Olga Raffault, Les Picasses Chinon 2016

93 Points Vinous
From a limestone-based plot on the Chinon plateau, the 2016 Chinon Les Picasses features intriguing warming spices, including garam masala, as well as piquant black cherry, all followed up with mouthwatering acidity. Like their other cuvées, it's not showy and extroverted but quiet, its joy being in its tender caress on the midpalate. It has grown up in large foudres (50hl) over a year but reveals little woody influence. The finish has fine sinew and refined chalky tannins that draw the palate out on the lengthy, tea-leaf-like and spiced finish.

92 Points Wine Enthusiast
This wine is richly structured and still densely tannic. With its ripe red fruits and firm tannins, the wine is destined for aging. Coming from the plateau above the town of Chinon, the wine has density and longevity. Drink from 2021.

91 Points Wine Spectator
Sanguine and cigar notes frame the core of damson plum and dark cherry flavors in this medium-bodied, slightly chewy red. Black pepper and rosemary details linger on the finish. This shows great terroir typicity and flavor profile.

90 Points Wine & Spirits
This wine’s black, smoky tannins hide the sweetness of its lasting blueberry scents. It’s light, firm and spicy; for braised lamb.

Vinous Reverie Notes
Les Picasses is the most famous Chinon lieu-dit, close to the village of Beaumont-En-Véron on the north bank of the Vienne River. It is a slope with full southern exposure and chalky clay-limestone soils, the combination resulting in fully ripened, structured wines. Raffault's mid-slope vines are at least 50 years old and are worked organically and harvested by hand. The fruit is destemmed and the whole, uncrushed berries are fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel tank; fermentation and maceration last for 25-30 days, depending on the vintage. The wine is aged for 2-3 years in oak and chestnut foudres ranging from 30-50 hectoliters; it is then further aged in tank and bottle before release about four years after the vintage. Les Picasses is the fullest-bodied, most structured and most complex of the Raffault reds.