The Cellar at Château Rayas

The blogger Alder Yarrow of Vinography posted on Twitter a photograph of the cellar at Château Rayas on February 1. Those old barrels have been used for raising some of the greatest wines of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. (See "Château Rayas 1995.")

On his blog, he later posted a photo album from his visit to Château Rayas. The cellar reminds me of Hofgut Falkenstein's. Anyone who has been in the cellar at Falkenstein will agree. One difference, of course, is the size of the old barrels in each cellar. The Reynauds at Rayas have mostly 600-liter demi-muids and a couple of foudres, whereas the Webers at Falkenstein use 1,000-liter Fuder and a few smaller barrels. And both are low-tech cellars.

In addition, I like that Rayas keeps to a simple green Burgundy bottle and the same ribbed-paper label over the years. Falkenstein also has a basic dark-green Mosel bottle and a ribbed-paper label. There are no frills at either winery, which are somewhat secluded as well. ♦