Olga does Rose???? There are lots and lots of Raffaults along the Loire Valley of France but there was only one Olga Raffault. In her many years growing and making wine in Chinon, she secured for herself a particularly rarified place in the wine world.  Old School sommeliers have always loved her wines for their propensity to gracefully age, and for the family’s impressive longevity in the Loire Valley. They love to swap tales of the storied vintages from the sixties and seventies they served and how marvelous they held up decades later.  New School somms love Raffault’s Chinons for their high geekiness factor, unparalleled elegance and friendliness to all kinds of different modern cuisines.  And next to Vouvray, there’s no hipper part of the Loire Valley than Chinon these days, and Cab Franc is definitely ‘in.’  Now run by the late Olga’s grandkids, we still ask ourselves what makes a Raffault Chinon so special?  It’s older, organically-grown vines, vineyards in great location and superb, inspired winemaking.  The estate vineyards range from alluvial clay with a chalk limestone base to nearly pure gravel, creating Cabernet Franc that is uniquely expressive of dark fruits, red currants and black cherries with pronounced  iron-y mineral and the kind of crystalline acidity making for a structure that allows the wine to age effortlessly despite a relative lack of tannin.  The rare Rose comes from parcels harvested expressly for making pink wine and is produced by the saignee ‘tank bleeding’ method and ferments spontaneously with ambient yeasts.  The wine does not undergo malolactic fermentation and ages in the tank before being bottled with only a light filtration. It’s a fuller style of rosé that brings forth papaya and red berries, crushed herbs and granite minerality on a clean, refreshing melon-y finish. Clean and aromatic, it strikes just the right balance for drinking on its own in the backyard but will really shine with all kinds of food too.  And the Olga factor!  Everything this Raffault family affair touches is gold, in our humble opinion.  *** Arugulas and *** Hammocks on PRIMA’s scientific Rose scale.