|
100 Point Rating Guide | ||
|---|---|---|
| 96-100 | Extraordinary | A wine of finesse, complexity, and expression. True to variety and region. Perfect balance of flavors with a long finish. |
| 90-95 | Excellent | True to variety and region, with terrific complexity and balance. While not a wine for the ages, a superior example. |
| 85-89 | Good | Meets your expectations, with sound flavors and balance. Might have limited complexity or be short on the palate. A sound wine. |
| 80-84 | Average | Drinkable, might not have as much varietal character. Simple flavors, no flaws, but nothing special. |
| 75-79 | Below Average | Might contain one flaw, simple straight-forward flavors, off-balance, unpleasant. |
| 60-74 | Undrinkable, Flawed | Contains significant flaws. Unpleasant, not commercially acceptable. |
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1 User Review
Nov 09, 2007
I have this problem now, because I have fallen in love with a $150 wine. Oops.
If I can't buy it, at least I can describe it. I tasted a suite of reds from Chateau Rayas, a top estate in the Southern Rhone. If Southern Rhone wines are considered wild and full-flavored, the Chateau Rayas wines would be the elegant misfits among them. They all have in common flavors of tomato, overripe grapefruit, tarragon, some menthol, and violet.
If it's hard to imagine all those flavors tasting good together (a sort of Bloody Mary gone bad), you'll understand my love for the 2004 Chateauneuf especially when I say: while all the wines we tasted were complex and interesting, this one was perfectly balanced and flawless. It somehow managed to make tomato + citrus + tangy herbs + sweet violet taste like they were always meant to go together. And this from 100% Grenache, aged in 70+ year old barrels that have never been cleaned.
And the finish is like nothing else I've ever had. The tomato and citrus drops out, leaving violet and structured tannins.
