Chateau Rayas Chateauneuf-du-Pape Reserve 1989 is a collectible fine wine from Rhone, France. It is bottled in 750 ml and ideal for serious collectors and top-level cellars.

The 1989 Rayas is finally beginning to live up to its immense potential. The color is a dense ruby/purple. The aromatics, which have consistently been tight and reserved, are beginning to reveal some of the framboise and black cherry liqueur-like scents for which this hallowed estate is known.

Extremely full-bodied, powerful, and rich, with lots of tannin, muscle, and extract, the colossal-sized, tightly-knit 1989 is bursting at its seams. It requires another 3-5 years of cellaring. This is a prodigious Rayas that is just beginning to strut its stuff.

by Robert M. Parker, Jr. for WA,  June 2000

The 1989 Chateau Rayas is an absolute peach. Deep in colour, it has an intense, flamboyant yet beautifully controlled bouquet that oozes sensuality from every pore: blackcurrant pastilles, dark plum, hint of Alpine forest and bacon fat. It is extraordinarily pure and yet it transports you straight to the region, something that magical wines have a propensity to do. The palate is structured and focused, a Chateauneuf-du-Pape with palpable presence and class, building gently in the mouth towards a youthful, strident finish that suggests it will last another couple of decades… easily. This is a wine to lose yourself in. Tasted August 2013.

by Neal Martin for WA