Château Rayas Côtes du Rhône Chateau de Fonsalette 2011 750ml

FRANCE : SOUTHERN RHONE : COTES DU RHONE

Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah

MED-BODIED, DRIED RED FRUIT, ROSE PETAL, GARRIGUE, WHITE PEPPER, NEUTRAL OAK

Fonsalette is the Reynaud family's other estate, bought by Louis Reynaud in 1945 and run today by Emmanuel Reynaud, who also makes Château Rayas. The reds are vinified in the Rayas cellar, which is why they share so much: concrete tanks, century-old foudres, no new oak, and extraction kept deliberately low.

What separates this from the Côtes du Rhône most people know is the blend. Thirty-five percent Cinsault, more than most producers would dare, turns a southern Rhône red pale and perfumed rather than dense — dried red fruit, rose petal, garrigue and white pepper, with a silky palate that carries lightness and length at once. Only twelve of the estate's 120 hectares are planted; the rest is forest and olive grove.

2011 was a mid-weight vintage, and that works in this house's favor. Wine Advocate 89 pts. Give it three hours in a decanter, minimum — collectors of these wines routinely go to twenty-four.

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