Year in, year out, Olga almost always does for it me.
2007 Olga Raffault Chinon Les Picasses- France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon (11/20/2016)
The 07 has never reallly struck me as a long time ager, this one is certainly more evolved than my first bottle a few years back. It feels already open to me with clean fruit, tobacco, and big green pepper notes. It’s easy to drink, really glides on the palate. Maybe not peaking, but no harm in drinking one now. These Raffualt Picasses should cost twice what they do on release, but I won’t argue…
2007 Olga Raffault Chinon Les Picasses- France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon (10/22/2018)
– cork pulled 30 min. before initial taste –
– tasted non-blind over 3 - 4 hours –
NOSE: light bell pepper/garrigué/light red fruits; strong mineral behind the fruit; smells like it will be medium-light bodied; slight gamy aspect (lamb); moderately expressive.
BODY: fine particulate matter present; garnet color of medium depth, with slight lightening at the edges; medium-light bodied.
TASTE: 12.5% alc. not noticeable; slightly-drying tannins, even after 3 hours open; not thick; light purple fruits, perhaps leaning towards the red-fruited spectrum; medium-light concentration of fruit flavors; very light garrigué; clean; medium-low to medium acidity; not as good as the ‘10, and a bit of a disappointment given others’ reporting on this wine.
2007 Olga Raffault Chinon Les Picasses- France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon (4/29/2020)
– decanted one hour before initial taste –
– tasted non-blind over 3 hours on Day 1; revisited on Day 2 –
NOSE: moderate+ expressiveness on Day 1; medium strength pyrazine aspect; wet stones; a little meaty and smoky; increasingly high-toned after a couple hours. A bit more expressive on Day 2, showing the same pyrazine note as on Day 1; pencil shavings on Day 2.
BODY: medium-light bodied; garnet core with slight bricking @ edges – color is of medium depth.
TASTE: obvious Cab. Franc; bell pepper; some medium-grained tannins; garrigué; plum skin; more “dark” than “bright”; pretty light (but not completely absent) on the rear palate; 12.5% alc. not noticeable; good acidity; nice now, but this bottle shows me no reason this won’t continue to age well for at least a few more years. Day 2 brought some bitter florals, and the garrigué and any slight leather notes of Day 1 are now gone, but for what seems to be a hint of brett on the finish; not as complex as Day 1. Better than my previous bottle. Will likely hold my last bottle for 7 years, just so I can see this as a 20 yo wine.
Day 1: 50, 5, 12, 16, 8 = (91 pts.)
Day 2: 50, 5, 13, 15, 8 = (91 pts.)
The 07 was always surprisingly early maturing, perhaps the only Raffault Picasse ready to drink before the 02, though I haven’t tried any of my more recent ones lately. I have bunch of these to help me keep my hands off of other vintages. I stopped buying after 2010 because I don’t know that I’ll live to see more recent ones come around, unless they’ve change how they are made. Fortunately I loaded up on library releases.
Brian- I do like the way you pull old notes back out and add current impressions. Lately, several have been tasting notes I posted, which makes it even more fun for me. You are one of the few posters who do this, and it is a cool way of revisiting notes and seeing how wines evolve over time. Cheers!
I haven’t tasted any Raffault Picasses after 2010. I’ve also heard the 2014 is approachable. If this is generally true of current vintages, then I think the wine has changed. I remember tasting both the 96 and the 02 with ten years on them (both are great wines now) and both experiences turned out to be of only intellectual interest.
I certainly found the 2014 to be wide open and enjoyable when I tried it, more than a year ago. The 2009 was similar for me, but 2010 came across as mute, and I haven’t opened one since. Bottles of 2005, which I’ve opened a fair number of, have been all over the place–open and inviting or completely not. So on reflection, I guess I’d just go with the idea that unpredictability is part of the charm.
While I haven’t tasted the 1996, I’d certainly agree that 2002 is gorgeous. Never got the chance to sample it young, alas.
