Olga Raffault, Chinon, Les Picasses

Tasted blind, without decanting, directly after 79 Pontet-Canet. Perhaps the wrong order. We tossed around a guess of Cabernet Franc, but were thrown for a loop to an extent. Nose was super umami-forward: soy sauce, miso, mushrooms. Pyrazine aromas pretty much gone after this age, at least in the typical sense. Maybe a hint of mint, toasted rosemary. Prettier, more red-fruited and floral, with air. Texturally very light on its feet. Super fun and interesting.

1979 vintage

The 1979 Les Picasses is drinking beautifully today, offering up aromas of smoky cherries, red berries, sweet spices and a discreet hint of medicine cabinet. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and melting, with lively girdling acids and a deep, impressively vital core of fruit, this is fully mature but shows no signs of fraying in the immediate future. I'd be inclined to rank it a shade behind the superb 1989 but it is a lovely bottle of mature Chinon.

1979 vintage

Agree with JonnyG’s note. Very fresh and light.

1979 vintage

I really could not have been more pleased with this. Pop & pour, mixing in a lot of fine sediment, but the wine showed beautifully nonetheless: energetic, fresh and delineated, with loads of dried cherry and tobacco notes, along with the expected earthiness, some pepper, leather and muted herbs.

1979 vintage

Cracked open one of these to close our Loire tasting/Mark's birthday. So, so good. Brooklynguy spot on, as usual. Light and lovely and evolved very rapidly in the glass. Once it opened up I got some canned green beans (I know, but in a good way), along with the usual Raffault notes. Drank immediately after decant and there were so many of us that I didn't have much of chance to watch it, but it was probably at its best …

1979 vintage

At tasting. Brief note. Pours a youthful transparent ruby red in the glass with slight orange reflections at the rim. Complex nose and palate show charcoal, smoke, rubber, leather, sweaty horse hide, cherry fruit roll up and watermelon rind. A lovely feminine wine that has aged perfectly. Such a treat to try.

1979 vintage

Birth Year - Themed wine dinner : All 3 chinons seemed out of place in this line up. I actually reversed the 79 and 90.. this one didn't see this old. Opened up with air (1 hour decant, followed for 3 more). Orange/brown color, light weight, all of the greeness that is in the 2011 doesn't show up here.. not bad!

1979 vintage

Outstanding wine, 38 years in the making and still singing. This was a library release straight from the OR cellar. Cork was pulled very slowly and was hard like a brittle biscuit; thankfully, we were able to pull it out intact. Medium body, expectedly a lighter red since most tannins became sediment (which was surprisingly), and plenty of fruit still remained (cherry, strawberry). Unsurprisingly, No decant needed at all, and the wine did start to decline by about the 45 …

1979 vintage

Best bottle yet, just gorgeous wine in perfect shape and in perfect balance, with deeply complex aromas and flavors that shift, and waft in and out. Nose shows prominent graphite and rusty minerality and equally prominent feral musky bloody gently stewed fruit. There are autumn dried leaves and woodsiness too. I love how the wine has such great focus and energy on the palate, which is in all other ways so gentle and old and relaxed. Gorgeous. Decanted for about …

1979 vintage

Fantastic considering the age, its humble origins (it does not come from Bordeaux or Burgundian aristocracy), and the price. Round, silky, with remaining aromas of fruits, flintstone, and secondary flavors of earth and forest floor. Finishes with a tiny sensation of sweetness at the end. It is soft but elegant and subtle with great personality.

1979 vintage

Opened a 1979 Picasses tonight. Decanted and took a sip on opening and it didn't need a decant. This is right in its game and drinking so well now. Typical notes of moldy forest floor on the nose. Bricking. A lighter, fully resolved Chinon with acid fading and fruits subtle. I have had a number of aged Chinon and I have yet to meet one I don't like, but this has a level of elegance above the others. Wonderful. The …

1979 vintage

Looking at the notes here, I was not surprised to see the word "graceful" popping up in a couple places, as that's precisely the word that came to mind when drinking this old beauty. Autumnal scents of leaves and warm earth, mingling beautifully with cinnamon and herbs. Just a gorgeous nose. Still plenty of punch on the palate, too, but here again, more elegance and finesse than brawn, with good vigor from the acidity. Lovely wine.

1979 vintage

An original release bottle with the white label. Lovely wine, giving everything it has, which still includes some nice fruit amidst the intense graphite and stone minerality. Good balance, feels alive and vigorous, although this is an entirely mature and gentle wine. Graceful and almost understated in its expression.

1979 vintage

A library release bottle. Opened, decanted off the small amount of sediment and poured. Fresh and pure aromatically and on the palate, a wine of grace, finesse, balance, and pure joy. Not a powerful wine, not a lot of stuffing, served with duck breast and rhubarb sauce, and this might have been too much for the wine. I'd go more delicate next time with food, even simpler. The wine is absolutely lovely and typical of place, and there's nothing to …

1979 vintage

Great

1979 vintage

Olga Raffault Vertical (Cherry Circle Room) : Nose: The nose is highly perfumed and intoxicating with dried red cherries, tobacco, raspberries, earth tones, leather, herbs, and rose petals. Taste: Medium bodied with medium+ acidity and medium tannins. The structure is a little past it as the acidity and tannins are somewhat drying. But, the feel is pretty and understated with dried red cherries, raspberries, tobacco, earth tones, and rose petals. Overall: This was a real treat. It is fully mature …

1979 vintage

Fill level to bottom of neck. Seepage nearly to the top of the cork. Poured semi transparent. Heavy aromas of mushrooms that carried through to the palate. Medium brightness, very fine tannin.

1979 vintage

Olga Raffault Les Picasses - Past & Present Tasting (New York, NY) : Library release bottle. Stood up for 24 hours prior to serving. Fill level was to the bottom of the neck. Cork was intact with seepage about halfway up. Black charcoal looking substance (assume dried wine) under foil on top of cork. Slow ox'd for 1 hour prior to tasting. Color was brownish red - but clear not cloudy. Heavy sediment at bottom of bottle. On the nose …

1979 vintage

decanted and served immediately, which was the right decision, as this was gorgeous, but also immediately rewarding and without the stuffing to last more than the 45 minutes that it did. Graphite. Very pure and elegant, great balance, red and dark fruit, green vegetal notes, more graphite. Perfect harmony. Lovely wine, hard to imagine what more one could want from an almost 40 year old Loire Cab Franc.

1979 vintage

Lovely aged wine, surprised at how much fruit there still is in this one. Maybe even younger than the '87 that we had last weekend. Good fruit, plum, prune, a bit leafy, very nice wine.

1979 vintage

BYO (Birkerød) : Overall a very impressive wine which shows that Loire wines can age gracefully. There was still fruit left but overall lacked a little depth and aftertaste. It was served blind and everyone were guessing classic Bdx, most likely Right bank due to the dark mellow fruit. Very impressive wine!

1979 vintage

PnP and rested in glass for 30 mins: very elegant wine that does not show its age, despite the moderate sediment, bricking, and transparent garnet color. On the nose, candied fruit, anise, stewed vegetables, Australian licorice. On the palate, sweet balsamic covered strawberry, cranberry, fig, prune, cedar, speck, flint, black tea, cigar box, and sweetart. Finish is long and medium body. It does not show 36 years of age at all!

1979 vintage

This bottle had some issues with VA and cork taint. While not catastrophic, elected to not proceed with the bottle. Nose had some substance, and was notably lighter (more red raspberry and light cherry) than the 77 with more subdued spices. Palate not worthy to fully judge.

1979 vintage

While this wine has a nice rich nose with hints of graphite, on the palate it is thin, acidic, and past its prime. It was still okay to drink and might have been better with food, but it pales in comparison to other vintages of this wine.

1979 vintage

Very light red with amber edges, first impression is of a light bodied, ethereal pinot noir. Nose of red fruits, especially wild strawberres and some raspberries. After about half hour, some secondary aromas emerged, but the nose is still very primary for a 35 year old wine. On the mouth, the wine is weightless, silky and very resolved, with correct acidity and a bit diluted and medium finish. Quite surprising, delicious medium weight wine and very young for its age. …

1979 vintage

Pleasant, light & simple. Some fruit, good acidity. Light and pleasant tanins. Medium finish. Would not buy again for $15, but enjoyed it well enough.

1999 vintage

Beautiful wine from start to finish, light to medium bodied, evolved. On nose raspberry, leather, earth, petrol, layers. In mouth sappy core, ashy finish, sweet. Two stars.

1999 vintage

Are you sure?

Olga Raffault, Chinon, Les Picasses

Vintages

No vintages

Community Reviews