Tasting Notes

AP99

This is a perfect Rayas with so much elegance and depth that on the nose it is like Burgundy but the palate is clearly southern Rhone. The wine is exuberant with layers of sweet spices, cinnamon and cloves being one of a dozen, combined with dried berries and thyme, dried bay leaf and roasted rosemary. The sweetness along with firm acidity and light tannins creates a backbone on this wine that will see it through many decades. A phenomenal wine. Tasted 11/15

WA99–100

As for the 1990, I have had the good fortune to drink nearly three cases, and it has been one of the triumphs of my cellar. A mere 1-2 years ago, I enjoyed a succession of perfect 100 point bottles, but the last several bottles have merited 96-100 points, perhaps revealing the direction of this wine’s evolution. Nevertheless, this is riveting stuff. A legendary Rayas made from extremely ripe Grenache, it exhibits notes of over-ripe kirsch, raspberries, cherries, game, licorice, and tobacco. This unctuously-textured, thick, juicy Chateauneuf must tip the scale at 15.5% alcohol. It is truly a Rhone Valley monument. Owners, however, should consume it over the next 8-10 years.

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