2010 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Pignan Reserve
Reynaud is both a genius and a magician. But I’m getting ahead of my story.
I’ve been on a wonderful vacation in Spain and France with my son, having what is really a once-in-a-lifetime chance to do this with him. While we are visiting historic sites, art museums and taking in some great, scenic hikes, we are also here for the food and wine. He’s has become quite the “foodie” despite his seemingly jock exterior.
We are in Nimes, France today. Staying at the Imperatur, which has its own Michelin 2 but closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. We went instead to SKAB - oddly named for us Americans - recommended by the folks here, and it’s a Michelin 1. I take a glance at the wine menu, and while overall impressed the selection and pricing, the Rayas 2010 and 2011 for €350 was a deal-maker.
On the walk there I either mesmerize or bore my son on the beauty of anything Rayas all the way down to the lovely Côtes du Rhône. This as we walk passed the Maison Carrèe and the Roman Amphitheater, opened in 100 AD, just a few steps between our hotel and the restaurant.
The Somm arrives with the wine menu, and I politely ask for the 2010 Rayas. In very fine English, he responds, “we just sold the last bottle.” Crestfallen, I ask, with a smile, for the 2011. And again am told it was gone. At those prices, I actually was not surprised. But they did have the 2010 Pignan at €220 and the 2010 Fonsallete at €180, in addition to the Côtes du Rhône. I ordered the Pignan.
A gorgeous consolidation prize. Back to Reynaud, how he coaxes both such ripeness and aromatics out of pure Grenache (100%) while minimizing any expression of the spiky heat this grape can throw defies my comprehension. The nose alone on these wines makes them worth the chase. And the price.
An expressive - pungent, as Nick described - nose of that Rayas perfume, ripe red berry candy nose with some warm darker notes, freshly tilled soils, garrigue, iron and hints of cigar. Stem including? A product of the vintage I think, this 2010 carries weight but not heat. More of a meaty, dark earth tone to it, wonderfully balanced range of fruit, with a mouthfeel of rich earth throughout. I would not necessarily call this vintage of Pignan as elegant, but loved it for what it showed. While I believe this wine will refine and improve with time, I also think it was quite accessible this evening. And it improved in the decanter over the course of about a three-hour evening. This complex wine also worked with most of the courses until we got to dessert. For that, I ordered a 1965 Armagnac!
(94 pts.)
