Since Olga’s death a few years ago, Domaine Olga Raffault is run by her granddaughter Sylvie and Sylvie’s husband Eric de la Vigerie. The estate has terrific plots of land in the Savigny-en-Véron district hard by the Vienne riverbanks. The ‘Picasses’ vineyard stands out from the rest: old vines of 60-ish years on a fairly steep slope from the riverbank that is alluvial clay with a chalk limestone base. The fruit is particularly expressive of dark fruits of cassis and dark cherries with a terrific mineral content and good acidity for structure. The wines age impressively, to the extent that the domaine will occasionally release older vintages from their cellars; recent releases include 1979 and 1987.
