TN: 2010 Olga Raffault Chinon Les Picasses (France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon)

Ethan_Abraham · February 10, 2015, 2:38am

2010 Olga Raffault Chinon Les Picasses - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon (2/9/2015)
My palate rarely is able to identify specific flavors, but drinking this wine all I can think about it chewing on a pencil in 3rd grade. So, call it “pencil shavings” or “graphite,” it’s pretty obvious. Promiment chewy tannins, lots of stems, but good acidity surprisingly drinkable this young. Must go get some library releases to see how these age… (92 pts.)

Just what I need, a new region to discover. I’ve never much liked French cab francs when I order them btg in restaurants, and the few I’ve bought in stores have been too tart/green/vegetal for me, so I’ve mostly ignored the category. But this was good and very distinctive.

Dennis_Atick · February 10, 2015, 3:05am

Nice note.
I popped one about a month ago and totally agree.
Go find a '90, can be found for around $60. Well worth it and drinking amazing right now.
Cheers.

D_Wirsig · February 10, 2015, 4:14am

Thanks for the note! Love those pencil shavings.

Travis_Fantz · February 10, 2015, 4:51am

One of my favorite QPR. The 2012 is a house wine for us. If you get some, put some away for 5-8 years.

Robert.A.Jr · February 10, 2015, 12:10pm

Classic Chinon. Thanks for reminding me that I need to grab some '10s! My past purchase was '09, which needs a lot of time. The '07s are drinking nicely right now, but these wines in quality years are definitely agers.

John_Morris · February 10, 2015, 2:37pm

Anyone tried the 05 of late?

J_Singleton · February 10, 2015, 2:54pm

It’s scary how much my palate is falling in line with yours. Here’s a little something I saw at Weygandt’s last week. Don’t know what was actually in the box though. I made some strong purchases this past week with some Jura, Chinon, and red burgs. Tim is such an enabler.

JoeD · February 10, 2015, 3:12pm

Haha - even I like this thin/green/weedy wine!!! I’ve been picking up some older vintages to see whats up.

J_Singleton · February 10, 2015, 3:15pm

Crazy talk coming from you.

scott_c · February 10, 2015, 3:25pm

I hope you like horse shit (in a good way) as much as you like green weeds!

J_Singleton · February 10, 2015, 3:26pm

He spews enough of it, so can’t imagine it’ll bother him.

JoeD · February 10, 2015, 3:37pm

I laugh when I hear people say that WB is a tough crowd. To Scott’s point, i like my (old world) wine slightly dirty.

Michael_Lewis · February 10, 2015, 4:13pm

Has this become the DC Domaine Wine Storage Offline thread?

J_Singleton · February 10, 2015, 4:34pm

Not yet. Todd hasn’t moved it.

Robert.A.Jr · February 10, 2015, 5:03pm

LOL, busted!!!

Howard_Cooper · February 10, 2015, 6:25pm

“Must go get some library releases to see how these age…”

Love Raffault young and wants to see how it will age??? Isn’t that the opposite of how most people get into Raffault.

You should be able to find Raffault with some age at a decent price. Try Chambers Street or Crush or someplace like that.

Marc_Frontario · February 11, 2015, 1:52am

Alfert gets around!!lol
…and welcome to the dark side Ethan…cab franc can become addictive

Bill_Moore · February 11, 2015, 3:00am

The 2010 is textbook “Alfertian”
goodness. Ash heap, rich soil, tobacco, and whiff of bell pepper. Not the same depth or polish of a 2010 Croix Boissee or Clos Guillot, but certainly more open now and with comparable aging potential.

Robert.A.Jr · February 11, 2015, 12:08pm

Lol, who the heck wants polish from this region?! I want Chinon. Have you ever seen the castle at Chinon? The wines should taste like that rustic castle!

I gotta go get some '10s!

NoahR · February 11, 2015, 1:16pm

Just had a beautiful 1995 last weekend. I had Coravined it a few months previously and there was no difference, incidentally. It was lovely, and I am now buying more and more recent vintages, and yes Tim O’Rourke is an enabler. Honestly, I just hope I still have a liver when these wines mature.