Château de Rayne-Vigneau: Tasting & Drinking
When I first wrote of Château de Rayne-Vigneau I made comment upon the obvious improvements in the wines, when comparing older vintages with those from the Cordier-Mestrezat era. But in more recent times there is even greater cause for confidence, as the determined, energetic and enthusiastic Anne Le Naour raised standards here at Château de Rayne-Vigneau, just as she did at Château Grand-Puy-Ducasse and Château Meyney, the other Crédit Agricole Grands Crus domaines.
Certainly in some of the more recent vintages, specifically the very favourable triumvirate of 2009, 2010 and 2011, the wines were hugely convincing. In terms of quality they already feel superior to the wines of the Cordier-Mestrezat era, even when comparing to more impressive vintages such as 1986 and 2003. And the sale of the estate in 2015 does not seem to have knocked it immediately off course; good wines in 2013 and 2014 were matched by those in 2015 and 2016. Some more recent years have perhaps not been so strong, but the vintages were not always as easy as they might have at first seemed. The best among them was 2017, but I would not turn up my nose at 2018, 2019 or 2020.
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