{"product_id":"2007-chateau-rayas-reserve-chateauneuf-du-pape-southern-rhone-france","title":"2007 Chateau Rayas, Reserve, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Southern Rhone, France","description":"\u003cp\u003eChâteau Rayas is the most storied name in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and the reason collectors who swear by pinot noir make an exception for one grenache. The estate sits at the end of an unmarked dirt track outside Courthézon, in the northeastern corner of the appellation, where Albert Reynaud, a notary from Avignon, bought the property in 1880. His son Louis began bottling under the Rayas name in the 1920s, his grandson Jacques ran the estate from 1978 until his death in 1997, and Jacques's nephew Emmanuel Reynaud made the wines from 1997 until his death in November 2025, when his sons took over. The site is one of the strangest in the appellation, and part of why the wines are so often called legendary: the roughly 13 hectares of vines lie on cool, north-facing slopes of pale sand rather than sun-baked galets, ringed by pine and oak forest that shelters them from the mistral, so the fruit ripens slowly and Rayas is routinely among the last estates in the village to harvest. The Réserve is grenache alone, drawn from the three parcels of Le Couchant, Le Levant, and Le Coeur, fermented whole cluster, aged in old foudres and demi-muids that add no flavor of their own, and bottled without fining or filtration after roughly two years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e2007 is the vintage that made Emmanuel Reynaud's reputation on its own terms. A warm, dry summer was followed by weeks of persistent mistral before harvest, which dried and concentrated the grapes while keeping them healthy, and the estate picked a small crop of exceptionally ripe fruit. The Wine Advocate called it the finest Rayas since Jacques Reynaud's 1995 and scored it 98 points.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDarker in the glass than most vintages of Rayas, the 2007 opens with black raspberry, black cherry, and kirsch liqueur, then truffle, licorice, and rose petal. The palate is full-bodied and layered, with sweet tannin and a richness that never turns heavy, closing on crushed sage and a finish that stretches a minute or longer. Drinking beautifully now and built to last through 2035.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Yes Society","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52371607060776,"sku":"AT07RAYAS750","price":1900.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0779\/1794\/6152\/files\/2007ChateauRayas_Reserve_Chateauneuf-du-Pape.jpg?v=1789501285","url":"https:\/\/yes-society.com\/products\/2007-chateau-rayas-reserve-chateauneuf-du-pape-southern-rhone-france","provider":"Yes Society","version":"1.0","type":"link"}