The 2009 Châteauneuf Du Pape Reserve from Rayas is a beauty that shows the hallmark elegance and complexity of this estate paired with plenty of opulence and sweet fruit. Incredible Provençal notes of kirsch liqueur, herbes de Provence, framboise, and flowery incense all emerge from the glass, and it’s full-bodied, has sweet tannins, and an almost over-the-top personality that’s a joy to drink. It’s impossible to resist today yet will evolve for 25-30 years or more. This comes closest in my mind to the 2007 with its opulent, sexy style.

The 2009 Châteauneuf-du-Pape is the third Rayas to blow our minds. Stunning delineation on the nose, this offers layers of red fruit, menthol, lavender oil and rosemary, the fruit just a notch darker than the 2005 alongside. The palate is perfectly balanced with a hint of Lapsang Souchong, fanning out gloriously towards a finish that shows disarming tenderness and restraint. I am utterly smitten by its elegance. Why are not more Châteauneufs like this?

(basically 100% grenache): Deep red with a bright rim. A kaleidoscopic bouquet evokes red and dark berry preserves, blood orange and lavender, with deeper cherry pit and licorice qualities adding power. Sweet, expansive and pure, offering intense raspberry, bitter cherry and floral pastille flavors supported by a firm spine of acidity. Shows excellent clarity and power on the finish, which is given shape by fine-grained, sweet tannins. I underestimated this wine from barrel last year.

The 2009 Rayas Chateauneuf du Pape currently sits in three separate foudres. I rated one foudre (92-95), the second (94-96) and the third (95-97), so it is certainly going to be a top-flight Rayas that should rank alongside the 2007. Sweet, jammy black raspberry, strawberry and cherry scents along with hints of balsam wood, spice and sandy, loamy soil undertones emerge from this 2009. The floral character of the red and black fruits dominates at present. Powerful yet silky with supple tannins, this multilayered, full-bodied red is remarkably light on its feet for such alcoholic power and richness. It should drink well for 15-20 years. (Not yet released) 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