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Châteauneuf-du-Pape 1945

Château Rayas, Rhône, France

Château Rayas
Rhône France
  • 100
    Points
  • The 240 best
    of 3 290 954
    wines globally
  • 1 Pros of
    1 recommend
    this wine
40 100
  • Taste
  • Moment

  • Country ranking ?

    203

  • Producer ranking ?

    3

  • Decanting time

    -

  • When to drink

  • Food Pairing

    Game

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The Story

One could become addicted to Rayas wines. The rich aromatic herbal reds and the intense complex whites. The red wines are unique. Contrary to the common belief that good Châteauneuf-du-Pape should be made from a blend of grape varieties, at Rayas only the Grenache is used and only old vines from north facing slopes. The result is a wine that will age for 20 years or more. A longer than normal period in cask only adds to the complexity and dept...

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Written Notes

1945 & 1978 Rayas – Unlike my Lafite combo, these will be two separate notes on two separate occasions.  Rayas is one of the world’s most thrilling and unique wines, I guess that’s why its prices have gone up almost 200% this past year or so!  The first note references Instagram, where I post most of my notes these days, come follow me lol. 
I feel like it might be time for me to go on a run.  Not like a real run don’t be silly lol.  Like a run of posts and see if I can break my previous record of 20+ days I forget the number.  My California trip is off to a sizzling start and reminded me that some of the best bottles are the ones you can’t sell.  This Rayas was either from 45, 47 or 49 as that is what my friend bought from a great old cellar decades ago, but the vintage tag had fallen off, so there was no way to verify which one it was. They did not brand the corks with the vintage back then.  So we drank it.  This is even pre-Jacques, you can see L. Reynaud on the label for Louis, who was one of the first to estate bottle and sell his own wine in Chateauneuf.  The wine was glorious, and based on my experience with 40s vintages in general, I think it was a 1945, but that is really irrelevant.  The relevance is how amazing Château Rayas is, one of the truly unique and spectacular wines in the world.  Having been there and seeing and understanding the unique microclimate there, I am not sure anyone else can do the same with Grenache.  The wine aged magnificently, still with fresh strawberry fruit, extraordinary balance and significant length.  The Provençal spice and the touch of brand-new leather were the right supporting actors to the fruit, which was the star of the show.  So good, so special, so lucky!
Sexy, rich and decadent, the 1978 gave me a cherry cola impression at first.  This was all about the Grenache, but the usual strawberry was second place to the rarely seen and under-appreciated lingonberry!  Lingonberry!!!  I am so glad to have two Rayas in my top wines of the year as I love it so!

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Origin

Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône
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