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>
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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 />
<br />
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>
Article
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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