Olga Raffault, 2015 Chinon ‘Les Picasses’
Cab Franc du Jour #72
Domaine Olga Raffault has been farming vines on the Véron Peninsula in Chinon for five generations. Les Picasses is one of three single-vineyard wines the estate produces across two communes. Les Barnabés, featured in a previous post, is in Savigny-en-Véron, while Les Peuilles and Les Picasses are both in the neighbouring commune of Beaumont-en-Véron.
The Commune of Beaumont-en-Véron
The Véron Peninsula is a small triangle of land on the north side, or right bank, of the Vienne River where its mouth meets the Loire. Three communes make up this area: Savigny-en-Véron, Avoine, and Beaumont-en-Véron. Savigny-en-Véron and Avoine share broadly similar terroirs, with mostly flat vineyards and homogeneous soils composed of deep, sandy ancient alluvium over a Cenomanian-era limestone bedrock.
Beaumont-en-Véron is considerably more complex. At Avoine, a geological fault has exposed a different bedrock and altered the topography of the neighbouring commune. In the centre of Beaumont-en-Véron, around the village itself, there is significant variability in elevation, exposure, and soil type. Rolling hills extend toward Chinon to the east, with elevations ranging from as little as 34m to nearly 80m above sea level in some areas, producing a wide variety of aspects depending on the vineyard’s position. Some sites here are on deep ancient alluvium with a mix of sand, silt, clay, and gravel, while others have a stronger influence from the tuffeau chalk bedrock, either Upper Turonian yellow tuffeau or Middle Turonian white tuffeau, with shallower soils and higher proportions of clay and chalk pebbles in the topsoil.
In the northern part of the commune, where Les Picasses is located, a distinct pocket of vineyards appears roughly 3km north of the Vienne River. In this zone there are no alluvial soils at all, only the Turonian tuffeau chalk bedrock, and elevations are somewhat less variable than in the central part of the commune.
Les Picasses
The lieu-dit of Les Picasses spans approximately 24 hectares and is home to parcels owned by several vignerons, so it is not a monopole. However, the Raffault family holds 7 hectares here, making them the largest single stakeholder, and their bottling is widely regarded as the benchmark expression of the vineyard.
Their parcels are concentrated in the western part of the lieu-dit, with the majority of the vines on a full south-facing slope. Because the site is set well back from the Vienne River, Sylvie explained that the growing season here is extended and more gradual than at sites closer to the water, and these vines are typically among the last to achieve full phenolic ripeness and the last to be harvested. The bedrock is the Upper Turonian yellow tuffeau chalk, and the topsoil is a mix of sand and clay with moderate stoniness in some parcels. The vines average around 35 years of age.
In the Cellar
The fruit is hand-picked and fully destemmed. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel with approximately 30 days of skin maceration and some pigeage throughout. For the 2015 vintage, aging was done in 50hl oak foudres for about one year before bottling. The family practices extended bottle aging at the domaine before release, and the 2015, along with the 2016 vintage, represents the estate’s current releases.
Wine Details
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%