If you read our offers regularly, you have seen the name Olga Raffault quite often. My explanation is simple: the wines are about as good as Cabernet Franc gets.
Cabernet Franc can express itself in many varied ways depending on its’ place of origin, exposure to new oak, and so on. Still, the variety’s most classic expression is in the village of Chinon, France. There are many producers in Chinon but Domaine Olga Raffault has earned a reputation as one of the most outstanding and consistent in the appellation. Raffault has been bottling near perfect wines since the middle of last century. One often sees 10-year verticals of Raffault Chinon gracing the top wine lists in the world, and most sommeliers, wine writers and collectors would agree that this is a bona fide, appellation-defining property. Better yet, the remarkably affordable 2010 vintage is regarded as one of the most outstanding vintages in in the last two decades. While it is just now entering its window for prime drinking and has numerous decades of maturation and improvement in its future, the wine is already gorgeous and delicious straight from the bottle. It’s worth mentioning that Raffault Chinon is also as close to a bankable, “sure thing” investment as exists in wine—once these bottles reach the 15 to 20 year mark, they triple and quadruple in value.

In Paris, London, and almost every metropolitan wine mecca, Raffault is a recognized as a top producer of Chinon. Raffault's traditional style and classic approach are what draw many top sommeliers to the estate’s wines. The grapes at the estate are farmed with no herbicides or pesticides, then hand picked and fermented in whole clusters with no destemming. The resulting wine is transferred to large neutral barrels for aging before bottling with little sulfur. These are deep, savory, perfumed wines hailing from top crus like Les Picasses in the subdistrict of Savigny-en-Véron.  

The 2010 we are offering today is textbook, classic, clean Chinon—this wine paints a perfectly clear picture with no rough edges or “funk” of any kind. The nose is full of character and layered with aromas of black plum, red currants, pomegranate, green tobacco leaf, graphite, gunpowder and white pepper. The wine has medium body, with layers of structure which will soften over time with well integrated savory flavors similar to the nose. Decant this wine a half hour before drinking and serve in Burgundy stems. The floral aspects of the wine seem to work better with Burgundy stems, even though usually Cabernet Franc sees Bordeaux stems. Regardless, you’ll be hard pressed to diminish this wine’s obvious quality and class no matter the stemware you use.  As a companion to this wine I recommend seeking out a fatty, well marbled rack of lamb from your local butcher. Adapt this recipe to your outdoor grill if you have one, and I expect you’ll be thrilled with the results.