Olga Raffault, 2008 Chinon 'Les Picasses'
No.49 | What's In My Glass
The holidays are a time for reflection in my world, and there is one wine in particular that means a great deal to me, and that is the Les Picasses from Chinon’s Olga Raffault. While this wasn’t the wine that initiated my love of Cabernet Franc, it was the wine that made me decide definitively to launch Cab Franc Chronicles. It was a bottle of the 1982 vintage that I enjoyed back in 2017 while on a brief visit to New York City. I knew in that moment that I needed to share this obsession I have with this grape in a more serious way. Since then, I have had numerous bottlings of Olga Raffault’s Les Picasses, young and old, warm vintages, cool vintages, and everything in between, and it has remained my North Star ever since.
Chinon has a wealth of exceptional vineyards, but Les Picasses is among a small handful that have been elevated to “grand cru” status by the Chinon AOC. Located in Beaumont-en-Véron, the vineyard is situated on the côte, just outside the village itself. About one third…