Wine Jean-Maurice Raffault, "Les Picasses", Chinon AOC, 2013
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Grape varieties:
Cabernet Franc: 100%
Tasting Notes
The wine is dark ruby color.
The taste of wine is strong, intense, complex, with rich, but silky tannins and pleasant acidity, shades of bitter almonds, red fruits and spices.
A very rich aroma of wine reveals shades of minerals and cherries, notes of spices and red berries.
The wine is well combined with dishes from red meat and game, rooster in wine, mature cheeses.
Interesting Facts
"Les Picasses" is a red wine with a very intense taste and aroma, which will reach its fullness after several years of additional aging. The wine is made from Cabernet Franc grapes grown on a plot of 6 hectares on the clay-limestone plateau "Puys du Chinonais", which is a small hills overlooking the valley of the River Vienna and many windmills erected until the XIX century. Once this area was called "Fief de la rue Saints-Pères" and in the 15th century belonged to the lord of the Gardens. Even then more than 6 hectares of vineyards were broken here.
In the manufacture of "Le Picass" , fermentation and malolactic fermentation in oak barrels from 3 to 10 years old are used, after which the wine is aged in them on a thin sediment for 12-18 months.
Producer's description
The winery, which today bears the name Jean-Maurice Raffault , was founded in 1693, when the ancestor of the current owners - Maturen Bottro - bought his first vineyards. The heyday of the winery came in the early 70-ies of the XX century, when Jean-Maurice Raffo came to manage the family economy. He was a significant figure in the winemaking appellation Chinon. Violating local practices, he refuses initially mixed agriculture to concentrate on viticulture and initiates changes that immediately affect the winemaking of the region as a whole. In 1973, he had only 4.5 hectares of vineyards out of 9 hectares left to him by his father. Jean-Maurice was able to expand his holdings to 50 hectares, while acquiring only the best land. More importantly, he begins to make wines from the harvests from each plot, not mixing them to preserve the typical characteristics of the terroir. Then, to highlight the different qualities of the grapes in accordance with the soil on which they are grown, Jean-Maurice gives the name to each site, which no one before him in Chinon did! This innovative idea for that time today has become a tradition, and it is adhered to by almost all winemakers Chinon.
In 1997, Jean-Maurice was joined by Rodolphe's son, who received an oenological education in Dijon. Rodolphe "returns" to the winery the process of apple-milk fermentation in barrels, very rare in Chinon. To do this, he buys new oak barrels, and also uses old 10-year barrels. As a result, 900 barrels are placed in the basement of the winery, which represents the largest number in the appellation. In 2009, Jean-Maurice died, and today Rodolphe adequately continues the work of his ancestors.
