permeable layer of friable conglomerate (safre, in local parlance), then water-retentive clay. Indeed, so poor are these soils that Rayas is planted at only 2,500 vines per hectare: lower than the appellation norms, but the highest density that they can sustain. The Reynaud family crops them short, too, to limit the loss of precious water by foliar transpiration. Oriented gently to the north, the estate’s aspect preserves the


grapes’ freshness and aromatic range; and so, too, does the fact that fully 11 of its 23ha (27 of 59 acres) are devoted to woodland rather than the vine. Historic aerial photographs of the region offer a poignant testimony to the speed with which copses and hedges disappeared elsewhere in the appellation, from the 1970s on, as on the one hand, vignerons made space for heavier machinery, and on the other, Châteauneuf’s success incentivized planting every available square meter. Today, Rayas stands out as the exception—and in the face of a changing climate, the Reynaud family’s obstinacy seems visionary. The Rayas vineyard itself is composed of three distinct lieux-


dits—Le Levant, Le Coeur, and Le Couchant—which straddle a small valley and catch, respectively, the rising, midday, and setting sun. These lieux-dits are planted exclusively to Grenache, which here expresses itself with remarkable aromatic amplitude; but each contributes something unique to the finished wine.


Tasting before they’re blended, Le Levant is the most floral and ethereal, contributing the wine’s spine; Le Coeur is the most complete, contributing Rayas’s skeleton; and Le Couchant, with its richer, more compote-like fruit tones, brings the fat. The ensemble, of course, is always more than the sum of the parts, and in this respect, Rayas—like several of the Côte de Nuits’ great Monopoles—combines the identity of a cru with the advantages of a blend. Pignan, occasionally designated the “Clos Pignan” in the past, stands alongside Rayas as a sort of junior sibling. With its uniform exposition, from a single block surrounded by pine trees, Pignan is also a stalking horse to Rayas, throwing into relief, with its more direct and monolithic personality, how much plenitude and completeness Rayas’s varying expositions contribute to the final blend.


An intensely characterful personality Unlike the grands crus of the Côte de Nuits, however, all this is of comparatively recent creation. Albert Reynaud, a retired notary who had lost his sight, purchased the estate in 1880 as a rural retreat in a region ravaged by phylloxera. And it was, by all accounts, his son Louis who really created Château Rayas as we know it, replacing woodland and fruit trees with grafted Grenache vines, beginning in 1915. Louis, a strong personality, was at the helm until his death in 1978, and famously defied the authorities for years by designating his wine as “1er Grand Cru,” a classification of his own invention. On Louis’ death, his reclusive son Jacques, no less eccentric than his father, succeeded him; and when Jacques passed away suddenly in 1997, the estate passed to his nephew Emmanuel, a succession masterminded by Jacques’ sister, Françoise. Perhaps the fact that the estate has always remained in


the family that created it helps to account for its intensely characterful personality. Rayas has always been run without compromise, and the Reynauds march to the beat of their own drum. The larger Château de Fonsalette, acquired in 1945, permitted them to accept derisory yields at Rayas with equanimity, the two estates enjoying a symbiotic relationship. That has permitted the pursuit of advanced maturity, even in the face of disease or inclement weather, waiting to pick in October after end-of-season thunderstorms restore balance to the ripe, concentrated berries. And the same spirit of equanimity permeates the winemaking. The Grenache bunches are crushed without destemming, and macerate with minimal intervention in cement vats for three to four weeks. Blended with the best of the press wine, Rayas completes its malolactic fermentation in enameled steel tanks in the winery’s attic, remaining there until the Spring, when it descends to the cellars, filling ancient barrels freshly emptied of the previous vintage. All of this takes place in unassuming, if not unprepossessing, premises, constructed by Louis in the 1930s firmly within the boundaries of the brand-new Châteauneuf-du-Pape AOC so that Rayas could never be denied the appellation. Lacking in modern conveniences, except for a pneumatic press, much has been made of their dingy appearance, though in reality the dusty floors and ancient barrels hardly distinguish this winery from any number of others. Rather, it’s the vineyards outside and the wine in the bottles that set Rayas apart. Indeed, the irony is that though the winery itself may have been intended to anchor Rayas in Châteauneuf, the wines themselves transcend it. 


THE WORLD OF FINE WINE | ISSUE 87 | 2025 | 159


Photography courtesy of Martine’s Wines


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176  |  Page 177  |  Page 178  |  Page 179  |  Page 180  |  Page 181  |  Page 182  |  Page 183  |  Page 184  |  Page 185  |  Page 186  |  Page 187  |  Page 188  |  Page 189  |  Page 190  |  Page 191  |  Page 192  |  Page 193  |  Page 194  |  Page 195  |  Page 196  |  Page 197  |  Page 198  |  Page 199  |  Page 200  |  Page 201  |  Page 202  |  Page 203  |  Page 204  |  Page 205  |  Page 206  |  Page 207  |  Page 208  |  Page 209  |  Page 210  |  Page 211  |  Page 212  |  Page 213  |  Page 214  |  Page 215  |  Page 216  |  Page 217  |  Page 218  |  Page 219  |  Page 220