed (everyone else said marred with volatile acidity -- I detected some of that, but didn't find it problematic) with white pepper and some plums and strawberries. The palate is a little heavyset with some darker fruit components as well as some leather. It's certainly a fairly hot wine, but not the mess that everyone else seemed to think it was. Or maybe my palate is more forgiving of these issues because I've been exhausted by pinot over the last few days?
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This starts off with aromas of strawberries, rosemary, red roses and kirsch. Light- to medium-bodied in the mouth, with sweet red cherries, aromatic herbs, earth and a hint of blood orange. Packs quite a punch without any excess weight. A lovely and distinctive Chateauneuf that is still on the upswing. 93+.
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Birthday dinner (Wild Tavern Restaurant): The bouquet seemed to leap from the glass and was in the lighter end of the red fruit spectrum, with strawberry prominent. In the mouth, it was almost ethereal with a sense of lightness I've not come across in a wine before, and yet it had a density and power as well. Length went on and on.
My first experience with Rayas, and it will haunt me...
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Feels like the fruit is almost passing its peak? Did not like the sugary, almost dirty, flavor. Palate is really clean despite falling short towards the end. 92
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This is still at the start of its drinking window. Ironically the 2008 we tried a month ago ( Papies 96) was a lot more ready. This 2006 is a touch reserved on the palate, touch tannic on finish. The nose is the highlight at this stage, light smoky, light iron feel , soft red fruits. Elegant as always, bright but just a hit buttoned down for now. For sure an amazing wine in the making for those with patience. 93 for now but watch this space.
Souper pour la fête de Oana (Saint-Bruno): Cette bouteille fut ouvert 24 heures à l’avance, laissée debout en cave, sans bouchon. Le résultat est probant. Un nez enivrant, parfums de fraises des champs et d'herbes grillées, fou! La bouche est voluptueuse et aérienne, avec une complexité impressionnante, j’adore! 93-94 pts
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Wow. I never remembered how much I liked this until I re-read my notes. Burgundy like in the glass being a clear and pale ruby. The nose was pronounced, young and floral. Strawberries, rose water, perfume create an intoxicating nose that just got better and better and better. Perfectly balanced and complex. This is youthful and will last many more years. The challenge is how to resist! Drank for my birthday with SH, Kelvin and the gang.
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Glass: Zalto Burgundy Clean, medium garnet-tawny color, more like an intense Rosé. Clean, medium+ intense, developing nose with lots o red berries (raspberry, strawberry), cinnamon, cloves, dried rose petals and other flowers. Very complex, dense and compact. More Burgundy than Chateuneuf. Dry, perfect integrated, medium+ acidity. The rather high alcohol of 14% abv. is barely noticeable. On the contrary, this wine seems rather airy and never hot. On the palate also very dense and compact with lots of red berries, fine black tea and rose petals. Oak is only giving a wonderful structure. The high tannin is perfectly integrated, silky and velvet and gives this wine a beautiful texture. Overall it has a balance and elegance that I have never seen in a Chateauneuf before! Surely it is a limping comparison, but I perfectly understand, why people say that Rayas is the most Burgundian wine in Chateuneuf. Long and elegant finish. This wine drinks nicely now, but it will continue to evolve for at least another decade. Great experience! 94-95
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Served at Omar’s birthday dinner, stunning nose of strawberries, youngish but so darn delicious & sexy, grand vin, my wotn and in great company - 2010 Rousseau Charmes, 1989 Trapet Chambertin, 1996 Estournel, will get better 95+
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Light purple color, explosive nose of violets. Is this a Chateauneuf? Served blind, I would never have guessed, but the purity, elegance, vibrancy of this wine makes it so special. It is paradoxical, though; complex yet light, elegant but still a Grenache based Southern Rhone, The finish is long and haunting. I've cellared this since release and it is ready to drink. One of my favorites this year and definitely my favorite Chateauneuf du Pape ever.
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Vinetasters: Rayas (Skokie, IL): Served double blind in a Rayas lineup. Very moderate nose, with a beautiful nose of red fruit -- a little bit of dirt and earth and a slight hint of pepper. Slight hint of leafiness. There's a good amount of earth and dirt on the palate, but there is also some sweetness from the fruit. The alcohol does seem to poke out a little bit, and that burn on the back end is something I am not too keen about. My guess is that this is a lesser wine. My 8th, group's 8th.
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A Rayas & Henri Bonneau Celestins dinner among friends, drank along with the Rayas 00, 03, 04 and the Celestins 04 & 06, light red, beautiful nose of strawberries & cherries, pretty, elegant, better than the 00 & 04 Rayas, delicious and with many years left 94
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Both lithe and rustic at the same time. Burgundy like clarity and tension finishing up with unmistakeable notes of underbrush and herbs. Red fruit. Medium body.
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Clean Rayas nose with distinct Reynaud notes. Medium body, resolved tannins, ready to drink but slighthy underachieving versus 2003. A nice but not great Rayas
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Stunningly great, it literally brought tears to my eyes. The perfume is pure magic, you just want to sniff and sniff and sniff the wine. Then the taste: ultracomplex, spicy and fruity simultaneously, intense, perfectly balanaced incredibly long. The only reason I don't score it 100 is because I think it will even improve with time. A perfect wine that will still improve...
Château Rayas Vertical Dinner (Rebelle): Vibrant nose is juicy strawberry and a pleasant floral scent. This palate is the most open and also balanced of the ‘07 to ‘04 flight, wth pleasant black fruit and texture through the finish.
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Sweet nose of red candy and spices. A subdued palate which suggests to me this is a little closed but its still expressive and enjoyable. Spice box and strawberries. Has a lot of structure and built for the long haul.
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Rayas Rayas Rayas (Rebelle): My favorite of the flight. It's too young still and perhaps for a drink today I'd be more inclined to the 2004, but there's just so much promise and tantalization here. It's got lots of cherries and brightness and spice and layers to it. Very glad we ended up with a case of this at an auction earlier this year. Will be fun to watch as it develops.
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Chateau Rayas Vertical Dinner (Rebelle, NY, NY): #7/17 - The nose on this is not very expressive and it doesn't not really open up over the course of the evening, but on the palate this is very pretty and feminine with red fruit profile of cherry and rhubarb and lots of nice spices with a great balance between the fruit and acid. A tremendous contrast to the '07 and far superior. This is enjoyable now but I think this will continue to evolve nicely over the next decade.
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Man I love these wines. They're just a bit etheral and light and haunting and interesting. Had some friends over who appreciate the good stuff and started with this. It wasn't my favorite of these wines - I think served a bit too cold and given the crowd there was really only enough for a glass per person. But very tasty.
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Big Wines (Casa Gill): Just spectacular. Maybe my wine experience of the year so far. I had high expectations for this bottle and it far exceeded them. The nose is enrapturing: a haunting perfume of pure grenache fruit with loads of raspberry and incense, a touch of lavender and provencal herbs in the background. On the palate, delicate but persistent: soft notes of olive, brine, raspberry.
I kept coming back to this over the course of about 5 hours, and each time it was somehow consistent with and yet utterly different from the previous time. Complex, elegant, transcendent.
I think the 06 Chateau des Tours Vacqueyras gives a good suggestion of what the nose of this wine is, but on the palate they could not be more different.
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Le plus jeune Rayas bu jusqu'à maintenant pour moi. Impeccable, sous réserve que je n'ai pu l'ouvrir que le matin même donc je crois que j'aurais pu donner un 94 si j'avais pu l'ouvrir plus de 48 heures à l'avance. Il y a encore du tannin et on n'est pas dans les notes du 2000 bu il y a un peu plus d'un an (fleurs séchées, fraises des champs) mais il est plus équilibré que le 2001 qui était un peu trop évolué à mon goût.
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Hello beautiful! I am glad to see this was another delicious year of Rayas since it seems we've picked up quite a few of these in the last few months. It is such an interesting wine. When you first pour it it's like lightly candied fruit and so ethereal and enticing that even on a hot summer's day it seems ok to be drinking. With more time in the glass, it turns into a total spice cabinet and seems to gain body. The acidity keeps it well balanced and it's certainly not too heavy, but a wine that seems more oriented towards game. One of my favorites of the day in some tough company. Beautiful wine.
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Coravin tasting pour at WineLegend Wine Bar in West Orange, NJ. I tried to give this as much air as time would permit, but over 30 minutes of swirling it was still quite closed. I wonder if this bottle was in "shock" from a good bit of shipping movement. Bright, medium garnet color. On the nose there is a good bit of leather, bacon, anise, faint sour cherry and floral violet. Medium tannin, medium plus acidity. On the palate I got some various red fruits, wet stones and a somewhat lean, bright mouthfeel. Elegant, slightly short to medium length finish with a bit of boysenberry jam and smoke. It seems to need food and benefited from some sheep's milk cheese. I had hoped to be blown away by this but I was puzzled by it and assume, given other rave reviews, that there is something less than perfect about this bottle, though there was no obvious flaw or off scent/flavor. It just didn't seem properly aged and "settled down"/integrated. It also clearly will benefit from more time in a proper cellar. Based solely on this bottle, I would say "over-hyped" small production collector's item....but I will reserve judgement to a better situation from someone's cellar I trust.
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Simply astounding. I shed a tear when I opened and tasted at 11am to let it breath. Actually prefered it early on with regards to later that night when we drank it alongside numerous other dream wines. Most fellow tasters had this as their WOTN. Worth every penny !
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The 2006 Rayas is still pretty primary, with an expressive and fruit-driven bouquet of ripe cherry, strawberry, kirsch, balsam wood and licorice. On the palate the wine is full-bodied and powerful, with quite a lot of baby fat enrobing its refined structural bones, with a rich, assertive finish. This is one to leave in the cellar for a while longer, and if one wants to drink a young vintage of Rayas both 2004 and even 2008 are better choices.
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Incredible wine. The finesse, complexity, and nuance was just amazing. So light on the palate, it is truly incredible that this is 100% grenache. The sandy soils provide so much elegance. Very Burgundian. Completely wow'd by this wine.
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Verticale du Château Rayas (Au Petit Resto): Quel nez superbe! C'est sans doute ce vin qui a le mieux illustré les arômes classiques ds vins du domaine, avec ses notes d'orange sanguine et de fraises des champs. La bouche est belle, finement épicée, fraiche et voluptueuse. Le vin me semble encore bien jeune et vigoureux, mais déjà délicieux. Il amorce à peine son plateau de maturité, pour sans doute plus d'une décennie. Le vin le plus complet du premier quatuor ce soir. 93-94 pts
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Elegance, freshness and layers of sweet, silky textured cherries, black raspberries and wild strawberries are all over the place. The wine offers more elegance, freshness and restraint than power. This should be a bit better with a few more years of age.
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Beautiful nose, drank after the 08 Rousseau Cazetiers, this trumps the Rousseau, the classic Rayas nose, a good bottle, having had half a case of the 06 some can be very light and lacking power, this bottle was good, not decanted but opened 2 hours before drinking, classy, sexy with many years of life ahead 93
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Light red color; very characteristic nose, raspberry, green grass; light and fresh attack, light tannic bite, light red fruit; everything about this wine is light, feminine and very approachable
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Medium light red with strong barnyard nose upon opening before the classic Rayas nose of strawberries took over but on a restrained side, lovely nose, kept improving, on the palate light and with power, sexy, delicious, decanted 2 hours, WOTN vs 05 Clos Papes, 08 Bass Phillip Premium magnum, 2011 Pierre Andre Corton GC, 94
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Nose had typical Rayas strawberry field, tangerine peel, citrus, lychee, wild berries and rose petals. It had a beautiful nose. The palate had depth but the sweetness of the red fruit was not as precise as the 03 Rayas I had recently. It had a juicy and meaty profile on the palate. It will evolve and improve with more time in the cellar. The potential is there. With 1 hour in the glass, its also drinking nicely today.
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Color:light red Nose: strawberries field forever ... Palate: perfect poise, delicious but lacking solid length n depth, thin after 2 hours in the glass, on its own it would have challenged for the WOTN but in the company of the great 05 Rayas it would rank as a good wine only 93
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2015 Villa d’Este Wine Symposium - Kelly and Kevin's excellent adventure; 11/3/2015-11/9/2015 (Villa D’este, Lake Como): Complex very ripe nose displaying dry cherry and cherry liqueur, wet tobacco, medium caramel, leather, baking spices, cola and earth. Very good concentration, dry cherry and tobacco driven palate impression, warm and round, bright acidity and strong presence of mineral and earth and lovely slightly dry red fruit driven finish. Really enjoyable in very Rayas way.
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A lovely Rayas that was popped & poured, classic Rayas nose of wild strawberries and roses, I would say a good Rayas but not as good as a 03 Rayas we had last week, tie for WOTN with the 08 ch la tour vougeot GC vv, this Rayas was a surprise last wine of the night, Full of finesse and as usual very long, layered mouthfeel 94+
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Annual Chicago winos visit - Dugat Py Chambertins, DRC RSVs, SQN and etc. (The Grill Room at Capella Hotel Georgetown): Do Rayas ever make a bad wine? Telltale signs for Rayas, wet tobacco, ripe red fruits, a hint of Kirsh, baking spcies, cinnamon, cola and earth. The concentration level is in between the 05 and the 08. Although quite ripe, the overall impression is quite fresh and youthful. Very good concentration, ripe slightly dry cherry driven palate impression, good mineral presence, bright acidity and lovely sweet finish. This is still very young but perfectly enjoyable. Highly recommend.
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Wine Dinner Extravaganza (Capella Hotel Dining Room - Washington DC): Popped and poured. Lots of black and red cherry with dark chocolate. Very meaty and dense with some sweet spice in support. Just a baby, this was very tasty now, with significant upside and cellarworthiness.
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Nice crisp nose. Very clean. A little orange peel, cherry pits and chocolate. The palate is bright and lively with cherries, a hint of beef and some spices. Long and delicious. Lots of tannins though.
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Rayas and friends: Licorice, cinnamon, roses, some garrigue plus some leather and meatiness. Rich on the palate, with red and black fruits pervading while still maintaining composure. Excellent wine but sits a notch back from some of the other vintages tonight.
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Tasting pour at Arlequin. Delicate and pretty. Flowers and herbs, meat, gentle fruit liqueur. Quite an attractive combination of depth and weightlessness, but surprisingly not as expressive as the 2006 Pignan.
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Slightly deeper than the Pignan. More complex than that wine at the price of less clarity of fruit. Just a hint of the raspberry liqueur that marks Rayas in better vintages. Almost at peak, I'd guess. Not nearly the wine that its predecessor vintage produced.
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Nose: sweet perfumed strawberries Palate: delicious, served blind, Wendy guessed the right chateau n vintage! Well done ! This came after the 03 rousseau clos st jacques, Rayas holds court with the burgundy royalty, an intellectual comparison, clearly both are the wines of the night that included 06 pichon Lalande, 09 rausan gassies, 04 Henri bonneau celestins, 86 Palmer.
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Nose: Classic Rayas perfume of rose water & strawberries, not powerful
Palate: very light, feminine Rayas, sweet core, not a big wine like the 07 but still delicious, we drank this with the 99 Rayas which was fully mature & absolutely delicious, the group found the 99 more compelling
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Pop and given about an hour of air. Exotic spice, cherry, strawberry, ash, olive, sand, sandalwood, and underbrush. Massive finish, well balanced, and gentle on the palate. This bottle seemed to have a darker edge than the previous bottle. Went seamlessly with lamb meatballs. The haunting Rayas incense aromas were large and in charge.
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The nose on this wine screams pure kirsch cherries. On the palate, it is still quite young and fairly tannic and grippy with a dry finish but that wonderful kirsch cherry fruit is very ripe and well-stocked underneath. Lots of red spice notes emerge with air and while this is not a classic or brooding vintage of Rayas like say the '95, it is pure and pretty and should continue to develop with time. 91+
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Great stuff. Layers of fresh cherries and raspberries, exotic ripe floral and musky notes, fresh herbs and minerally elements all combining into a seamless, fragrant whole. This is incredibly young and needs a lot of air - on opening it comes across a bit ripe and heavy, but with more time it calms down and settles into a beautifully finessed, layered whole.
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Var tvungen att prova igen. Denna flaska var betydligt mer öppen- Som sist var vinet dekanterat. Samma kryddiga doft, saknade den bittra tonen som fanns i den förra flaskan. Bra vin men Rhone är lite för kraftiga för min smak.
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Denna ska vara lite atypisk CdP och mer åt lite nordligare franska viner. Vinet hade betdligt mer struktur, kruddig doft och lite mindre tung alkohol, frukt än jag är van vid så det var en ganska bra upplevelse. Har dock fortsatt det lite för mycket tung röd frukt med en liten bitterhet som jag inte helt uppskattar. Alkoholen finns där men inte så dominerande som i en del andra CdP. Ett bra vin men det ger mig nog vid handen att jag inte uppskattar CdP viner generellt.
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Garnet color. Smells like sex at Christmas. Notes of strawberry, raspberry, cumin. You can taste the sun in this wine, but there is something a bit off. The sweetness is out of place and I suspect it was not stored properly in the recent past.
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Medium to light ruby. An atypical, heady blast of dark cherry at first, but then the aromatics shifted to the seductive raspberry/strawberry of Rayas. Maybe a tad denser than usual with lower acidity, but its essentially gentle, elegant nature still shone through (especially in comparison to to the Janasse poured after it). Excellent if not one for the ages, but It may still have some significant upside in terms of complexity.
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Burg Dinner At The Murray Casa (The Murray's): Open for 2 days, according to Mr Nordhoff, who was the purveyor of this particular bottle. Given that aeration, this is a fortunate opportunity to gauge test the wine again! Tasted from about 4 ounces. There is an aromatic uniqueness to this wine that is hard to compare. Think light pepper, stalk, an array of spices and no heat whatsoever--no booze, no wood, no intrusions of any kind detectable, just a pure aromatic. The palate, even after 2 days, is intense, compact yet also giving, showing a honeyed-like strawberry, earthy raspberry and a soil element that is really beautiful. No jammy edges, just a spicy and red fruited texture.
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Decanted for about 2 hours. Awesome nose. Super complex and long on the palate. Perfect texture and finish. There is no better expression of old vine granache.
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First shot of this wine, just arrived. Decanted late afternoon, and for the first 4 hours, I was only whelmed, Now, in the last hour, the last glass (of course!), it is starting to overwhelm. It's really starting to sing. The next bottle will be decanted around noon. As in noon tomorrow!
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Decanted for around 2 hours. My first go'round with Rayas and all I've got to say is holy f#ck. The aromatics of this wine were so intriguing that as with the Cayuse 05 NB, I just smelled it for at least an hour before I took my first sip. As we drank some tasty whites, I just kept going back to this wine with equal parts love and confusion. The emotion of love was easy as this light-colored beauty just slowly leaked dried flowers, herbs de provence, wild strawberries, and honey-covered cherries. The crinkled brow started as I began to realize that I'd never had a CdP that was so feminine and beautiful. Such a contrast to the 06 Clos des Papes that was also at the table (this wine was no slouch, either). After an hour of savoring the nose, I finally took the plunge and unlike the time I gave in to the peer pressure and smoked pot, I did not come away disappointed. Light to medium-bodied with a sexy, silky mouthfeel. Bright red fruit (think cherries, strawberries, and huckleberries) enveloped in a floral handbag that just left you reaching for the glass time and time again. Such a sneaky long finish that you honestly thought you still had wine in your mouth minutes after you swallowed. This wine was so intoxicating that we would yell RAYAS throughout the dinner and then drop whatever we were doing and take a huge sniffy-sniff. Wow! 98 pts.
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I'm not sure that I've ever had a more enjoyable wine. Sexy but not slutty. Finesse from the get go. Sat in the decanter for about two hours. Beautiful floral nose of lavendar and dried herbs. Bright and fresh strawberry, raspberry, and vanilla bean on the nose and palate. Minerals keep my mouth watering. After the first sip, I sat up in my chair correcting my posture, to give this wine the respect it deserved. The pepper and Thai basil profile just sang with the lamb stew. I felt like I was drinking pure Grenache wearing a Pinot dress. I know we probably popped this too early, but it was so damn good! Hopefully, I can seek out another bottle to lay down for awhile. Lived up to my expectations and impressed beyond belief!
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I don't think I've ever had a wine that I had higher expecations for than trying my 1st Rayas. And crazy enough.....it actually exceeded my high expectations. Honestly it's almost hard for me to put into words to define this wine. And for the people who know me that is very unusual! The nose was SO captivating with this exotic smoky, tobacco, ash, sexy incents follow by sagebrush and the most perfect candied raspberries. The raspberries were like a hard candied dessert without being candy-esk, if that makes sense. In the back ground there were hints of mineral, anise, earthyness....aaahhh so much. On the palate it was just a laserbeam of those perfectly candied raspberries accented with everything else. CDP has long been my favorite region and this was like CDP on steriods but not in a bigger version way because it had an elegants that i've never had from a CDP but everything was aplified, like listening to your favor song with those oversized 80's headphones that cancelled out every other sound but the music. And this wine was like listening to music to me, it took me someplace else completely. I totally get why people say Rayas is in the burgundian style but its feet are strongly rooted in that amazing CDP terrior. To me....this is the 2nd perfect wine i've ever had and my great friend Darren has shared both of them with me. Thanks Darren......again!! As I said over and over again at the dinner where the bottle was shared with great friends and food.......perfect....this bottle was just perfect to me.
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god, I love Rayas. Having now tasted the 2006 twice in the past six months, it's hard not to like it. Beautiful texture, spicy with a pepper nose. Smooth and earthy with a long finish showing sweet cherry. This was enjoyed paired with a hummus and flatbread, with a wood fire nearby. I don't think I could have scripted this any better. I have to find and source some of this and stop wondering why I have to continue to love this wine and yet not own any.
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Naples Annual Boys Lunch: Sweet dry light aromas of delicate fresh Grenache fruit. Lighter weight than I expected. Dry, somewhat chewy with good acid profile, an interesting match for the Heridia. good sweet edge to wine showing nice Grenachecherry fruit, but more subtle than many modern style producers. Nice attack, a classy French wine that shows good acid backbone, more of a food wine. Nice black pepper. 92.
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Jemrose Dinner @ Marche Moderne in the OC (Marche Moderne, Costa Mesa CA): god, without Jim Mack, I would know nothing about Rayas. Jim has now generously shared with me the 2004 and 2005 (2X) in the past year, now the 2006. This is one heluva of a wine, like the Chave Hermitage. Aromatically distinct, exhibiting some pepper, smashed rocks, spice and saddle. Then, when the wine hit my palate, the melange of strawberry, raspberry show. The balance and complexity of this young Rayas, again, amazing. We tried this alongside Jim Mack's greanche estate, both the 2007 and 2008, which he calls Foggy Knoll. As Jim aspires to continue to craft his own expression of grenache, using Rayas as an aspiration, this is certainly a worthy goal. After now having tasted yet another Rayas, I need to open my wallet and find some, as the wine is truly an experience, as this 2006 was.
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Light to medium (more medium) red; very strong nose of raspberries, roses, vanilla, somehow rounded sharp in a pleasant way; slightly spiced on the attack, licorice, soft, round, lovely; very well balanced, elegant, slim; truly enjoyable
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Another great wine from Rayas. Lacks the elegance of the 2005, but is a terrific effort. Pure and beautifully balanced on the palate with a wonderful finish. I think the wine will benefit from a couple of years of cellar time.
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Martine's Wines Portfolio tasting (MK, Chicago IL): nose: extremely deep and luscious nose of melted licorice, loads of black and red fruits, a healthy dose of black pepper and bits of garrigue lurk underneath. A very heady nose that is just all about class
taste: great length and polished medium feel of red currants, red and black fruits, melted licorice and a good dose of garrigue. Good tannins showing off the youth, but they don't get in the way
overall: a wonderful wine with ridiculous balance. Very heady and exudes class at every turn. Obviously young, but it has the ability to be something really amazing with a bit of age
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4/23/2024 - Claret & CdP Gang Likes this wine:
At a Rhone wine theme dinner with friends, served semi blind, thought a 05 Rayas, delicious, most people WOTN
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4/22/2024 - le_franc_de_pied wrote: 94 Points
PNP. Med to deep garnet. Lifted crushed red fruit (strawberries) with spices, an elegant nuanced mouthfeel, soft tannins, and long finish which fans out. Served blind in a lineup of South American wines. Will develop more, but very good now. A wine to contemplate
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3/9/2024 - Benoit Hardy Likes this wine: 95 Points
Magnificent kaleidoscopic nose of blood orange, crushed strawberry, raspberry and spices. We keep coming back to it. When the tasting begins on the nose, it’s promising!
The palate has a very fine attack, on strawberries and raspberries. Then everything comes together, in a very serene way, we then start with the blood orange and it unfolds with spices and earthy aromas. The juice is ample but in the Burgundian way, meaning that it is difficult to detect the warmth of Chateauneuf despite the intensity of the wine. On the other hand, the finish is much more alcoholic, but still integrated into the whole so that it remains consistent with the wine which remains harmonious over a long length.
Excellent, I lack a marker on Rayas to say if it is great or not, but it remains an experience that will not be forgotten.
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1/20/2024 - palfr2 wrote:
Internationale du Gout - Vertical series #1: Rayas dinner with Morrocan fusion food; 1/19/2024-1/20/2024 (Singapore): Matched against the Rayas 11 - this was known to be a winner going in...I and other participants had it before and it is in contention for the better Rayas of the 2000's. The nose! The Rayas nose but one or two notches more explosive and expressive than the next contender in that department. The palate is phenomenal but would not prove the most complex of the evening. It easily dispatched the '11 in the same flight.
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12/11/2023 - wxs2102 Likes this wine: 96 Points
@ Wu’s Wonton King NYC.WOTN. Poopy, earthy, exotic spices, nuanced, long 45+ second finish, crazy amounts of residual tannins left in glass and bottle. Lots of metallic iron notes. Unique and unmistakably Rayas.
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12/6/2023 - dnnk88 Likes this wine: 97 Points
Opened a 2nd bottle in less than a month. This was fresher, much like my friend’s bottle on 12 Nov. Served immediately after popping but should have give it an hour or so to breathe. Blue berries, grape skin bitterness initially. After some time, became perfumed with notes of dried flowers and potpourri. Strawberries, sandalwood. Rayas is Rayas
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12/2/2023 - OddCollect Likes this wine: 96 Points
Exceptional nose, perfumed like a bouquet of roses, and evolved in bottle as the evening went by. Best to not decant to preserve the delicate structure.
The taste was fresh, sweet white fruit, rind, mild spice. Medium textured, with every sip, your palate realizes this is a special wine.
The finish is long and savory.
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11/18/2023 - Topper wrote: 96 Points
In a flight of 04, 05 & 06 at the Pressoir Rayas dinner. For me 15-20 years is the sweet spot for Rayas reserve. It's when it shows all its volume, spice, pepper and fruit but is firmly in its drinking winner. At this dinner, the 10 was great but not near ready and the ones from the 90s were not as fresh as I might like so this flight really did it for me. The 06 was the surprise of the tasting for me. I thought it came in just behind the 05 for current drinking and definitely has improved over the last few years, with richer and sharper flavor profile. Maybe this was another underestimated vintage coming between two more famous ones, but it is really showing its stuff right now. Very layered wine with floral and secondary tones starting to emerge. Really a treat. I'm lucky to have a few bottles left and I'll drink them over the next 5 years or so.
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11/12/2023 - dnnk88 Likes this wine: 97 Points
Blind tasting and 2 bottles of Rayas 2006, what a coincidence! My bottle was slightly more advanced. Initially light on the palate but gained quite weight over the night. A few of the folks opined this was the more ready bottle. Wild strawberry notes, black berries, slight kirsch, dried flowers. Brilliant!
Notably, the other bottle was fresher, bigger but tighter. Blue berries and grape skin bitterness on the finish. Very enjoyable nonetheless!
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11/11/2023 - Throughthegrapevine wrote: 97 Points
Absolutely outstanding Rayas. Young at age 17!
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11/3/2023 - Sean Tay Likes this wine: 99 Points
Mouton Rothschild Vertical: This is as good a wine can be. With liquorice, wild strawberry, spices. Medium+ acidity and medium tannin. Drinking beautifully. Decanted for 1 hour.
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7/10/2023 - d'Artagnan wrote: 95 Points
Avec Aude et François, à Mazan.
Ouvert le matin pour le soir, ça a été, mais comme le dernier verre était clairement le meilleur, il aurait bénéficié de 12-25 heures de plus. La complexité aromatique est incroyable, sur le romarin, les classiques oranges sanguines, une cuillerée de confiture de fraises des champs. Extraordinaire. 95 pts
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6/9/2023 - drwine2001 wrote:
Dull ruby. Soaring aromas of ripe black raspberry, licorice, and a touch of garrigue. Medium weight and sappy. Sweet dark red fruit and spice but a little bit blurry at the edges.
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6/5/2023 - Collector1855 wrote: 97 Points
Explosive nose with the tell tale Rayas spices, strawberry, cinnamon, farmyard. A little richer on the palate than I remember it, good freshness though to buffer the fruit. Grand!
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5/20/2023 - Kevnzworld wrote: 96 Points
Fragrant nose of roses, flavors of green olive and garrique.
The most gorgeous CDP I’ve experienced. I get it.
This showed much better than the riper 2007 we drank a few days later
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5/3/2023 - Goodwine4ever wrote: 97 Points
Dégustation de six Rayas
2006
Fraise, framboise acidulé, très frais et tellement fin. Un vin d'une pure élégance, wow, c'est aerien, savoureux et hyper long.
Énorme vin !
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5/2/2023 - Mario17 Likes this wine: 96 Points
Verticale de Rayas. Mon no 2 sur 6. Fruits rouges explosif, fraises, framboises, un vin complet, assez ample, profond, fin et élégant à la fois, très longue finale délicieuse. Quelle belle bouteille. 96-97
My no 2. Great bottle. A red fruit bomb, deep, wide, complete, yet elegant and has finesse and so much class. Gorgeous long finish.
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4/6/2023 - dcwino wrote: 97 Points
Wine gathering at RJ's; 4/4/2023-4/7/2023 (South Carolina): Beautiful classic Rayas nose displaying sweet ripe red fruit, cherry liqueur, strawberry jam, dry cherry, candied rose petal, strong tobacco, white pepper, root beer, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and mineral. Perfectly integrated palate, layers upon layers of decadent red fruit, warm, sweet and round, but also silky and fluid, medium acidity, strong mineral, and a seamless long decadent slightly dry red fruit driven finish with tobacco and cinnamon at the end. This is very expressive and drinking well.
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2/11/2023 - d'Artagnan wrote: 96 Points
Le jeudi soir, nous avons pris une grande décision, soit de boire notre Château Rayas 2006 en fin de semaine. Nous choisissons de suivre à la lettre les recommandations d'Emmanuel Reynaud.
Il fut donc ouvert ce même jeudi soir. en prévision du samedi. Première impression à l'ouverture:
Le goulot sent bon les fleurs et les fraises. Je me verse bien sûr un tout petit verre, avant de remettre le bouchon pour le retour à la cave.
Dans le verre, au nez c’est l’alcool qui ressort avant tout, le kirsch, puis de petites fraises pointent discrètement le nez. La bouche est sévère et renfrognée, austère, peu de fruit. Alcooleux. Ne pas connaître, je serais très déçu. J’ai au contraire un petit sourire en coin, je me dis que ça promet!
On remet le bouchon et rapporte à la cave.
Le 2e soir, vendredi, c’est beaucoup mieux mais encore un peu fermé. On aurait pu le boire et se régaler, peut-être après une heure dans le verre? Mais je pensais qu’il avait un peu plus à donner.
3e soir: Le Verdict
Le nez est typique du domaine, orange sanguine, petites fraises, des herbes de Provence.
La bouche est puissante encore, mais tout est adouci, c’est dense et profond, un cri de la terre! Les épices dominent maintenant, c’est très complexe, garrigue avec encore un peu d’agrumes, savoureux, avec un petit côté décadent. La longueur en bouche est phénoménale. Personne ne penserait Bourgogne sur ce millésime, pas de dentelle, on sent l’alcool, c’est un authentique vin provençal, qui renvoie à la beauté de ce terroir tardif qu'est Rayas, à la fois frais et chaleureux. Il s’étire sur les papilles en un balai poivré souverain. Un ange passe.
Le meilleur 2006 que j’ai pris.
P.s.: Bu dans de simple Riedel ouverture, les grands verres à Bourgogne faisaient trop ressortir l'alcool.
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1/14/2023 - Philippe_C wrote: 94 Points
Still very closed at this point, 17 years is too young for this Rayas, the taste was nice salty fruit, bacon fat, sappy tannins… Will be much better in 5-10 years!!
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11/16/2022 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
La Tablee: Rayas Dinner with Gregory Castells & Martine Saunier (La Mercerie): More of the darker fruit style - like a Boysenberry. This was also lovely with a great finesse to it. A wine we bought some years ago for a very different price than what it trades for today and I suspect will need quite a bit of time to be what it could be. Great all the same.
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10/10/2022 - Michael T. Zoppo Likes this wine:
(Tasted next to a 2006 Pignan) Holy smokes. Super classic Rayas nose, and the palate is TEXTBOOK. I can still taste the strawberries and pink peppercorns. Pure silk. If you don't want to fall in love with Rayas, don't taste the 2006.
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8/21/2022 - BenBlu Likes this wine: 97 Points
Opened the evening before and left uncorked. Boy did it do miracles. Sublime on day 2, totally open for business, sweet sweaty stemmy granache from the top drawer, lavender, herbs provencales, honey and white pepper. Why we dig Rayas.
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4/24/2022 - french16 wrote:
Very good showing, balance, no heat. Not as Burgundian as other vintages but already showing great complexity.
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12/18/2021 - Andice wrote: 96 Points
Just a step behind the 08 tasted alongside. Ethereal perfume with the floral stickiness and persistence you find in a great Burg. Out of reach now with the price surge
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11/25/2021 - LB88 wrote: 92 Points
Still muted as per the last bottle and really not ready
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11/6/2021 - Eric wrote:
Steve Sigmond's 50th Birthday (Minneapolis, MN): Lighter in color than the 2004, more mature, less of the sharpness and precision yet also with more secondary, wandering, wafting notes of garrigue. The pale color belies the simultaneous power of the wine and the purity of the cherry-esque Grenache fruit. Also stunning.
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10/13/2021 - BenBlu Likes this wine: 95 Points
Uncorked in the morning for dinner the same day. Immediately so much pleasure jumping out of the glass. Richness with sufficient restraint. A noticeable sweetness and steminess melting marvellously. Such svelte tannins too. A hedonistic experience. Rayas is a special wine.
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9/23/2021 - NickNYC Likes this wine: 95 Points
bottled opened 36 hours prior to tasting. tasted side by side with Rayas 98. Intense nose, subtle traditional Reynaud strawberry notes, spices and animal notes. the palate is velvety and very energetic. great wine that will get better I think.
In comparison, the 98 was more delicate but definitely in the same lineage.
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9/15/2021 - WoodieBayArea wrote: 96 Points
WOW... WOW... this was fantastic... looked and tasted like it was 30-40 years old, massive bricking going on, the elegant yet deep palate was a kaleidoscope of savory and sweet fruit flavors... drank with my friend Sedge who turned me on to Rayas and CdP 20 years ago, and we both were stunned... I bought this for $200... it now goes for $1,300 so I'm sad I didn't load up... just one more in the cellar
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8/9/2021 - overkloud Likes this wine: 96 Points
An exceptional bottle. Opened up with classic strawberry and cherry notes and it kept evolving with tea and spice notes in the bottle throughout the 5-hour tasting in the night. As always with great Rayas, extraordinary balance and delicacy.
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8/4/2021 - joshabramson Likes this wine: 98 Points
Such a wonderful young Rayas. Lots of ripe red fruit, silky smooth with bright acidity. Compared to the 07', I certainly prefer the 06' right now -- it's a lighter wine, with more crunchy fruit as a result of the higher acid, and I think its a more balanced wine as a result.
Ordered this off the wine list at Auberge de la Mole outside St Tropez for 450 Euro, less than half what it's currently trading for at retail in the US. Always fun to find this on a wine list priced at pre covid levels.
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7/30/2021 - Olivia_ct Likes this wine: 98 Points
First Rayas I ever tried and I’m hooked. Amazing nose. Fruit forward with an amazing and complex palette of aroma.
Opened 1.5h prior to serving - kept evolving in the glass.
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6/21/2021 - Topper wrote:
Curiously flawed wine. Very lightly colored and tasted dilute and soapy. Not corked per se but definitely an off bottle.
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6/4/2021 - jee27 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Dégustation Open Dreamer Style chez Simon B: Dégusté côte à côte avec le Rayas 2009; celui-ci à un bouquet complètement enivrant qui enchante la pièce avec ses arômes floraux, fruités, liquoreux et épicés tout en puissance. Classique. Vraiment délicieux et beaucoup plus ouvert comparativement à un 2009 trop jeune moins expressif qui à besoin de temps en cave pour se former.
95-97 pts
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5/16/2021 - Burgundy Al wrote: 93 Points
COVID-19 in the Rear-View Mirror...with Lots of Dom Perignon (Park Ridge Country Club): Enchanting aromas, so complex with spice galore, ripe and powerful black fruit and floral flourishes. Similar flavors, just clearly too warm and less seamless. 95 point nose, 91 point palate, upside if it integrates better.
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5/16/2021 - KenK Likes this wine: 97 Points
A beautiful wine from start to finish. Aromatically exotic with elderberry, spring violets, and potpourri. Spicy delicate red fruits balanced by bright acidity and unusually long spiced finish. Showy, yet refined and begging to be sipped slowly. Developed nicely in the glass. Really excellent. Hold or drink. Don’s post-COVID Dom Perignon gala.
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5/6/2021 - dcwino wrote: 96 Points
The first indoor gathering since Covid (Clarity - Vienna, Virginia): This have evolved slowly since I last had in 2015, showing similar. Expressive nose displaying very ripe red fruit, cherry liqueur, cherry jam, strawberry jam, wet tobacco, garrigue, leather, rose, cola, cinnamon and nutmeg and earth. Very good concentration, very finely layered ripe red fruit, warm and round but also silky and polished, medium acidity, strong earthy mineral, and a seamless long jammy red fruit driven finish with tobacco and cinnamon at the end. This is a classic Rayas. This seems almost light compare to the 07. Nevertheless, it shows very good concentration. Since I find fizziness bothersome, I prefer this slightly.
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5/6/2021 - pakabear Likes this wine: 93 Points
Much lighter in color and flavor than the 2007. Cherry, strawberry, rhubarb, stewed meats, dried earth, great balance.
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4/22/2021 - joshabramson Likes this wine: 98 Points
Once again Rayas delivers. The fruit is so clean, light and elegant while also being quite powerful. Just a completely beautiful wine, not much more to say other than this is extremely delicious in every way.
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12/25/2020 - ludwigbpm wrote: 96 Points
Aération à la Reynaud, 24hrs avant dégustation. Un des plus beaux nez de l’année, une bombe aromatique sur les herbes grillées, la fraise fraîche, un peu de viande fraîche, à la fois très Chateauneuf avec un petit côté qui pinote. Bouche assez sudiste, concentrée, toujours avec du fruit mais c’est surtout la finale qui impressionne, longue mais qui déroute en nous enlignant ailleurs sur des contrées plus fraîches. 96
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12/23/2020 - nynrgtrader@gmail.com Likes this wine: 98 Points
Fantastic and wine of the night for me in a night that included many fine wines.. It's getting more difficult to buy Rayas and for good reason. I only wish it was still a bit of a secret.
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12/8/2020 - The Vines That Bind wrote: 94 Points
Blind. Nose is initially quiet and requires attention, especially next to the '96 Jamet Cote-Rotie in the next glass. Beautiful dry earth and soft blueberry fruit, faintly rustic and somewhat floral. A very unique milky characteristic, both on the nose and the palate, a little like chocolate milk. Palate is big but resolved and has a soft mouthfeel. This level of lightness and elegance is CDP is remarkable and the sort of thing Beaucastel only seems to achieve after 30-years of age. Very good.
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12/3/2020 - Collector1855 wrote: 98 Points
Rayas/Cdp dinner. Tasted next to the lighter but also amazing 2008 and the perfect 2005 which was even more complete, but this 2006 was scratching the 100 point mark as well. When I opened the wine it was instantly clear from the nose that we are in for something special. Here were the amazing tell tale Rayas nose - with spices, cured meat, game, red cherry, musk - that you only find in few other great wines of Leroy, Soldera, etc. The 2006 is just at the beginning of the drinking window with a well structure but elegant palate. It actually closed down a bit over dinner. Start drinking now, amazing wine, makes you wonder why not more CdP producers are trying to reproduce this, far superior style, then the rich, extracted syrupy CdPs. 98+
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11/26/2020 - gsquireh Likes this wine: 99 Points
Transporting, Transformational, Transcendant. Like no other Châteauneuf-du-Pape Réservé. Yes, my favorite, and if I had to choose, my one and only CDP. Always Burgundian with its textured yet sliky elegance and range of red berries -strawberry, raspberry, barbery, dewberry, cherry, red currant. Needs decanting and after an hour, begins to truly show the perfect structure, texture, and luscious mouth feel. And the aromas are a sensual treat as well, a panoply of pleasure. Any vintage of this wine is a glorious experience.
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11/17/2020 - LB88 wrote: 92 Points
PNP, Surprisingly closed (at least compared to the 2008 I opened but prepped well last week) will require at least 2-3 more years of cellar time but all the wonderful characteristics of rayas in the bottle. Perhaps give it a good decant for a few hours before drinking.
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10/31/2020 - mblatino Likes this wine: 97 Points
Had blind right before Rayas 2007.
Light garnet red.
The nose is raspberry, cherry, candy. Super fresh and elegant.
The taste is so elegant with candied red fruit, great freshness, lots of spices and pepper on the back end.
By far the most elegant and fresh Chateauneuf I’ve ever had. Such a sick wine!
We almost all guessed big burgundy.
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10/17/2020 - Miceri Likes this wine: 97 Points
Light red; green grass, eucalyptus; light expression, refined, lots of green grass / eucalyptus - typical Rayas; a very special wine
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7/28/2020 - JonnyG Likes this wine: 95 Points
Exceeded my high expectations. Silky and elegant. Simultaneously ethereal and concentrated, figure that one out! Light bodied but oh so complex, with irresistible floral and strawberry aromas that come in waves. Pure energy in the mouth. Notes of strawberry, iron and meat, no animal in this bottle.
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6/28/2020 - wineappellation Likes this wine: 96 Points
Tasted blind. Like a top notch Burgundy red, screaming Pinot characters. Smooth and velvet. 14% abv.
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6/24/2020 - beatles wrote: 96 Points
Dense, sweet, creamy - and still young. Tasted vis-a-vis the Pignan, Charvin & Clos des Papes, this came out as a winner for the clean, smooth fruit and the immense balance. As always, this is a very different animal from your regular neuf, it s not a Southern wine as such, more like a Burgundy-wine - but very much made from Grenache.
#PB#Kandestederne#Boysofsummer
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5/5/2020 - d'Artagnan wrote: 93 Points
Ouverte 24 heures à l’avance, laissé en cave sans bouchon, le vin avait encore une telle vigueur que je me suis demandé si 48 heures n’aurait pas été préférable!
Le nez est envoûtant comme toujours. Du kirsch, fraises des champs, poivre, explosif! La bouche est puissante et concentrée, d’une grande jeunesse, c’est profond et long, savoureux bien sûr. Personne ne prendrait celui-ci pour un Bourgogne, comme le voudrait le cliché! Magnifique, mon seul bémol est que celle prise il y a un an était plus aboutie. 93+
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2/19/2020 - NickNYC Likes this wine: 94 Points
very good now, well balanced. My guest guessed Rayas blind. A little rough on the edge. I guess it will improve with time. No hurry.
EDIT following my recent (5/2020) with Emmanuel Reynaud over the phone. He told me that he had this 2006 for Xmas 2019, he opened it A WEEK (!!!) in advance and said it was beautiful.
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2/14/2020 - Nanda wrote:
Bottles drunk with lunch or dinner while in Burgundy; 2/10/2020-2/14/2020 (Burgundy): A wine that was so off putting it was hard to enjoy. Over-ripe fruit with roasted notes that were stewy and sickly across the palate. Lacking any acidity or structure. Adrian really liked this, so I can't explain how our palates complete diverged on the bottle.
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2/14/2020 - acyso wrote: 93 Points
Burgundy, Day 4 (Beaune, France): At Le Bistro de L'Hôtel. No one at the table liked this, which really left me scratching my head a bit, because I actually thought this was quite nice. The nose is perfumed (everyone else said marred with volatile acidity -- I detected some of that, but didn't find it problematic) with white pepper and some plums and strawberries. The palate is a little heavyset with some darker fruit components as well as some leather. It's certainly a fairly hot wine, but not the mess that everyone else seemed to think it was. Or maybe my palate is more forgiving of these issues because I've been exhausted by pinot over the last few days?
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1/22/2020 - J o e wrote: 93 Points
This starts off with aromas of strawberries, rosemary, red roses and kirsch. Light- to medium-bodied in the mouth, with sweet red cherries, aromatic herbs, earth and a hint of blood orange. Packs quite a punch without any excess weight. A lovely and distinctive Chateauneuf that is still on the upswing. 93+.
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1/14/2020 - Cooky474 wrote: 94 Points
Birthday dinner (Wild Tavern Restaurant): The bouquet seemed to leap from the glass and was in the lighter end of the red fruit spectrum, with strawberry prominent. In the mouth, it was almost ethereal with a sense of lightness I've not come across in a wine before, and yet it had a density and power as well. Length went on and on.
My first experience with Rayas, and it will haunt me...
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12/6/2019 - hprphf wrote: 93 Points
Zachy's BYO 2019: Showed better than last bottle; did not exhibit brewed fruit qualities. 93
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6/8/2019 - hprphf Does not like this wine: 92 Points
Feels like the fruit is almost passing its peak? Did not like the sugary, almost dirty, flavor. Palate is really clean despite falling short towards the end. 92
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3/11/2019 - Papies wrote: 93 Points
This is still at the start of its drinking window. Ironically the 2008 we tried a month ago ( Papies 96) was a lot more ready.
This 2006 is a touch reserved on the palate, touch tannic on finish. The nose is the highlight at this stage, light smoky, light iron feel , soft red fruits. Elegant as always, bright but just a hit buttoned down for now. For sure an amazing wine in the making for those with patience. 93 for now but watch this space.
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3/9/2019 - d'Artagnan wrote: 94 Points
Souper pour la fête de Oana (Saint-Bruno): Cette bouteille fut ouvert 24 heures à l’avance, laissée debout en cave, sans bouchon. Le résultat est probant.
Un nez enivrant, parfums de fraises des champs et d'herbes grillées, fou! La bouche est voluptueuse et aérienne, avec une complexité impressionnante, j’adore! 93-94 pts
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2/2/2019 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
La Tablee: Celebratory Dinner (BYO) (26 Bridge Street, Brooklyn): This wine is always lovely. Very elegant and pretty and red fruits and a hint of tea leaves and just very classy and well done. Still quite young, but so nice.
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1/15/2019 - _water.into.wine_ Likes this wine: 96 Points
Wow. I never remembered how much I liked this until I re-read my notes. Burgundy like in the glass being a clear and pale ruby. The nose was pronounced, young and floral. Strawberries, rose water, perfume create an intoxicating nose that just got better and better and better. Perfectly balanced and complex. This is youthful and will last many more years. The challenge is how to resist! Drank for my birthday with SH, Kelvin and the gang.
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12/16/2018 - NoTrollingerPlease Likes this wine: 95 Points
Glass: Zalto Burgundy
Clean, medium garnet-tawny color, more like an intense Rosé. Clean, medium+ intense, developing nose with lots o red berries (raspberry, strawberry), cinnamon, cloves, dried rose petals and other flowers. Very complex, dense and compact. More Burgundy than Chateuneuf.
Dry, perfect integrated, medium+ acidity. The rather high alcohol of 14% abv. is barely noticeable. On the contrary, this wine seems rather airy and never hot. On the palate also very dense and compact with lots of red berries, fine black tea and rose petals. Oak is only giving a wonderful structure. The high tannin is perfectly integrated, silky and velvet and gives this wine a beautiful texture. Overall it has a balance and elegance that I have never seen in a Chateauneuf before! Surely it is a limping comparison, but I perfectly understand, why people say that Rayas is the most Burgundian wine in Chateuneuf. Long and elegant finish. This wine drinks nicely now, but it will continue to evolve for at least another decade. Great experience! 94-95
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11/10/2018 - hghg wrote: 94 Points
Very elegant and beautiful.
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10/26/2018 - Claret & CdP Gang Likes this wine: 95 Points
Served at Omar’s birthday dinner, stunning nose of strawberries, youngish but so darn delicious & sexy, grand vin, my wotn and in great company - 2010 Rousseau Charmes, 1989 Trapet Chambertin, 1996 Estournel, will get better
95+
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5/19/2018 - jal wrote: 97 Points
Light purple color, explosive nose of violets. Is this a Chateauneuf? Served blind, I would never have guessed, but the purity, elegance, vibrancy of this wine makes it so special. It is paradoxical, though; complex yet light, elegant but still a Grenache based Southern Rhone, The finish is long and haunting. I've cellared this since release and it is ready to drink.
One of my favorites this year and definitely my favorite Chateauneuf du Pape ever.
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5/6/2018 - acyso wrote: 85 Points
Vinetasters: Rayas (Skokie, IL): Served double blind in a Rayas lineup. Very moderate nose, with a beautiful nose of red fruit -- a little bit of dirt and earth and a slight hint of pepper. Slight hint of leafiness. There's a good amount of earth and dirt on the palate, but there is also some sweetness from the fruit. The alcohol does seem to poke out a little bit, and that burn on the back end is something I am not too keen about. My guess is that this is a lesser wine. My 8th, group's 8th.
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5/3/2018 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Hommage a DryCab - Washington Wines release; 5/3/2018-5/5/2018 (Various spots in Walla Walla): Different than ow it has sometimes been in the past. It's got the tea leaves and the cherry, but somehow missing the ethereal style that I usually love with this wine. Heavier. Still quite young. Will hold on remaining bottles for much more time.
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4/9/2018 - Claret & CdP Gang Likes this wine: 94 Points
A Rayas & Henri Bonneau Celestins dinner among friends, drank along with the Rayas 00, 03, 04 and the Celestins 04 & 06, light red, beautiful nose of strawberries & cherries, pretty, elegant, better than the 00 & 04 Rayas, delicious and with many years left
94
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4/6/2018 - ledwards wrote: 93 Points
Both lithe and rustic at the same time. Burgundy like clarity and tension finishing up with unmistakeable notes of underbrush and herbs. Red fruit. Medium body.
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3/3/2018 - Toinette wrote: 92 Points
Clean Rayas nose with distinct Reynaud notes. Medium body, resolved tannins, ready to drink but slighthy underachieving versus 2003. A nice but not great Rayas
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12/26/2017 - MauriceE Likes this wine: 99 Points
Stunningly great, it literally brought tears to my eyes. The perfume is pure magic, you just want to sniff and sniff and sniff the wine. Then the taste: ultracomplex, spicy and fruity simultaneously, intense, perfectly balanaced incredibly long. The only reason I don't score it 100 is because I think it will even improve with time. A perfect wine that will still improve...
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10/27/2017 - Burgundy Al wrote: 91 Points
Wine Dinner Extravaganza (Mirabelle - Washington, DC): In 98/01/05/06 vertical. Very ripe, forward and fun. Very tasty, but not as complex as I might have hoped or recall from before.
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10/13/2017 - The Vines That Bind wrote: 92 Points
Château Rayas Vertical Dinner (Rebelle): Vibrant nose is juicy strawberry and a pleasant floral scent. This palate is the most open and also balanced of the ‘07 to ‘04 flight, wth pleasant black fruit and texture through the finish.
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10/13/2017 - Kemo Sabe Likes this wine: 93 Points
Sweet nose of red candy and spices. A subdued palate which suggests to me this is a little closed but its still expressive and enjoyable. Spice box and strawberries. Has a lot of structure and built for the long haul.
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10/12/2017 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Rayas Rayas Rayas (Rebelle): My favorite of the flight. It's too young still and perhaps for a drink today I'd be more inclined to the 2004, but there's just so much promise and tantalization here. It's got lots of cherries and brightness and spice and layers to it. Very glad we ended up with a case of this at an auction earlier this year. Will be fun to watch as it develops.
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10/12/2017 - retired_and_roving wrote:
Chateau Rayas Vertical Dinner (Rebelle, NY, NY): #7/17 - The nose on this is not very expressive and it doesn't not really open up over the course of the evening, but on the palate this is very pretty and feminine with red fruit profile of cherry and rhubarb and lots of nice spices with a great balance between the fruit and acid. A tremendous contrast to the '07 and far superior. This is enjoyable now but I think this will continue to evolve nicely over the next decade.
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9/15/2017 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Man I love these wines. They're just a bit etheral and light and haunting and interesting. Had some friends over who appreciate the good stuff and started with this. It wasn't my favorite of these wines - I think served a bit too cold and given the crowd there was really only enough for a glass per person. But very tasty.
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9/15/2017 - Aravind Asok wrote:
Big Wines (Casa Gill): Just spectacular. Maybe my wine experience of the year so far. I had high expectations for this bottle and it far exceeded them. The nose is enrapturing: a haunting perfume of pure grenache fruit with loads of raspberry and incense, a touch of lavender and provencal herbs in the background. On the palate, delicate but persistent: soft notes of olive, brine, raspberry.
I kept coming back to this over the course of about 5 hours, and each time it was somehow consistent with and yet utterly different from the previous time. Complex, elegant, transcendent.
I think the 06 Chateau des Tours Vacqueyras gives a good suggestion of what the nose of this wine is, but on the palate they could not be more different.
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9/9/2017 - beatles wrote: 95 Points
PB 50 Rayas Extravarganza (PB's house, Charlottenlund): Rich, unevolved, broad & local. Tannins here, broad sense, a big wine. Lots of life here, on day 2 lighter, more lively & fine. 95+ points.
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8/14/2017 - Mazy Likes this wine: 93 Points
Le plus jeune Rayas bu jusqu'à maintenant pour moi. Impeccable, sous réserve que je n'ai pu l'ouvrir que le matin même donc je crois que j'aurais pu donner un 94 si j'avais pu l'ouvrir plus de 48 heures à l'avance. Il y a encore du tannin et on n'est pas dans les notes du 2000 bu il y a un peu plus d'un an (fleurs séchées, fraises des champs) mais il est plus équilibré que le 2001 qui était un peu trop évolué à mon goût.
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6/24/2017 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Hello beautiful! I am glad to see this was another delicious year of Rayas since it seems we've picked up quite a few of these in the last few months. It is such an interesting wine. When you first pour it it's like lightly candied fruit and so ethereal and enticing that even on a hot summer's day it seems ok to be drinking. With more time in the glass, it turns into a total spice cabinet and seems to gain body. The acidity keeps it well balanced and it's certainly not too heavy, but a wine that seems more oriented towards game. One of my favorites of the day in some tough company. Beautiful wine.
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6/24/2017 - JOsgood wrote:
Serious wine. Big structure and tannins. Still just a baby with that cherry red spicy fruit. Showed tight, slowly opened with air.
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4/8/2017 - cardsandwine Likes this wine:
Decanted at the Restaurant. Superb wine that is drinking beautifully. Round and delicious and firing on all cylinders.
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4/6/2017 - oldwines Likes this wine: 92 Points
Coravin tasting pour at WineLegend Wine Bar in West Orange, NJ. I tried to give this as much air as time would permit, but over 30 minutes of swirling it was still quite closed. I wonder if this bottle was in "shock" from a good bit of shipping movement. Bright, medium garnet color. On the nose there is a good bit of leather, bacon, anise, faint sour cherry and floral violet. Medium tannin, medium plus acidity. On the palate I got some various red fruits, wet stones and a somewhat lean, bright mouthfeel. Elegant, slightly short to medium length finish with a bit of boysenberry jam and smoke. It seems to need food and benefited from some sheep's milk cheese. I had hoped to be blown away by this but I was puzzled by it and assume, given other rave reviews, that there is something less than perfect about this bottle, though there was no obvious flaw or off scent/flavor. It just didn't seem properly aged and "settled down"/integrated. It also clearly will benefit from more time in a proper cellar. Based solely on this bottle, I would say "over-hyped" small production collector's item....but I will reserve judgement to a better situation from someone's cellar I trust.
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1/24/2017 - mduque Likes this wine: 96 Points
Simply astounding. I shed a tear when I opened and tasted at 11am to let it breath. Actually prefered it early on with regards to later that night when we drank it alongside numerous other dream wines. Most fellow tasters had this as their WOTN. Worth every penny !
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11/23/2016 - William Kelley Likes this wine: 94 Points
The 2006 Rayas is still pretty primary, with an expressive and fruit-driven bouquet of ripe cherry, strawberry, kirsch, balsam wood and licorice. On the palate the wine is full-bodied and powerful, with quite a lot of baby fat enrobing its refined structural bones, with a rich, assertive finish. This is one to leave in the cellar for a while longer, and if one wants to drink a young vintage of Rayas both 2004 and even 2008 are better choices.
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11/2/2016 - jonanator wrote: 95 Points
Incredible wine. The finesse, complexity, and nuance was just amazing. So light on the palate, it is truly incredible that this is 100% grenache. The sandy soils provide so much elegance. Very Burgundian. Completely wow'd by this wine.
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9/23/2016 - d'Artagnan wrote: 94 Points
Verticale du Château Rayas (Au Petit Resto): Quel nez superbe! C'est sans doute ce vin qui a le mieux illustré les arômes classiques ds vins du domaine, avec ses notes d'orange sanguine et de fraises des champs. La bouche est belle, finement épicée, fraiche et voluptueuse. Le vin me semble encore bien jeune et vigoureux, mais déjà délicieux. Il amorce à peine son plateau de maturité, pour sans doute plus d'une décennie. Le vin le plus complet du premier quatuor ce soir. 93-94 pts
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8/7/2016 - Jeff Leve wrote: 95 Points
Elegance, freshness and layers of sweet, silky textured cherries, black raspberries and wild strawberries are all over the place. The wine offers more elegance, freshness and restraint than power. This should be a bit better with a few more years of age.
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6/4/2016 - Claret & CdP Gang Likes this wine: 93 Points
Beautiful nose, drank after the 08 Rousseau Cazetiers, this trumps the Rousseau, the classic Rayas nose, a good bottle, having had half a case of the 06 some can be very light and lacking power, this bottle was good, not decanted but opened 2 hours before drinking, classy, sexy with many years of life ahead
93
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4/26/2016 - Lord Rayas wrote: 94 Points
opened for an hour without decanting. unmistakable rayas perfume of exotic fruits and kirsch. approachable now.
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3/20/2016 - Miceri Likes this wine: 95 Points
Light red color; very characteristic nose, raspberry, green grass; light and fresh attack, light tannic bite, light red fruit; everything about this wine is light, feminine and very approachable
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2/11/2016 - Claret & CdP Gang Likes this wine: 92 Points
A light weight rayas in both nose and palate - good but nothing great or inspiring, maybe an off bottle
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12/31/2015 - Claret & CdP Gang Likes this wine: 94 Points
Medium light red with strong barnyard nose upon opening before the classic Rayas nose of strawberries took over but on a restrained side, lovely nose, kept improving, on the palate light and with power, sexy, delicious, decanted 2 hours, WOTN vs 05 Clos Papes, 08 Bass Phillip Premium magnum, 2011 Pierre Andre Corton GC,
94
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12/9/2015 - Burgnick Likes this wine: 93 Points
Nose had typical Rayas strawberry field, tangerine peel, citrus, lychee, wild berries and rose petals. It had a beautiful nose. The palate had depth but the sweetness of the red fruit was not as precise as the 03 Rayas I had recently. It had a juicy and meaty profile on the palate. It will evolve and improve with more time in the cellar. The potential is there. With 1 hour in the glass, its also drinking nicely today.
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11/13/2015 - Claret & CdP Gang Likes this wine: 93 Points
Color:light red
Nose: strawberries field forever ...
Palate: perfect poise, delicious but lacking solid length n depth, thin after 2 hours in the glass, on its own it would have challenged for the WOTN but in the company of the great 05 Rayas it would rank as a good wine only
93
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11/5/2015 - dcwino wrote: 95 Points
2015 Villa d’Este Wine Symposium - Kelly and Kevin's excellent adventure; 11/3/2015-11/9/2015 (Villa D’este, Lake Como): Complex very ripe nose displaying dry cherry and cherry liqueur, wet tobacco, medium caramel, leather, baking spices, cola and earth. Very good concentration, dry cherry and tobacco driven palate impression, warm and round, bright acidity and strong presence of mineral and earth and lovely slightly dry red fruit driven finish. Really enjoyable in very Rayas way.
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10/30/2015 - Claret & CdP Gang Likes this wine: 94 Points
A lovely Rayas that was popped & poured, classic Rayas nose of wild strawberries and roses, I would say a good Rayas but not as good as a 03 Rayas we had last week, tie for WOTN with the 08 ch la tour vougeot GC vv, this Rayas was a surprise last wine of the night, Full of finesse and as usual very long, layered mouthfeel
94+
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10/1/2015 - dcwino wrote: 95 Points
Annual Chicago winos visit - Dugat Py Chambertins, DRC RSVs, SQN and etc. (The Grill Room at Capella Hotel Georgetown): Do Rayas ever make a bad wine? Telltale signs for Rayas, wet tobacco, ripe red fruits, a hint of Kirsh, baking spcies, cinnamon, cola and earth. The concentration level is in between the 05 and the 08. Although quite ripe, the overall impression is quite fresh and youthful. Very good concentration, ripe slightly dry cherry driven palate impression, good mineral presence, bright acidity and lovely sweet finish. This is still very young but perfectly enjoyable. Highly recommend.
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10/1/2015 - Burgundy Al wrote: 93 Points
Wine Dinner Extravaganza (Capella Hotel Dining Room - Washington DC): Popped and poured. Lots of black and red cherry with dark chocolate. Very meaty and dense with some sweet spice in support. Just a baby, this was very tasty now, with significant upside and cellarworthiness.
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10/1/2015 - Uglypinga Likes this wine:
Nice crisp nose. Very clean. A little orange peel, cherry pits and chocolate. The palate is bright and lively with cherries, a hint of beef and some spices. Long and delicious. Lots of tannins though.
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8/21/2015 - CamWheeler wrote: 93 Points
Rayas and friends: Licorice, cinnamon, roses, some garrigue plus some leather and meatiness. Rich on the palate, with red and black fruits pervading while still maintaining composure. Excellent wine but sits a notch back from some of the other vintages tonight.
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10/30/2014 - Beerzebub Likes this wine:
Tasting pour at Arlequin. Delicate and pretty. Flowers and herbs, meat, gentle fruit liqueur. Quite an attractive combination of depth and weightlessness, but surprisingly not as expressive as the 2006 Pignan.
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10/30/2014 - drwine2001 wrote:
Slightly deeper than the Pignan. More complex than that wine at the price of less clarity of fruit. Just a hint of the raspberry liqueur that marks Rayas in better vintages. Almost at peak, I'd guess. Not nearly the wine that its predecessor vintage produced.
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10/18/2014 - Claret & CdP Gang Likes this wine: 94 Points
Nose: sweet perfumed strawberries
Palate: delicious, served blind, Wendy guessed the right chateau n vintage! Well done ! This came after the 03 rousseau clos st jacques, Rayas holds court with the burgundy royalty, an intellectual comparison, clearly both are the wines of the night that included 06 pichon Lalande, 09 rausan gassies, 04 Henri bonneau celestins, 86 Palmer.
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3/15/2014 - Kris G Likes this wine: 94 Points
lovely bottle of wine, very well balanced, soft with an elegant acidity
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2/10/2014 - Claret & CdP Gang Likes this wine: 93 Points
Color: very light red
Nose: Classic Rayas perfume of rose water & strawberries, not powerful
Palate: very light, feminine Rayas, sweet core, not a big wine like the 07 but still delicious, we drank this with the 99 Rayas which was fully mature & absolutely delicious, the group found the 99 more compelling
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11/10/2013 - Vinsant wrote:
Pop and given about an hour of air. Exotic spice, cherry, strawberry, ash, olive, sand, sandalwood, and underbrush. Massive finish, well balanced, and gentle on the palate. This bottle seemed to have a darker edge than the previous bottle. Went seamlessly with lamb meatballs. The haunting Rayas incense aromas were large and in charge.
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8/17/2013 - fhirsch Likes this wine: 94 Points
Quinine, kirsch, rosemary, kirsch; on the palate it is concentrated, but feels very light at the same time
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6/22/2013 - dream Likes this wine: 91 Points
The nose on this wine screams pure kirsch cherries. On the palate, it is still quite young and fairly tannic and grippy with a dry finish but that wonderful kirsch cherry fruit is very ripe and well-stocked underneath. Lots of red spice notes emerge with air and while this is not a classic or brooding vintage of Rayas like say the '95, it is pure and pretty and should continue to develop with time. 91+
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1/14/2013 - Chuck Miller wrote: flawed
Corked. FML.
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2/5/2012 - salil wrote: 92 Points
Great stuff. Layers of fresh cherries and raspberries, exotic ripe floral and musky notes, fresh herbs and minerally elements all combining into a seamless, fragrant whole. This is incredibly young and needs a lot of air - on opening it comes across a bit ripe and heavy, but with more time it calms down and settles into a beautifully finessed, layered whole.
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11/27/2011 - Shorepower wrote:
Var tvungen att prova igen. Denna flaska var betydligt mer öppen- Som sist var vinet dekanterat. Samma kryddiga doft, saknade den bittra tonen som fanns i den förra flaskan. Bra vin men Rhone är lite för kraftiga för min smak.
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10/16/2011 - Shorepower wrote:
Denna ska vara lite atypisk CdP och mer åt lite nordligare franska viner. Vinet hade betdligt mer struktur, kruddig doft och lite mindre tung alkohol, frukt än jag är van vid så det var en ganska bra upplevelse. Har dock fortsatt det lite för mycket tung röd frukt med en liten bitterhet som jag inte helt uppskattar. Alkoholen finns där men inte så dominerande som i en del andra CdP. Ett bra vin men det ger mig nog vid handen att jag inte uppskattar CdP viner generellt.
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8/12/2011 - TexasBob wrote: 89 Points
Garnet color. Smells like sex at Christmas. Notes of strawberry, raspberry, cumin. You can taste the sun in this wine, but there is something a bit off. The sweetness is out of place and I suspect it was not stored properly in the recent past.
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7/16/2011 - drwine2001 wrote:
Medium to light ruby. An atypical, heady blast of dark cherry at first, but then the aromatics shifted to the seductive raspberry/strawberry of Rayas. Maybe a tad denser than usual with lower acidity, but its essentially gentle, elegant nature still shone through (especially in comparison to to the Janasse poured after it). Excellent if not one for the ages, but It may still have some significant upside in terms of complexity.
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6/11/2011 - Frank Murray III wrote:
Burg Dinner At The Murray Casa (The Murray's): Open for 2 days, according to Mr Nordhoff, who was the purveyor of this particular bottle. Given that aeration, this is a fortunate opportunity to gauge test the wine again! Tasted from about 4 ounces. There is an aromatic uniqueness to this wine that is hard to compare. Think light pepper, stalk, an array of spices and no heat whatsoever--no booze, no wood, no intrusions of any kind detectable, just a pure aromatic. The palate, even after 2 days, is intense, compact yet also giving, showing a honeyed-like strawberry, earthy raspberry and a soil element that is really beautiful. No jammy edges, just a spicy and red fruited texture.
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5/30/2011 - JOsgood wrote: 95 Points
Decanted for about 2 hours. Awesome nose. Super complex and long on the palate. Perfect texture and finish. There is no better expression of old vine granache.
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4/22/2011 - Chuck Miller wrote:
First shot of this wine, just arrived. Decanted late afternoon, and for the first 4 hours, I was only whelmed, Now, in the last hour, the last glass (of course!), it is starting to overwhelm. It's really starting to sing. The next bottle will be decanted around noon. As in noon tomorrow!
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4/18/2011 - Jared wrote: 98 Points
Decanted for around 2 hours. My first go'round with Rayas and all I've got to say is holy f#ck. The aromatics of this wine were so intriguing that as with the Cayuse 05 NB, I just smelled it for at least an hour before I took my first sip. As we drank some tasty whites, I just kept going back to this wine with equal parts love and confusion. The emotion of love was easy as this light-colored beauty just slowly leaked dried flowers, herbs de provence, wild strawberries, and honey-covered cherries. The crinkled brow started as I began to realize that I'd never had a CdP that was so feminine and beautiful. Such a contrast to the 06 Clos des Papes that was also at the table (this wine was no slouch, either). After an hour of savoring the nose, I finally took the plunge and unlike the time I gave in to the peer pressure and smoked pot, I did not come away disappointed. Light to medium-bodied with a sexy, silky mouthfeel. Bright red fruit (think cherries, strawberries, and huckleberries) enveloped in a floral handbag that just left you reaching for the glass time and time again. Such a sneaky long finish that you honestly thought you still had wine in your mouth minutes after you swallowed. This wine was so intoxicating that we would yell RAYAS throughout the dinner and then drop whatever we were doing and take a huge sniffy-sniff. Wow! 98 pts.
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4/13/2011 - Vinsant wrote: 99 Points
I'm not sure that I've ever had a more enjoyable wine. Sexy but not slutty. Finesse from the get go. Sat in the decanter for about two hours. Beautiful floral nose of lavendar and dried herbs. Bright and fresh strawberry, raspberry, and vanilla bean on the nose and palate. Minerals keep my mouth watering. After the first sip, I sat up in my chair correcting my posture, to give this wine the respect it deserved. The pepper and Thai basil profile just sang with the lamb stew. I felt like I was drinking pure Grenache wearing a Pinot dress. I know we probably popped this too early, but it was so damn good! Hopefully, I can seek out another bottle to lay down for awhile. Lived up to my expectations and impressed beyond belief!
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4/6/2011 - bajayngo wrote: 100 Points
I don't think I've ever had a wine that I had higher expecations for than trying my 1st Rayas. And crazy enough.....it actually exceeded my high expectations. Honestly it's almost hard for me to put into words to define this wine. And for the people who know me that is very unusual! The nose was SO captivating with this exotic smoky, tobacco, ash, sexy incents follow by sagebrush and the most perfect candied raspberries. The raspberries were like a hard candied dessert without being candy-esk, if that makes sense. In the back ground there were hints of mineral, anise, earthyness....aaahhh so much. On the palate it was just a laserbeam of those perfectly candied raspberries accented with everything else. CDP has long been my favorite region and this was like CDP on steriods but not in a bigger version way because it had an elegants that i've never had from a CDP but everything was aplified, like listening to your favor song with those oversized 80's headphones that cancelled out every other sound but the music. And this wine was like listening to music to me, it took me someplace else completely. I totally get why people say Rayas is in the burgundian style but its feet are strongly rooted in that amazing CDP terrior. To me....this is the 2nd perfect wine i've ever had and my great friend Darren has shared both of them with me. Thanks Darren......again!! As I said over and over again at the dinner where the bottle was shared with great friends and food.......perfect....this bottle was just perfect to me.
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3/21/2011 - Frank Murray III wrote:
god, I love Rayas. Having now tasted the 2006 twice in the past six months, it's hard not to like it. Beautiful texture, spicy with a pepper nose. Smooth and earthy with a long finish showing sweet cherry. This was enjoyed paired with a hummus and flatbread, with a wood fire nearby. I don't think I could have scripted this any better. I have to find and source some of this and stop wondering why I have to continue to love this wine and yet not own any.
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12/17/2010 - KenK wrote: 92 Points
Naples Annual Boys Lunch: Sweet dry light aromas of delicate fresh Grenache fruit.
Lighter weight than I expected. Dry, somewhat chewy with good acid profile, an interesting match for the Heridia. good sweet edge to wine showing nice Grenachecherry fruit, but more subtle than many modern style producers. Nice attack, a classy French wine that shows good acid backbone, more of a food wine. Nice black pepper. 92.
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10/14/2010 - Frank Murray III wrote:
Jemrose Dinner @ Marche Moderne in the OC (Marche Moderne, Costa Mesa CA): god, without Jim Mack, I would know nothing about Rayas. Jim has now generously shared with me the 2004 and 2005 (2X) in the past year, now the 2006. This is one heluva of a wine, like the Chave Hermitage. Aromatically distinct, exhibiting some pepper, smashed rocks, spice and saddle. Then, when the wine hit my palate, the melange of strawberry, raspberry show. The balance and complexity of this young Rayas, again, amazing. We tried this alongside Jim Mack's greanche estate, both the 2007 and 2008, which he calls Foggy Knoll. As Jim aspires to continue to craft his own expression of grenache, using Rayas as an aspiration, this is certainly a worthy goal. After now having tasted yet another Rayas, I need to open my wallet and find some, as the wine is truly an experience, as this 2006 was.
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10/8/2010 - Miceri wrote: 97 Points
Light to medium (more medium) red; very strong nose of raspberries, roses, vanilla, somehow rounded sharp in a pleasant way; slightly spiced on the attack, licorice, soft, round, lovely; very well balanced, elegant, slim; truly enjoyable
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10/7/2010 - cardsandwine Likes this wine:
Another great wine from Rayas. Lacks the elegance of the 2005, but is a terrific effort. Pure and beautifully balanced on the palate with a wonderful finish. I think the wine will benefit from a couple of years of cellar time.
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3/10/2009 - KeithAkers wrote: 94 Points
Martine's Wines Portfolio tasting (MK, Chicago IL): nose: extremely deep and luscious nose of melted licorice, loads of black and red fruits, a healthy dose of black pepper and bits of garrigue lurk underneath. A very heady nose that is just all about class
taste: great length and polished medium feel of red currants, red and black fruits, melted licorice and a good dose of garrigue. Good tannins showing off the youth, but they don't get in the way
overall: a wonderful wine with ridiculous balance. Very heady and exudes class at every turn. Obviously young, but it has the ability to be something really amazing with a bit of age
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5/7/2007 - Siggy wrote:
2007 France Trip - Opening Night, Mordoree, Rayas; 5/6/2007-5/7/2007 (Southern Rhone): Two barrel samples tasted: #1 showed herbs, tea, and pure red cherry fruit; #2 was spicier and more herbal, with flavors of Maraschino cherries and tea.
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