Chateau Rayas Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2016

A deaf man's second career

The Reynaud family came to Rayas in 1880 because of a misfortune. Albert Reynaud, who lived and worked in nearby Avignon, went deaf at 45, looked for a new career and decided to make wine. He bought Rayas, whose name is said to come from a Spanish phrase for cleared forest, a fair description of a vineyard carved out of woodland.

His son Louis Reynaud made Rayas one of the first estates in Chateauneuf-du-Pape to bottle and sell its own wine, and he printed 'Premier Grand Cru' on the label. The words broke the newly written appellation rules, but they drew attention. In the 1930s the family built new cellars near the Pignan vineyard, because their old cellars fell outside the official boundaries of the appellation. They bought Chateau des Tours in Vacqueyras in 1935 and Chateau de Fonsalette ten years later.

Louis's son Jacques ran the estates from 1978 and is the man most credited with Rayas's cult status; he was often called the godfather of Chateauneuf. He replanted more than half the vines in the 1980s. Robert Parker gave his 1978 and 1990 Rayas perfect 100-point scores.

Emmanuel Reynaud

Jacques Reynaud died suddenly in 1997 with no heir. His widow asked their nephew Emmanuel, then 34, to take over Rayas and Fonsalette. Emmanuel had been making the wine at Chateau des Tours since 1989, where he had succeeded his father, Bertrand. The 1996 was Jacques's last vintage and the first that Emmanuel finished and bottled.

The start was hard. Emmanuel inherited a vineyard full of young vines from his uncle's replanting, and he told an interviewer in 2006 that it is easy to make great wine when you only deal with old vines. One critic dates the turnaround to the 2005 vintage; a fellow Rhone winemaker said Emmanuel made Rayas a legend in every vintage, where before there had been great years and disappointing ones.

The family is famously private. Its estate near the village of Courthezon is nondescript, and buyers line up their cars to collect annual allocations. Emmanuel Reynaud died on November 25, 2025, at 61. He is succeeded by his sons; one profile names Louis-Damien and Benoit, while his obituary refers to three sons.

Sand, pines and old barrels

Rayas does not look like the rest of Chateauneuf. Most of the appellation is known for its large rounded stones; Rayas is almost pure fine red sand, with a little limestone and clay, which one writer says feels like beach sand in the hand. The vines face north and are surrounded by pine and oak forest, which the family never cleared for more vineyard. Together they make what is often called the coolest site in the appellation, and Rayas is usually among the last estates to pick.

Yields are tiny, about 12 to 20 hectoliters per hectare by one count and around 15 by another, against an appellation maximum of 35. The grapes are vinified with most of their stems in concrete tanks, parcel by parcel, then aged for about 16 months in old demi-muids of 450 to 600 liters and old foudres. There is no new oak; some barrels may be 50 to 100 years old. The wine is not fined or filtered.

The red grand vin comes from three vineyard areas, Le Coeur, Le Couchant and Le Levant. A second red, Pignan, named for the surrounding pines, takes about 20% of the harvest. The estate also makes a small amount of white Chateauneuf from Clairette and Grenache Blanc.

2016: a dry year saved by drizzle

The 2016 growing season in Chateauneuf-du-Pape began with a mild winter and a dry, cool spring, then a hot summer with several days above 35 degrees Celsius. The summer was extremely dry: 17.8 millimeters of rain in July and 8.4 in August. Wide swings between day and night temperatures in early August helped the grapes build color and tannin.

Then, on September 14 and 15, a thin drizzle fell without stopping and let the grapes finish ripening. Picking across the appellation began on September 12 and stretched over six weeks or more, with yields averaging about 32 hectoliters per hectare. The appellation called the wines dense, dark and very aromatic, with tannins already very silky.

A critic who tasted the Rayas in September 2018 gave it 100 points and wrote that it was going to be one of the great vintages of Rayas ever produced, with layers of silky, fresh cherries and a finish lasting more than 60 seconds. He added that Rayas was becoming harder to find every year.

Allocation and price

With production in the low thousands of cases and buyers collecting their allocations in person, Rayas is scarce. Its obituary for Emmanuel Reynaud noted that secondary-market prices had climbed in recent decades and start well north of $1,000 a bottle for most vintages.

No single-bottle sale or listing for the 2016 could be verified on a public page for this story. Readers comparing prices should check that a listing is for the red Chateau Rayas grand vin and not for Pignan, the white, or the family's Fonsalette wines.

The numbers

Grape

100% Grenache

Vineyard

12 ha (one profile), 13 ha (encyclopedia) or 29 acres (obituary)

Yields

About 12 to 20 hl/ha

Production

1,200 to 1,500 cases (one profile); under 1,700 cases (obituary)

Aging

About 16 months in old demi-muids and foudres; no new oak

2016 appellation harvest

Began September 12, 2016; average yield about 32 hl/ha

Critic score

100 (tasted September 18, 2018)

Timeline

1. 1880

   Albert Reynaud, deaf at 45, buys Rayas and starts a new career in wine.

2. 1935

   The family buys Chateau des Tours in Vacqueyras.

3. 1945

   The family buys Chateau de Fonsalette.

4. 1978

   Jacques Reynaud takes over management of the family estates.

5. 1989

   Emmanuel Reynaud takes charge at Chateau des Tours.

6. 1990

   A Rayas vintage that Robert Parker later scores 100.

7. 1997

   Jacques Reynaud dies suddenly; his nephew Emmanuel, 34, takes over Rayas and Fonsalette.

8. 2005

   The vintage one critic marks as the turnaround under Emmanuel.

9. Sep 12, 2016

   Harvest begins in Chateauneuf-du-Pape after a hot, dry summer.

10. Sep 14, 2016

    Two days of steady drizzle let the grapes finish ripening.

11. Sep 18, 2018

    A critic tastes the 2016 Rayas and scores it 100.

12. Nov 25, 2025

    Emmanuel Reynaud dies at 61; his sons succeed him.

The world in 2016

• Mar 22, 2016

  Suicide bombings at Brussels airport and a metro station kill 35 people.

• Apr 3, 2016

  The Panama Papers are published.

• Jun 23, 2016

  The United Kingdom votes to leave the European Union.

• Jul 14, 2016

  A truck attack during Bastille Day celebrations in Nice kills 86 people.

• Aug 5, 2016

  The Rio Olympics open, the first Games held in South America.

• Nov 8, 2016

  Donald Trump is elected president of the United States.

Price record

This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.

By reference price, Chateau Rayas Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2016 is number 40 of 100 in the wine entries of the FLOAT 100. 12 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (79 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Rayas had no electricity until the late 1980s.
• The founder bought the estate after going deaf at 45 and looking for a new career.
• A Reynaud once printed 'Premier Grand Cru' on the label in defiance of the appellation rules.
• Unlike most of Chateauneuf, the vineyard has almost no stones: it is fine sand that feels like a beach.
• The newest barrels at Rayas are said to be about 30 years old.
• Emmanuel Reynaud took over at 34 because his uncle Jacques died without an heir.