Only four men have succeeded Rayas since his foundation in 1880 when Albert Reynaud, a notary in Avignon, lost his hearing, decided to recapture and dedicate himself to wine production. And in 1920, Albert's son, the young Louis, decided to put Rayas's wines in the bottle and market them under his own name. Louis also expands the company's properties by acquiring other vineyards in the area that is still alongside Rayas's prestige.
The land of Château Rayas is not far from the village of Châteauneuf, but very isolated and difficult to reach, represent a unicum in the name of the south of the Rhône. Land rich in sand and poor in stones, differ greatly from the surrounding ones, creating an ideal environment for the cultivation of the Grenache. The exhibition of the parcels, frequently to the north, is a strong point that gives these grapes and wines the strength and elegance of the great wines.
The vineyards are almost exclusively planted and have a remarkable age, and in recent years they have been gradually replanted, however, replacing only the strains that by hand they were to die. Without giving up on the mode of the moment, pesticides have been used for more than twenty years, and interventions in the vineyard, such as in the cellar, are limited to the minimum. The cellar, for those who are used to today's widespread technology, can leave perplexed If you are lucky enough to visit it. Old, moldy structures, almost centenary barrels that are hard to believe are still together, and tools to say the least. Rayas is not looking for perfection, but uniqueness. Only indigenous yeasts, maceration in cement tins, steel for white, and maturation lens in old barrels. Nothing more. Wines made to challenge time and to seduce over time.