Chateau de Rayne Vigneau

Neighboring d’Yquem, located atop a gravel croupe, Chateau de Rayne-Vigneau is second only to its neighbor in terms of volume and grandeur. Historically it ranked third of all the premiers crus in the 1855 classification of Sauternes and Barsac, behind only La Tour Blanche and Lafaurie-Peyraguey.

In 1635 the estate was the property of Gabriel de Vignau, who later passed to his son Etienne in 1681. Etienne was married with Jeanne Sauvage, a daughter of the family that owned Ch. d’Yquem, and it was later sold by Jeanne’s nephew Hyacinthe in 1742 to a local merchant Jean Duffour, who bequeathed to his son Bruno in 1774.

Bruno fortunately held onto the estate during the French Revolution. But it was later acquired by Catherine Marie de Rayne, the widow of Baron de Rayne, in 1843. Catherine was originally a Pontac from the family owning Haut-Brion, and the estate was referred as Cru de Vigneau or Vigneau-Pontac.

Under the tenure of the Rayne-Pontac family, the estate was successful and got good ranking in the 1855 classification, being third overall among all premiers crus, behind only La Tour Blanche and Lafaurie-Peyraguey. With her death the estate was bequeathed to her brother Vicomte Gabriel de Pontac, who built the chateau in the 1870s.

It was subsequently passed to Gabriel’s son Albert, who named the estate Rayne-Vigneau to honor his ancestors. Albert managed the estate until his death in the 1920s, and it was passed to his son-in-law Vicomte de Roton, who had been also the Major of Bommes and Vice-President of local Syndicat Viticole.

The property was then passed to his son Vicomte Francois, who had to sell in 1961 after difficult times, with the new owner Georges Raoux only taking the vineyard and cellar, still leaving the chateau to the Vicomte. Unfortunately the investment did not come and the estate further deteriorated, until it was sold to Mestrezat in 1971.

Mestrezat has been under the direction of Jacques Merlaut, who had also acquired other Bordeaux properties. With the investment from Mestrezat and also Vignerons de Val d’Orbieu, a leading Languedoc co-operative, Rayne-Vigneau was revitalized. But in 2004 the co-operative decided to sell out.

Mestrezat then introduced Credit Agricole, which acquired more than 400 ha of vineyards, including Rayne-Vigneau, becoming its sole owner and now managing under Credit Agricole Grands Crus, by Thierry Budin.

The estate sits on a gravel ridge, with the vineyards running down the slopes away from the chateau. The soils are a mixture of sand and clay, with some precious and semi-precious stones including onyx, sapphire, amethyst and opal. The vineyards cover 84 ha and are dominated by 74% Semillon, 24% Sauvignon Blanc and 2% Muscadelle. The vines average about 30 years of age.

There are typically five passes through the vineyard during harvest, and the berries are sorted over a table before batch fermentation in oak barrels. The oak is between 40% to 50% new each year, and the whole process is under consultation of Denis Dubourdieu. The grand vin is Chateau de Rayne-Vigneau, with a second wine Madame de Rayne, in honor of Catherine Marie de Rayne. There is also a dry white produced back to at least 1980s, using just Sauvignon Blanc.

The investment from Mestrezat also brought about the technological advancement of cryo-extraction, which is used to deal with the swollen grapes and diluted juice in a wet harvest, when the botrytis potentially turning into the damaging grey rot. In 1982 the estate decided to undergo some trials of freezing the berries to remove water in the form of ice, leaving only the rich botrytised juice, allowing the concentration of the must.

However, the concentration in this fashion can accentuate the displeasing flavors of the rot, and many producers opt not to use this technique. Nevertheless it is still accepted by many others outside Rayne-Vigneau, but the trend seems to be declining.

I have recently tasted the 2001 vintage and below is my tasting note:

Appearance

Bright and clear, it is of medium intensity gold color, with legs.

Nose

Clean, with pronounced intensity aromas showing citrus fruit such as orange marmalade and lemon peel, stone fruit of apricot, tropical fruit of pineapple, maturity notes of honey, oak notes of butterscotch. The wine is developing.

Palate

Sweet with medium (+) acidity, the wine has medium alcohol a full body, with medium (+) intensity flavors of citrus fruit such as orange marmalade and lemon zest, stone fruit of peach and apricot, tropical fruit of melon, maturity notes of honey and oak notes of butterscotch. The wine has a medium (+) finish.

Conclusion

Good quality Sauternes with good concentration, showing a nose of good complexity, the wine has the right acidity to balance the sweetness and making it not too cloying despite its high sugar level, with still a refreshing sensation on the palate, of good intensity and reasonable complexity, plus a fairly long finish. It is ready to drink now though can benefit from further ageing of another 3-5 years.