producer profile
28.06.2019
Domaine Olga Raffault Producer Profile
<p>Since Olga's death,<strong> </strong>Domaine Olga Raffault is currently run by her granddaughter Sylvie and her husband Eric de la Vigerie.</p>
<p>The <glossary title="427">estate</glossary> has terrific <glossary title="1133">plots</glossary> of land in the <glossary title="931">Savigny-en-Véron</glossary> district, right by the <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1395">Vienne riverbanks</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The "Les Picasses" vineyard stands out from the rest: <glossary title="740">old vines</glossary> of 50-ish years on a fairly steep slope from the riverbank that is <glossary title="93">alluvial</glossary> <glossary title="301">clay</glossary> with a <glossary title="266">chalk</glossary> <glossary title="596">limestone</glossary> base. The fruit is particularly expressive of cassis and dark cherries with a terrific <glossary title="662">mineral</glossary> content and good <glossary title="71">acidity</glossary> for <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="990">structure</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> <br />
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The winemaking is most traditional. The grapes are, of course, <glossary title="520">handpicked</glossary> and <glossary title="441">fermented</glossary> in <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="986">stainless-steel</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The wines are then <glossary title="74">aged</glossary> in larger, <glossary title="716">neutral</glossary> <glossary title="731">oak</glossary> and sometimes <glossary title="1206">chestnut</glossary> - a traditional <glossary title="1126">wood</glossary> <glossary title="142">barrel</glossary> in the region. The "Picasses" spends two to three years in <span class="zalup"><span> <glossary title="731">oak</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> to reduce the wine and soften the <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1010">tannins</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> and is usually released about four years after the <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1109">vintage</glossary><span>.</span></span></span><br />
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Raffault’s "les Picasses" often has a light garnet color belying the depth of fruit flavor and complexity. Its style is rustic, quite earthy, with hints of orange zest and deep, dark cherry flavor. The <glossary title="1010">tannins</glossary> are soft, but present, and the mineral complexity in the finish is superb. Over the years, it has gained cult status as one of the benchmark expressions of <glossary title="288">Chinon</glossary>'s <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1026">terroir</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> <br />
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The <glossary title="427">estate</glossary> makes two more <glossary title="363">cuvées</glossary> of red, "Les Barnabés" and "Les Peuilles", as well as limited <glossary title="288">Chinon Blanc</glossary> called "Champ-Chenin".</p>
Article
harvest report
03.12.2024
2024 Harvest Report from Domaine Olga Raffault
<p>2024 was complicated climactically. We harvested many grapes affected by mildew, as we had too much rain and not enough sun. </p>
<p>Harvest started on October 2nd with the Chenin for Champ Chenin under cool but dry weather. The following day we picked the Chenin in Les Picasses in perfect health. On October 4th we began with the Cabernet destined to make rosé, which today consist of our youngest vines in the Bourg of Savigny: they have been farmed organically for four years and our neighbor does not want to vinify them.</p>
<p>On October 7th, the weather began to clear up and we harvested the Cabernet from sandy soils, picking for a week straight until we got to Les Picasses. We wrapped up on October 18th. Eric and Arnaud can confirm the rosé is very aromatic and textural, but for the rest it's a little early to judge. </p>
<p><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//1027/89/36/8936fe6daef354c4baa817447f3805f4.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//1027/ad/7d/ad7d9e19a71d218a318fffe9e441cb4c.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//1027/2b/eb/2bebb6e04700d7600bbb76062271dcda.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//1027/f0/b2/f0b2e03fd931089aa37a855b6ef469b1.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//1027/77/36/773640b4bb3b308f21e325f4067c0cd8.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//1027/21/4e/214e663bc437551d407dda946a46729a.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//1027/ba/65/ba6507dc1494d04569f3ec6332c6eef5.jpg" /></p>
Article
harvest report
04.01.2023
2023 Harvest Report from Sylvie de la Vigerie
<p>2023 was relatively smooth for us. We had a bit of <glossary term="Mildew" title="1137">mildew</glossary> pressure in the <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcels</glossary> in Savigny, particularly on the <glossary term="Sand" title="909">sandy</glossary> sectors but also a bit on Les Peuilles. Otherwise the vines were in top shape. </p>
<p>We began <glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvesting</glossary> on Tuesday, September 19th under beautiful weather conditions. We started with the <span class="zalup"><span> <glossary term="Chenin Blanc" title="281">Chenin</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> then the <glossary term="Cabernet Franc" title="216">Cabernets</glossary> for the <span class="zalup"><span> <glossary term="Rosé/Rosato" title="871">rosé</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The following week, we continued with Les Barnabés to end on October 5th under a summer-esque sun in Les Picasses. </p>
<p>We have natural <glossary term="alcoholic potential" title="1381">alcoholic potentials</glossary> between 12% and 13% and are very happy with this.</p>
<p><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//1001/bb/2e/bb2e2b2fea3b90d0fad807d818d75d89.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//1001/94/ef/94efbf270b94f01ab4a3858e5307bc9b.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//1001/8b/31/8b31c429438b7c66a70a5eb94ca86afe.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//1001/01/14/01143f4bf63a9467bff6abee61156096.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//1001/ff/7c/ff7c387e53ae43a76e5a279ce6eb8af0.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//1001/eb/31/eb3148f55cd79cf4ecf609cfad411813.jpg" /></p>
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harvest report
26.12.2022
2022 Harvest Report from Eric de la Vigerie
<p>In 2022, we were mostly spared from things. First was <glossary term="Frost" title="1135">frost</glossary> because of our choice to start <glossary term="Pruning" title="834">pruning</glossary> later. Then an episode of <glossary term="Hail" title="1136">hail</glossary> that damaged roofs more than vines and finally a desperately long period of summer heat and <glossary term="Drought" title="1167">drought</glossary> that was saved by some rain in early September! </p>
<p>I'd say it's a <glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintage</glossary> where you can feel the sun in the glass. We had solid <glossary term="Yield" title="1129">yields</glossary> of about 40<glossary term="hl/ha" title="528">hl/ha</glossary> with wines that are showing to be rich and fleshy with balanced <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Maturation" title="639">maturities</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> We had very quick <glossary term="Malolactic Fermentation" title="622">malolactic fermentations</glossary> due to the moderate amount of <glossary term="Acidity" title="71">acidity</glossary> in the grapes, making for a beautiful <glossary term="Cabernet Franc" title="216">Cabernet Franc</glossary> with high but very well integrated alcohol. </p>
<p><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//960/47/53/4753ae9f48aa2dfc2a054c50cf0e699d.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//960/b3/0e/b30e4c0071d6ece46d6cf3896da2a1c1.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//960/a4/bb/a4bbdc7b849450d40f6b3c61a63496cf.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//960/b8/a0/b8a03c87b53e371f1720d27c4e94ff23.jpg" /></p>
Article
harvest report
12.09.2018
2018 Harvest Report from Sylvie de la Vigerie
<p>We had great weather the entire <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="521">harvest</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> We began on September 20th with the <glossary title="281">Chenin</glossary> over two days. On Monday the 24th, we started picking around <glossary term="Savigny-en-Véron" title="931">Savigny</glossary> for the <glossary title="871">rosé</glossary> in order to maintain freshness. From the the 25th to the 27th we harvested the <glossary title="909">sandy</glossary> soils, followed by Les Barnabés and ended in Les Peuilles and Les Picasses in early October. The <glossary title="1138">bunches</glossary> were well <glossary title="73">aerated</glossary> and very healthy (see the attached photos.)</p>
<p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Sep_16//bc/79/bc792f62aafb2b3e9fd38c3dbffa0440.jpg" /></p>
<p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Sep_16//6e/a5/6ea5cbfc6a339334259f575764b5eef3.jpg" /></p>
<p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Sep_16//48/29/4829bc2cea9c8c2bd1184687738e3588.jpg" /></p>
<p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Sep_16//97/c2/97c2c09c8a51039752b2a69122fe3490.jpg" /></p>
<p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Sep_16//45/27/45276eb8ba72c2be28e22cd0712ec29c.jpg" /></p>
<p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Sep_16//cd/22/cd220ce9b19e9aef79378fdbac62bd9a.jpg" /></p>
Article
harvest report
15.09.2011
2011 Harvest Report by Sylvie de la Vigerie
<p><u><strong>September 15th and 26th, 2011:</strong></u></p>
<p>We began <glossary title="521">harvesting</glossary> on Wednesday under the sun. We started with the <glossary title="281">Chenin</glossary> then moved on to the Poplinière. We finished our <glossary title="520">hand harvest</glossary> on the 26th. Here are some photos.</p>
<p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Sep_25//0b/a4/0ba4b57ea9c5285e1463613bdf48166f.jpg" /></p>
<p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Sep_25//7e/36/7e3696aa73418d5f44df619fd0e0152d.jpg" /></p>
<p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Sep_25//82/cc/82cc45660b7afb7d3e3a446c607d17c2.jpg" /></p>
<p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Sep_25//01/7f/017f76913d93e2a3d3f119c5286b7523.jpg" /></p>
<p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Sep_25//c6/ea/c6ea0fed16892b453b9fb527c7b1aa8f.jpg" /></p>
<p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Sep_25//cf/5e/cf5e8f3634d1d30a1f1b2215c095d96a.jpg" /></p>
Article
harvest report
03.10.2006
2006 Harvest Report from Sylvie de la Vigerie
<p><u><strong>October 3rd, 2006:</strong></u></p>
<p>Well we started the <glossary title="521">harvest</glossary> Saturday, September 23rd and we had a great group of 30 harvesters.<br />
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In July, there was plenty of heat, in August, rain. Bad weather was announced for September and the rains came on the 15th. Since this could reduce the <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="71">acidity</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> we decided to begin early.<br />
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The good weather returned and we <glossary title="521">harvested</glossary> well. At a degree of 12.5 with natural sugars. The <glossary title="521">harvest</glossary> is really beautiful and I’ve sent some pictures along (<strong>ed note:</strong> these photos have been lost along the years).<br />
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2006 will be another pretty <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1109">vintage</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> perhaps with youthful <glossary title="1010">tannin</glossary> in the forefront but a wine to age.<br />
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We are about to finish this afternoon before the rain announced for 5:00pm.<br />
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All’s well.</p>
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harvest report
22.09.2005
2005 Harvest Report from Sylvie de la Vigerie
<p><u><strong>September 22nd, 2005:</strong></u></p>
<p>A heat wave in June resulted in an early blossoming with a good amount of space between the flowers.<br />
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That in turn led to an early ripening with nicely spread out <span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1138">bunches</glossary><span>.</span></span></span><br />
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The lack of rain allowed for small <glossary title="1129">yields</glossary> and good concentration.<br />
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The amount of sunshine and the high temperatures lead us to predict that our 2005 wines will have superb color, beautiful aromas and a good degree of potential alcohol.<br />
<glossary title="71"></glossary></p>
<p><glossary title="71">Acidity</glossary> levels look good too – so one could also believe that this <glossary title="1109">vintage</glossary> will have an exceptional capacity for <glossary title="74">aging</glossary> well.<br />
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The <glossary title="521">harvest</glossary> will start on Monday, September 26th.<br />
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Today it’s still really beautiful and dry.</p>
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