Rayas
Château Rayas is one of the Rhone's most legendary wineries. The winery is located in the heart of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. When Albert lost his hearing at the age of 45, he was more or less forced to quit his job as a notary and look for another profession. He chose nature and bought some vineyards and founded Château Rayas in 1880. His son Louis expanded the property with two more wineries: Château de Fonsalette and Château des Tours. Over the years, the domains have always remained within the family and since 1997, Emmanuel Reynaud, the fourth generation, has been at the helm. He is now in charge of all three wineries.
Château Rayas and Château Fonsalette both comprise just under 10 hectares of vineyards. Château des Tours, on the other hand, is a lot bigger. Indeed, that one covers some 40 hectares. Rayas' terroir consists of very poor sandy soils on which only grenache and clairette are planted. At Fonsalette en des Tours, syrah, merlot, counoise and cinsault are also cultivated. In addition to the poor soil, the terroir is influenced by the large oak and pine trees that surround the vineyards, and furthermore the plots have a north-east exposition which means the vines grow in a relatively cool microclimate. Yields are very low, not exceeding 20hl/ha. All these elements combine to create Rayas' sublime quality.
In the cellar, the bunches are naturally fermented in concrete vats. Then the wines mature for several months in old barrels of French oak. The domains' renowned red wines are: Château Rayas, Pignan, Pialade and Château de Fonsalette, Parisy and Château des Tours. It also produces a white wine based on 50% grenache blanc and 50% clairette. Château Rayas' wines are very exclusive and mainly available on allocation.
With Rayas' very high quality wines, it is not for nothing that the wines are very popular among wine lovers and connoisseurs. The house's legendary vintages are: 1990 and 2009.
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