1998 Chateau Rayas Vertical: 2005-2010

Magnum served blind. Absolutely glorious. Extremely sweet and rich. Very flattering and obviously mature. Lightly sandy texture and strong tamarind notes. Jewel-bright fruit that is much more direct in its appeal than the Beaucastel 1983 served immediately before it. Over time became grainer and developed some brown-sugar notes. Pure pleasure. (JR)

Retail price in 2006 when The Sampler opened was £150. Pale ruby. Tasted just after the Rousseau and the nose is really not dissimilar! Sweet, macerated rose petals. Then on the palate it is much denser and still with some tannins in evidence. Rich but transparent. Light years from a young current Châteauneuf. Much more lifted. Is this the whole-bunch effect? Certainly there is no shortage of acidity. Long. Vibrates with life. Edge of fennel. Brilliant and gorgeous now. (JR)

The 1998 Rayas has sweet kirsch liqueur notes, the color is disturbingly light, which doesn’t normally bother me, but there is also burgeoning orange and rust at the edge. The wine is medium to full-bodied, displays loads of cedar, loamy soil notes, balsam wood, pepper, and garrigue. There is nothing wrong with this wine, and if you haven’t had any of the really great vintages of Rayas (1981, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1995), readers would probably think it’s a super wine. However, I have had great ones, and drink them quite frequently, so for me this is just a good, not profound Rayas. Moreover, I think it needs to be consumed over the next 5-7 years before it loses any intensity. I have never been a big fan of the wines from Rayas in 1998, the first top vintage controlled by Emmanuel Reynaud after the death of his uncle, Jacques Reynaud. As a postscript, having visited here every year for at least two decades, Emmanuel Reynaud hit his stride with Rayas by 2001, and produced awesome wines in 2005 and 2007.