Chateau Rayas is one of the most original Chateauneufs being made in.. eh.. Chateauneuf. I once had the pleasure to drink this mythic wine (the 1999) and it’ s one of my great winememories (thank you Marc DW). Very charmed by the lightness (not only of the color), fraicheur and yet huge complexity of this wine, I searched for bottles with the same qualities but at a smaller pricetag. Believe it or not, in contrast with mister Bono, I DID found what I was looking for! I’d say more, the first time I drunk the Cotes du Rhone from Chateau des Tours, the only thing I could think was: “ hmm, this must be Rayas in an other bottle…” Not THAT surprising, because Chateau des Tours is made by the same team of winemakers and is propriety of… Emmanuel Reynaud, winemaker at Rayas! The wine has luscious aroma’ s of red fruits (strawberry) and spices. The mouthfeel is fresh, juicy, and beautifully balanced. I served this Des Tours 2005 (70%grenache + counoise and cinsault) several times and everybody who tasted this wine, with no single exception, was impassioned and asked for more, more more.
Chateau des Tours also makes a fabulous vin de pays, which has the same character but somewhat less complexity. An incredible bargain at 8,70€ (Grandry)
The third wine on the picture is La pialade, which is in fact the third wine of Chateau Rayas (Fonsalette being the second) and which is made by the grapes that didn’ t make it to Rayas or Fonsalette. Parker is not that enthousiast about the 2005 (86) , but in my opinion he seriously underrated this wine. The Rhone got 91, The Vdp 89.
Look out for these wines, you won’ t be dissapointed.
Talking about a coincidence... Up untill now, I only tasted the Dom. Des Tours Vdp de Vaucluse. I really loved, it is indeed a wine with bright freshness, red fruit and spicyness. It is really the spicyness in it that I enjoyed a lot. By the way, I call it spicyness but I'm quite frustrated not being able to smell/taste which spice it actually is (even after some kitchen research)... Jo, help!
BeantwoordenVerwijderenYesterday with Bruno we definitely found liquorice (zoethout) en clove (zou kruidnagel moeten zijn ;-), Maybe some white pepper...
BeantwoordenVerwijderenClove was also one of my guesses! Maybe a stupid question, but I assume licqourice/"zoethout" is not the same as "drop" ("drop" I know, "zoethout" not...)?
BeantwoordenVerwijderen@vinejo
BeantwoordenVerwijderenCongrats with this new site and lots of success and tasting pleasure. Concerning your last post, I had the impression that Ch. Fonsalette was not the second wine of Rayas but the main wine from a different domain than Rayas (owned by the proprietors of Rayas and vinified at the Rayas estate). It should be situated in the north of the city of Orange in the small village Lagarde-Paréol.
@nco
I always try to differentiate between "zoethout" and "drop" as follows: van die zwarte, ronde Belga snoepen -> dat is drop; de zogenaamde kalissiestokken die je vroeger in de snoepwinkel kon kopen -> dat is zoethout. Van drop in mijn wijn ga ik lopen, zoethout daarentegen kan ik echt wel appreciëren.
@pvo
BeantwoordenVerwijderenThx for the interesting supplement and the answer on Nico' s question.
Looking for good deal Cote du Rhone? Check out Domaine des Côteaux des Travers: a cairanne (CdR Village) for 11€ something (Parker91-93) and a Rasteau Cuvee Prestige (CdR Village) for 14€95 (Parker 90-92)
BeantwoordenVerwijderen(bij historicwines.be)
Importer for Belgium seems to be Wijnhandel Boutelegier in Assebroek (Brugge) where you can get the Chateau des Tours Vin de Pays 2005 for 7.95€ and the Chateau des Tours Côte du Rhône 2005 for 12.95€
BeantwoordenVerwijderenVinejo goes international!
Huh??? that 's a lot cheaper then I payed them at Grandry!
BeantwoordenVerwijderenI thought he had the best prices for every reference...(at least thats what he claims)
He ' s got something to explain there...
Yep, sorry mate.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenAs a purchaser you regularly have to check the prices at several suppliers to keep being sure that you have an honest/the best price :-)
@ PVO: thanks. Can you still buy this zoethout in a regular supermarket? Didn't find it yet...
BeantwoordenVerwijderen@nco
BeantwoordenVerwijderenQuite frankly, I don't have a clue. Haven't seen it in supermarkets and the old candy shops of my childhood have all perished since long. Maybe still available in the small (nearly extinct) drugstore (drogisterij). If you're living not far from the Dutch border -> probably easier to find over there.