Benjamin Gras assembles the blend from parcels across four communes: Vacqueyras
and that savory depth that separates serious wine from crowd-pleasing fruit juice
the kind of aged Portuguese red that overdelivers
Expect perfumed Nebbiolo elegance over a serious tannic frame
Olga Raffault, Chinon Les Picasses, 2009 SO0422_Reductions Benjamin Gras assembles the blendOlga Raffault is one of the most famous names in Chinon, one of France's great Cabernet Franc appellations, and Les Picasses is one of the Loire's finest vineyards, a south facing slope of clay over limestone tuffeau. The family farms organically, ferments with native yeast, and ages long in foudres, producing a Chinon built to age for decades. This is the 2009, a warm, ripe vintage, now a back vintage bottle from a private cellar that is entering a