I have been eagerly wanting to taste this Chateau's wine for years. Rayas is one of those names that I hear whispered reverently at tastings, and never having tried it myself, I assumed it would be otherworldly. Which, perhaps, in a different vintage, it is. But I happened to taste the 1997, and 1997 was a very bad year for Rayas.
Jacques Reynaud, the legendary owner/winemaker at Rayas passed away in 1997, leaving people my age, who only really started to get into wine that year, in a lurch. I will never be willing to spend thousands of dollars on Reynaud's legendary 1989 and 1990, and I will never get to taste his wines young. Which I means I'll never get to know Rayas for what it once was. But I can hope that the Reynaud heir now in charge, Emmannuel, will continue the family's tradition of fashioning otherworldly wines. So I'm putting this 1997 behind me.....
"Jacques Reynaud's reputation was well-deserved. At their best, his wines at Rayas offered lilting perfume and layers of lush, pure raspberry fruit that set them apart stylistically from the rest of the appellation. But for all intents and purposes, the Rayas legend is built upon the stunning success of only a handful of vintages, namely 1978, '89, '90 and '95. The vintages in between are better than average, but not quite in the same league."
http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Features/0,1197,3209,00.html visited April 2, 2008.
0 comments:
Post a Comment