Les Picasses

In the glass

Aroma: dried red cherry, leather, forest floor, iron

Palate: red plum, tobacco, dried herb, savoury length

A clay-limestone single vineyard that has produced Raffault's library-aged flagship since the 1940s. Released only after long bottle age, it shows leather, dried fruit and tertiary forest-floor depth.

What it pairs with

• Roast partridge with bread sauce
  Mature game bird and the wine's tertiary leather and dried-fruit register are aligned.
• Beef bourguignon
  Long-cooked beef and a wine reduction echo the wine's forest-floor and dried-herb notes.
• Aged Mimolette
  Hard cow's-milk cheese sharpens the wine's iron and savoury length.
• Wild mushroom and truffle tart
  Earthy fungi mirror the forest-floor evolution; truffle picks up the leather note.

History

Olga Raffault founded the domaine in 1947 and her grand-daughter Sylvie now leads it. Les Picasses comes from clay-limestone parcels at Savigny-en-Veron, with library releases of 10 to 20 year-old wines unusually still on offer at the domaine.

1. 1947: Olga Raffault establishes the domaine
2. 1995: Sylvie Raffault joins her grandmother

Facts

Producer

Domaine Olga Raffault · visiting guide

Grapes

Cabernet Franc (100%)

Classification

Chinon AOC

Oak

18 months in large old oak foudres, no new oak

ABV

12.5%

Price

EUR 24 to 36 at retail

Drinking window

10 to 30 from vintage

First vintage

1947

Frequently asked about Les Picasses

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