Olga Raffault Chinon Les Picasses 2011
The 2011 Olga Raffault Chinon Les Picasses is a red wine from the Chinon appellation in the Loire Valley, produced by Olga Raffault. This Les Picasses cuvée is made from 100% Cabernet Franc. The Wine Advocate awards it 91/100 and recommends drinking from 2024 to 2031. The publication describes an elegant and concentrated wine with expressions of red and black fruits, accompanied by earthy and vegetal nuances, featuring fine tannins and a finish of ripe red cherry.
La bouteille proposée
- Size
- Bottle (75cl)
- Packaging
- Loose
- Label Condition
- Perfect
- Fill Level
- Perfect
- Capsule Condition
- Perfect
Identité du vin
- Couleur
- Red
- Pays
- France
- Région
- Loire
- Appellation
- Chinon
- Producteur / Domaine
- Olga Raffault
- Cuvée
- Les Picasses
- Millésime
- 2011
Cépage et assemblage
- Grape Variety
- 100% Cabernet Franc
Olga Raffault
Domaine Olga Raffault is a family-run estate in Savigny-en-Véron, within the Chinon appellation, between the Loire and the Vienne rivers. Passed down through five generations, it is now run by Sylvie Raffault and her husband Éric de la Vigerie, together with their son Arnaud. The vineyard, covering around 25 hectares, mainly produces Cabernet Franc wines, as well as white Chinon wines made from Chenin.
- Owner
- Sylvie Raffault et Éric de la Vigerie
- Maître de chais
- Éric de la Vigerie
- Surface (ha)
- 25.00 ha
Histoire du domaine
The Raffault family has owned the estate since 1920, according to the Guide Hachette des Vins. Pierre and Olga Raffault developed the estate together until Pierre’s sudden death in 1947. Now a widow and mother of two children, Olga Raffault continued to run the estate during that vintage. She was assisted by Ernest Zeinninger, a German prisoner of war employed on the estate at the end of the Second World War. He remained at the estate and mentored Jean Raffault, Olga’s son, as he learnt the trade of winemaking. Jean Raffault subsequently ensured the estate’s continuity alongside his wife Irma. In the early 2000s, Sylvie Raffault, Jean’s daughter and Olga’s granddaughter, took over the estate with her husband Éric de la Vigerie. Éric de la Vigerie, who trained for several years alongside Jean Raffault after an initial career in finance, is directly involved in the winemaking process. Their son, Arnaud de la Vigerie, also works on the estate. The estate now produces red, rosé and white Chinon wines, primarily from the gravelly, clay-siliceous and clay-limestone soils of Le Véron.
Les Picasses
Les Picasses is a single-parcel red Chinon from the eponymous limestone terroir. The estate vinifies it to achieve a structured frame and ages it partially or entirely in foudres to refine its tannins. It is distinguished by its significant ageing potential.
- Origin of the cuvée name
- The cuvée takes its name from the wine-growing lieu-dit Les Picasses, in Beaumont-en-Véron, whose limestone soils it expresses.
- Cuvée creation year
- 1983
- Style of the cuvée
- A dense, structured, and tannic red Chinon in its youth, crafted for long-term cellaring. Over time, its profile generally evolves towards black fruits, cocoa, licorice, and spices, with a persistent vinosity.
- Position within the range
- An emblematic, long-ageing single-parcel cuvée, ranking among the estate's main red references.
Histoire de la cuvée
Under the influence of oenologist Jacques Puisais, producers began featuring Les Picasses on their labels as a parcel identity. The Chinon wine trade body documents an Olga Raffault label from the 1983 vintage, the oldest bottling under this name it has recorded.
