2002 Raffault "La Poplinire" <br />

S

SFJoe

Joe Dougherty
I'm sure the rest of you have better cellar management and wouldn't have kept a bottle of this in the house this long.

But no skin lost here. Nice wine, not to keep longer of course, but still a hint of tannin, and strong memories of the delicious Poplinire fruit from the fabulous vintage. Maybe a little light for the veal chop and grey morels I'm cooking, I might poke around for something else to drink with dinner.
 
I've never heard of this cuve; what is it all about?

Had a 2002 Raffault "Barnabs" a few nights ago; it was drinking beautifully, even over two evenings. Sometimes I remember to stop heaping abuse on O.R.
 
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:
I've never heard of this cuve; what is it all about?
Click to expand...
It's simply pretty when it's young. Approachable, not for the ages, but it has great fruit.

I've forgotten which other wine it used to go into, but they were tasting with some eminent character who persuaded them of its individual identity and historic worth. Someone with a better memory than mine may be able to fill in.
 
So, if I'm reading you right, it's a newer rather than an older phenomenon? A splinter group of Barnabs or something?

Does anyone else know?

Repeat, not that I care, 'cause it's like, Olga Raffault.
 
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:

Repeat, not that I care, 'cause it's like, Olga Raffault.
Click to expand...

Umm, Sharon, have you tried older Olga Raffault Picasses, like the 1989?
It might change your opinion.
 
Umm, if someone couldn't make a good 1989 from a terroir like Picasses, they'd have to be the definition of incompetent.

But note taken.
 
The thing about '89 and so on is that they bottled so many different times it's very hard to know what you'll get. In general, it was a rustic operation. The granddaughter has to change with some care, they have existing clients who buy their wines.

But Sharon, I think you'd have liked the 2002 Poplinieres, and maybe someone can remind me where the lieu dit is.
 
I guess it was the more recent bottling of the 1989 that Chambers St had this year. The 2 bottles I tried were better than just good.

Sorry Sharon, I wasn't trying to be snarky. The '89 OR Picasses was just a real eye opener for me, at least this bottling.
 
Haven't had the '02 Poplinieres since release (at a party at Marty L's) but it was a very nice drink indeed while waiting for the Picasses. Glad to hear it's still drinking well, haven't had it since then.

The '90 Olga 'Picasses' was really good on Friday if you don't mind a little brett. I wouldn't call them my favorite Chinon producer but I would never dismiss them either.
 
I actually know what this cuvee is about.

It is an actual parcel that used to go into the Barnabes.

I recently asked David Lillie of Chambers Street about this wine. According to David, Denyse Louis and I dined with Jacques Pusais years ago in New York. Pusais is double my age, lives in Chinon, and is famous for his institute of Taste and research on taste, food and wine. The young Bernard Baudry worked with him. Basically he's a guy with a lot of good taste who consults to the French government (he worked out an entirely new curriculum for kids to train them on how to appreciate good food and to eat less MacDonalds)and does oenological work.

Anyhow, he's always been close with the Raffault family and told us that the best thing in the cellar was always the Popliniere. We had never tasted the wine and asked Jean Raffault, Olga's son who was then running the estate, if he would bottle the wine separately for us. The idea was to make a Chinon for earlier consumption, one that was fresh, floral and fruity and which had less elevage.

They agreed and now bottle the wine for us.

I don't believe they sell it in France.

My apologies by the way, I'm working on a computer without French accents.

Joe
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
StyleThe thing about '89 and so on is that they bottled so many different times it's very hard to know what you'll get. In general, it was a rustic operation.
Click to expand...

I tried this wine yesterday, and wasn't that thrilled with it, honestly. Now, first, if you don't know my palate, I often have a hard time with Loire reds because of the salad-like nose. I don't mind herbal, but a lot of them come across as vegetal to me. But the '89 Raffault had a very nice, complex, herbal (but not vegetal) nose. On the palate, however, the wine still seemed a bit hard, lean, and rustic. It tasted fairly mature, but the tannins didn't seem integrated and the wine seemed like it would never become bottle-sweet or texturally interesting. Was this an odd bottle, or I'm I just hopeless with Cab Franc??
 
Was this an odd bottle, or I'm I just hopeless with Cab Franc??
Click to expand...

Difficult to answer without being present. Just as a data point, though, even cab-franc-hater-extraordinaire Brad Kane liked the '89 Raffault Picasses, despite the light herbal/piney streak.

Personally, I think it's just yummylicious.
 
Very recently I had the '89 and the '90 on the same night with the same food and came away preferring the '90. Another bottle of the '90 was similarly fantastic. Am I alone in preferring the '89 over the '90? Or maybe I just got a different bottling of the '89 that isn't showing as well right now.
 
That's the guy! Bigtime famous Loire pundit, maven, deep thinker. This was definitely one of his better light bulbs.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
2002 Raffault "La Poplinire"
I'm sure the rest of you have better cellar management and wouldn't have kept a bottle of this in the house this long.

But no skin lost here. Nice wine, not to keep longer of course, but still a hint of tannin, and strong memories of the delicious Poplinire fruit from the fabulous vintage. Maybe a little light for the veal chop and grey morels I'm cooking, I might poke around for something else to drink with dinner.
Click to expand...
I'm sure I don't have better cellar management, and certianly not better judgment. I came across a couple bottles of this a few months ago, and let them lie. But as I am looking for Chinon to drink now, this is a good reminder.

I opened a bottle of the '96 Olga Picasses on Thursday night. It was fully open and quite delicious. I only had half the bottle and didn't have a chance to get back to it until last night. Still good - not as - but quite drinkable. Perhaps inoxidable as the result of their famous elevage.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
2002 Raffault "La Poplinire"
I'm sure the rest of you have better cellar management and wouldn't have kept a bottle of this in the house this long.
Click to expand...

I don't have the excuse of poor cellar management -- just questionable judgment and taste. I opened a bottle on Saturday but I really liked it and was surprised how well it was doing for a "drink young" cuvee. It had darker fruit than I'm accustomed to in Chinons with touches of dark earth, tobacco, licorice, minerals and herbs, nice acidity, and it had some structure left. Perhaps not as good as it would have been had I thought to open it earlier, but I found it intriguing and complex. I haven't seen any bottles of this since the 2002 vintage, but I'd definitely get more if it's still being brought over.
 
I had one of mine last night in response to this thread. I thought it was delightful. I got some tannin on the finish. I will certainly increase the rate at which I drink my remaining bottles and am grateful for the heads up. But I wouldn't have put this up as a candidate for near death. It should be noted that I had this after teaching my evening class in lit. theory, while watching the Terminator TV show in a near brain dead state (mine as well as that of the teen Terminatoress), so I don't vouch for entire accuracy of assessment. There was some left in the bottle that I'll get to tonight and that may give a better indication.
 
I also recently popped a bottle of '90 Raffault Picasses, and it was excellent. Great nose over three hours, ripe fruit to please the crowd, and enough spine to stand up to (lightly) mustard-crusted pork chops.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top