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Description

The flagship wine of Chateau de Parenchère, the Cuvée Raphaël, is a dense, concentrated wine with elegant tannins and a mellow and smooth finish. The wine is elegantly woody but not excessively to leave plenty of room for the fruit.

The Cuvée Raphaël is named after Raphaël Gazaniol, who renovated the Parenchère estate in 1958.

It is produced from a selection of the most exemplary estate plots, from vines that are more than 40 years old.

 

The blend varies from vintage to vintage depending on the success of a particular grape variety:

• 50% Merlot – offers suppleness, fruitiness, and roundness
• 50% Cabernet Sauvignon – offers structure and tannic density

 

Ageing:

This wine is aged exclusively in barrels made of oak from the Forest of Tronçais.

Cuvée Raphaël is aged for 12 months on fine lees, without racking or exposure to air. Parenchère uses the ‘micro-oxygenation’ technique, sending fine bubbles through the barrels. As a result, the wine’s fruit and elegance are perfectly preserved.

 

Ideal drinking period:

This wine is excellent in its first year of bottling, but ageing will enhance its elegance and complexity after four or more years. It will continue to improve for ten years.

 

Pairing:

The Cuvée Raphaël Bordeaux Supérieur is ideal with game, charcuterie and soft cheese.

 

Awards:

Decanter – 2021 Bronze World Wine Award winner

Vintage: 2018 

“Lovely, pretty nose of cedar, plum and blackcurrant, palate of spice, cherry, black cherry and liquorice.” 

 

Reviews:

Wine Enthusiast – 90 points

Vintage: 2018

“Aged for a year in wood, this wine offers rich tannins and a dense structure. Dark chocolate and liquorice flavours give a sense of firm extraction that needs to blog way so that the wine can develop. Drink from 2022.”
Roger Voss

 

James Sucking – 91-92 points

Vintage: 2020 

“Plenty of blackberry and blueberry with some violet overtones. It’s medium-bodied with fine tannins that are linear. Underlying salty character. Vivid.”