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It's a Family Affair
THE WINES OF DOMAINE BERTHET-RAYNE
It is with great pleasure that WineWomenOnline introduces a winery new to our list of highly recommended Châteaunuef-du-Pape and Côtes-du-Rhone wines, Domaine Berthet-Rayne. The estate is a four generation winery established in the 1920’s and situated to the left of the Rhone River between Orange and Avignon in the backdrop of Mont Ventoux. The region is breathtaking and chock full of beautiful, lovely vineyards. Yes, hectares and hectares of wonderful vineyards everywhere you look. The vines literally push themselves up through rounded, heat-absorbing rocks called galets and it is almost incomprehensible how such a pleasing and luscious wine can be produced, but it is and we love it. (Photo: Deb(WWOL) & Mike)
Domaine Berthet-Rayne is owned and operated by Dany and Christian Berthet-Rayne with the assistance of their daughter Laure and son-in-law Martial and now granddaughter, Laure, who is right around 3 years old, and assists with bottle labeling plus following her grandfather around the estate.
On the afternoon of our visit we were greeted by Dany and Christian Berthet-Rayne and their precocious grand-daughter, Laure (the newest grandbaby was sleeping in a bassinet at the time of our visit). Both Dany and Christian were very gracious hosts and allowed us to taste some wonderful samplings of their wines and will focus on the Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines for this writing. Our first wine tasted, Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc 2006 Tradition, 40% Clairette, 40% Bourboulenc, 10% Grenache Blanc, 10% Roussanne. This wine was sheer sunshine in a bottle and exactly what you would expect for the area, a beautiful pale gold color with hints of pear - apple fruit qualities, mineral sidekick all balanced in perfect harmony. This white wine is a wonderful way to begin any course, and would be a great accompaniment with fish, chicken and other light meat dishes. Our next tasting was the Berthet-Rayne flagship wine, Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rouge 2006 Cuvée Cadiac, 50% Grenache, 50% Mourvedre. This is a powerhouse of a wine, very dense blackberry fruit, dark cocoa, without presenting in your face alcohol. It is what wine makers in this area do so well, balancing these complex flavors without being overdone and over the top. This will develop into a great wine with a little aging time. The Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rouge 2006 Tradition was a favorite, 60% Grenache, 20% Mourvedre, 10% Cinsault, 10% Syrah. We love the traditional Châteauneufs with their deep garnet red colors, rich and lush black fruit, licorice overtones and an impressive spice finish. This really is a great wine to experience and has great aging potential.Created: 3/9/2008 Edited: 6/10/2008