2008 Château Rayas Pignan Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve

The light ruby-colored, medium to full-bodied, soft 2008 Pignan Chateauneuf du Pape exhibits a perfume of ground pepper, lavender, Provencal herbs and kirsch. It is ideal for drinking over the next 7-8 years. Rayas has one of the most unusual terroirs in Chateauneuf du Pape with sandy soils and a more northerly oriented exposure. To understand these wines, one must realize that this is a cool-climate terroir in a warm appellation. Emmanuel Reynaud, the nephew of the late Jacques Reynaud, has now been the sole winemaker and administrator here for 13 vintages and he appears to have settled in comfortably. His 2009s have turned out well in this challenging, drought plagued vintage. The white wines are always intriguing. In some vintages they are absolutely spectacular as well as long-lived and in others they are somewhat bizarre with a tendency to oxidize. 2009 appears to be a top-flight year for the whites. I tasted the 2009 reds from an assortment of small barrels, demi-muids and foudres and putting together a score range takes some degree of extrapolation based on seeing all these different component parts. Importer: Martine’s Wines, Novato, CA; tel. (415) 883-0400

Vivid red. Seductively perfumed aromas of raspberry and cherry preserves, potpourri and white pepper, with a sexy note of star anise gaining strength with air. Very fresh, finely etched red fruit flavors show no rough edges. Strikingly pure and focused on the finish, which repeats the floral notes and lingers with alluring spiciness.

The light ruby-colored, medium to full-bodied, soft 2008 Pignan Chateauneuf du Pape exhibits a perfume of ground pepper, lavender, Provencal herbs and kirsch. It is ideal for drinking over the next 7-8 years. Oct 2010, www.robertparker.com