T/N Fabulous Chateau Rayas Dinner: 1978 - 2005

A fabulous dinner with really good food, and what turned out to be some really amazing wines. I have never given any wine 100pts before, but was really pretty tempted with the ’78 Rayas. The ’85 and ’90 were also pretty spectacular…


Champagne Starter:


Hervey Bay Scallops & White Gazpacho

2002 Dom Perignon:

Fresh, bright, fine, very young, creamy and toasty with a nice acid spine. A really lovely starter…
92++pts.



Flight 1: 2003, 2004, 2005 Rayas Reserve:


Hare Royal, Chestnut, Poached Pear & Roast Onions

2003 Chateau Rayas Reserve CNDP:
Sweeter and much riper than the other two wines, and really (for mine) almost over ripe. A bit port like, even though it is still really middleweight, and with loads of ripe, dense dark fruits. A wine that looks a perhaps bit atypical for the style, but that’s really just the vintage…The only sound wine here tonight I didn’t like all that much given the context of the other wines, although I’d probably enjoy it somewhat more on it’s own.
87pts.

2004 Chateau Rayas Reserve CNDP:
The lightest of the three wines, and a very fine looking minerally wine indeed. Pure raspberry fruit with a twist of peppery greenness, a long silky finish, bright and perfumed, and just a lovely wine of balance, precision and focus. This wine literally dances on your palate. My favorite wine of the flight for the first hour or so, where the more complex, deeper ’05 then came up making this wine look just a touch more straightforward in comparison. Still, really lovely drinking, and I wish I had a case of this in the cellar…
93/4+pts.

2005 Chateau Rayas Reserve CNDP:
This initially didn’t show as much as the ’04, and really took some time to open. Black fruits with kirsch/raspberries notes, and an hint of spicy smoke. Initially closed, but when it opened it seemed to fill out, and fill the glass. Silky finish, complex and layered fruit with a touch of licorice, and with a voluptuousness to it that was immensely appealing. A slightly bigger scaled wine than the ‘04, though still in balance. This needs time, and will end up several points higher at least in time…
94/5++pts.



Flight 2: 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994 Rayas Reserve, 1990 Pignan:


Western Plains Suckling Pig, Chicory, Pine Nuts & Dark Ale

1994 Chateau Rayas Reserve CNDP:
Wow, did this totally smash the two notes we were provided with on it (Parker 90pts, Spectator 88pts). Bright, balanced and totally beautiful, with a perfumed nose of spice and dried flowers. Lovely red/black fruits on a silky midweight palate that was both complex and layered, yet still light and dancing. Finished with a touch of licorice and hints of old leather. Fantastic drinking, and a very beautiful wine.
95pts.

1993 Chateau Rayas Reserve CNDP:
Another wine that showed much better than it’s reputation might have suggested. Quite floral/perfumed nose with just a hint of decayed foresty notes. Peppery, berry fruit, with just a hint of strawberries and cream on the finish. This looks quite burgundian really, and with the slight hint of spice/greenness/gamey foresty development and a silky midweight palate was really very appealing. Perhaps not quite as complex or deep as some of the wines here, but really very attractive none the less.
92/3pts.

1990 Chateau Rayas Reserve CNDP:
Took it’s time to open up, initially looking just a bit varnishy on the nose. Notes of smoke and ripe dark fruits, and a deeper, more serious palate. Quite bright, with lots of black fruits with just glimpses of red, quite ripe yet such a deep, structured wine. Threads of licorice run through the wine, and some smokey/meaty nuances finish with more deep fruit. Again quite silky and fine, I kept thinking how this reminds me of some ’90 Burgs I had drunk recently. The more it opened, the better it got, and the finish seemed to dance more after about half an hour as the wine gained in weight and complexity. Truly, a fabulous wine.
96pts.

1990 Chateau Rayas Domaine de Pignan CNDP:
In contrast to the other wines, this was the darkest wine here. Fresh, young looking with a slightly hot and short finish (compared to the others). Simpler, coarser and a bit more straightforward, somewhat blocky looking with lots of stuffing, but little magic. A more honest, workmanlike drink. This will still drink well for a long time yet, and on it’s own is pretty good, but not perhaps next to the other wines…
89pts.

1989 Chateau Rayas Reserve CNDP:
A bit of a different sort of wine here. Tannic and grippy, quite red fruited and not as big as the ’90, this wine really needs more time yet. A bit lean on the finish, with slight roasted fruit and tobacco notes, and a drying finish. Not as pleasant a drink as the other wines, yet still a wine of undeniable class. Not one of my favourites here tonight as far as drinkability goes, but still very much a Rayas.
91/2pts.

1988 Chateau Rayas Reserve CNDP:
Oxidized. A shame.
N/R.


Now on to the main attraction!!

Flight 3: 1978, 1983, 1985 Rayas Reserve, 1985 Pignan:


Glenroth Pheasant, Braised Savoy Cabbage & Slippery Jack Mushrooms

I was pretty excited to drink the’78, as this had been a wine on my “Must Drink” list for quite a long time. Happily, it didn’t let me down…

1978 Chateau Rayas Reserve CNDP:
Wow.
Quite dark and deep, with a spicy perfumed nose. On the palate, simply amazing! So complex, with multi faceted layers of dark fruits, spice, and a touch of that Hoisin that makes great old La Tache so distinctively fabulous. Lots of dark fruit, but not sweet, really in a more savory way, very silky and sexy looking that just kept coming up in the glass. Amazingly complex, defined yet balanced, hard to believe there is so much going on in such harmony. I kept mine right to the end, and it really was singing by then. This was a fabulous condition bottle from a cold cellar, and had been there a long time without moving, and really showed, as the wine had a real timeless sort of quality that suggests it will go on forever. A complete, sexy, stunning wine that is (well for me at least) as close to perfection as it gets!
99pts.

1983 Chateau Rayas Reserve CNDP:
Oxidized. A shame.
N/R.

1985 Chateau Rayas Reserve CNDP:
Big fruits, with just a very slightly roasted quality to it, but the depth of fruit here is stunning. Darker fruits with some raspberry, good energy and a really silky finish on the palate, this bottle was still really quite young and fresh looking. Complex and deep, rich and ripe, but still very well balanced. An opulent wine of great pleasure, this continued to open out and was really superb drinking. I think bottles like this will still look good in 15-20 more years…
96pts.

1985 Chateau Rayas Domaine de Pignan CNDP:
Fresher and darker than the ’85 Reserve, this was very good, but again a bit more simplistic and straightforward. Loaded with sweet dark fruits, a hint of pepper, this looked nice, if a bit blocky, without that fine, silky finish. Still, very good drinking indeed.
90pts.


VP Finish:


Herve Mons Comte Gruyere

1994 Grahams Vintage Port:
Really young and fresh, layered with tons of sweet ripe dark fruit. This was nice drinking, but really needs another 10+ (20+) years to fully show it significant promise…
93++pts.


A great night with some amazing wines that, dare I say it, looked quite Burgundian, in that they were silky with great mouth feel, and with lovely perfumed, pure fruit. An excellent and for me eye opening dinner showcasing how great Rayas can be, and the stunning ’78 will live with me forever.

Nice notes and lineup Paul. Agreed that Rayas can be a remarkably Burgundian wine, and that '78 sounds like quite a wine.

Love that 94 as well - at a Rayas vertical a few months ago, that was one of the stars along with the 95 - just unbelievably perfumed, silken and finessed.

A vicarious dream! Thanks!

Great stuff Paul. Sorry I missed this one.

Paul,
thanks for the report - very interesting for me.

The three wines I would describe and rate much differently are:
2003 Rayas: a great wine for me - if much too young, but usually a mid-90-p wine … either a less perfect bottle, or our tastes are too different
1993: I´ve always liked it, but due to the vintage lacking a bit in intensity and sweetness, so never better than 90p for me
1989: for me a worthy rival of the 1990, always very high 90ties … and definitely younger than ´90 … so ?
1990 Pignan: usually very close to the Reservé, if only slightly less sweet in the finish …

Sorry for the 1983 and 1988, both can be outstanding, too!

Just my 2 cents (and sure each bottle is different)

BTW: Pignan is never labelled “Domaine de Pignan” … just PIGNAN - I hope you mean the same wine. “Domaine de Pignan” is a very different property

Was actually a better dinner then the LT one…

Gerhard,

Yeah, was the Rayas Pignan, sorry for the confusion.


The '03 looked too ripe, the bottle was fine though. Everyone agreed this was showing as the least wine of the three at the time.

The '93 was ethereal, I loved the purity of the wine, and perhaps rated it a bit more than others, but I really enjoyed it.

The '89 was god, but just looked far too tannic compared to the other wines here. It was a much harder wine to enjoy compared to the others, and this particular bottle definitely needed much more time to reach it’s peak, although it may well end up great …

The '90 Pignan looked out of place in this lineup, darker and simpler than the other wines, the group consensus was exactly this. A good wine still, but a bit different than the rest in style.

Superb notes thanks. I will have to hunt down the 85 and add it to the birth year arsenal.

Great tasting. Missed that one although my friend (Ray) attended and raved about it. Rayas is an etheral experience when the wines are on fire.

Up there with the '85 LT as one of the best '85’s I have had for sure…

Thanks Paul for the explanations.
It is always fascinating how even a “small” Rayas-vintage can be so immensly attractive with the apropriate maturity - like your bottle of 1993.
I would rate it still as the least successful vintage of the 90ties - perhaps together with 1996 and 92 - but behind 1997, and of course excluding the declassified 1991 (which is only Pignan).

I think 2003 and 1989 have - together with 2007 - some similarities, and will need quite a long time … indeed very massive.

Reg. 1985: I had it only 2 times, both really great.
A friend of mine who spent a year in the US ran across the 1985 R. on a restaurants wine list - for just under 200 $ … it was simply great - but the owner refused to sell any of the remaining 10 bottles. So he went there 10 times over the year - and drank them all!

BTW: look here: RAYAS – RAYAS – RAYAS – PIGNAN – FONSALETTE in GRAZ (re-post) - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers

I has Rayas red 2005 in a great lunch last sunday : a tremendous perfect monster (20/20).

Note : 19/20 for Rayas red 2006 last month, in Maranones vineyard (Sierra de Gredos - Madrid).

Thanks for the notes and sounds like an absolutely awesome time. One of the things that is so interesting with verticals like this is seeing how a wine from a great producer performs in off vintages. I often find there are a couple of totally unexpected gems discovered when tasting along with the bigger and more famous vintages. Thanks again for the post.

Great wines and great notes. Truly jealous!

wow what a dinner! A wine that transcends both its grape and region.
Rayas is a world class wine.

What a great tasting. I’m sorry your '89 wasn’t up to the rest of the wines - it has always been one of my favorite CdP.

Surprised no one has mentioned the 1995. A truly great Rayas.

Kelly,

Rayas verticale - 20 march 2010 - report by Pierre Citerne :
10. Châteauneuf-du-Pape : Château Rayas 1995
DS18/18,5+ - PC18/18,5 - LG18+ - PR18/19 - MF18,5/19. Note moyenne : 18,5
La robe annonce un changement de registre radical. Très jeune et brillante, rubis sombre sans reflets orangés, noire en son centre, elle étonne autant qu’elle impressionne.
Comme la robe, le nez est profond et monolithique, imposant plus que captivant. La présence fruitée est énorme, confite mais leste et distinguée, un fruit terrien, sombre (on pense à la mûre, à la myrtille, un peu comme dans un vintage portugais où un Maury…) ; les notes de cèdre et de truffe qui émergent à l’aération sont magnifiques mais ne parviennent pas à dissiper l’impression générale d’austérité et de quant à soi.
En bouche le volume du vin est considérable, son extrait sec impressionnant, avec une présence acide au premier plan. On est effectivement rentré dans un autre registre, celui de la monumentalité, avec un vin (il y en aura d’autres dans la série) qui évoque par son amplitude, sa compacité (paradoxalement…), sa « noirceur » et son indifférence au flux du temps certains hermitages (celui de Chave ou La Chapelle en 1978 par exemple).
A Rayas 1995 still waits in my cellar …

Thanks for the great notes Paul. Wonderful wines. How were the bottles prepared? Decanted?

Thnx Brodie

Holy Necrothread!

This was a dinner from 7 years ago, so I don’t 100% remember, but at a guess I would have said standard practice would have been decanting all the wines at the start of the night…