Olga Raffault, 2015 Chinon ‘Les Picasses’
Continuing on our exploration of some of the communes in Chinon with a little more detail, today's wine is coming from a "grand cru" level vineyard produced by one the appellation's benchmark estates.
Domaine Olga Raffault has been farming vines on the Véron Peninsula in Chinon for 5 generations. The Les Picasses is one of 3 single vineyard wines they make in two different communes. Les Barnabés which we looked at in a previous video is in Savigny-en-Véron, and Les Peuilles and Les Picasses are both in the neighbouring commune of Beaumont-en-Véron.
There are three communes that make up the Véron Peninsula, is this little triangle of land where the mouth of the Vienne River meets the Loire River on the north side, or right bank of the Vienne. There are three communes that make up this area: Savigny-en-Véron, Avoine and Beaumont-en-Véron. There are a lot of similarities between the vineyard terroirs of Savigny-en-Véron and Avoine, these vineyards are mostly flat, with the soils here being fairly homogeneous comprised of deep, sandy ancient alluvium atop the Cenomanian era limestone bedrock.
However, the lay of the land in Beaumont-en-Véron is quite a bit different. At Avoine, there is a fault, which exposed a different bedrock and as well as changed the topography of this commune. In the centre of the commune, around the village-centre of Beaumon-en-Véron, there is a lot of variability in terms of elevation, exposures and soils. Here we have some rolling hills that continue towards the village of Chinon to the east, and the elevation can range from as little as 34m to upwards to nearly 80m in some areas. And with the changes in elevation, we will also have different exposures depending on where the vineyard is located.
And in terms of soils, we have some sites that are deep, ancient alluvium with a mix of sand, silt, clay and gravel in some parcels. But we also have vineyards that have more of an influence of the tuffeau chalk bedrock, which can be the upper Turonian yellow tuffeau or middle Turonian white tuffeau, with shallower soils, and a higher percentage of clay and chalk pebbles in the topsoil.
Now, in the northern part of the commune where Les Picasses is located where there is another pocket of vineyards. In this part of the commune, about 3km north of the Vienne River, there is no alluvial soils, and only the Turonian tuffeau chalk bedrock, and the elevation is a little less variable.
So, looking at Les Picasses specifically. This lieu-dit spans about 24 hectares, and there are a number of vignerons that have parcels here, so it is not a monopole site for Olga Raffault. However, the family does have 7 hectares here, and have the largest holding of any vignerons. And their bottling of Les Picasses is widely regarded as the benchmark expression of this vineyard. Their parcels are concentrated in the western part of the lieu-dit, with the majority of their vines on a full south facing slope. Because we are set back quite a ways from the Vienne, Sylvie explained to me that the growing season is extended here and more gradual, so these vines are often the last to achieve full phenolic ripeness and are the last to be picked. In terms of soils, the bedrock is the Upper Turonian yellow tuffeau, and the topsoil is a mix of sand and clay, with a moderate stoniness in some parts. Their vines are about 35 years on average.
From a winemaking perspective, the fruit was all hand-picked and destemmed. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel, with a maceration on skins of about 30 days, with some pigéage during that time. For the 2015, aging was done in 50hl oak foudres for about one year before bottling. Now the family opts to do long bottle aging prior to release, and this vintage along with I believe the 2016 vintage as well, are current releases from the estate.
Key wine facts below:
Producer: Olga Raffault
Appellation: Chinon
Commune: Beaumont-en-Véron
Lieu-Dit: Les Picasses
Soil: Clay and sand, with chalk pebbles, on the upper Turonian yellow tuffeau bedrock
Alcohol: 12.5%
