Title Château de Beaucastel, 1998~1972
Author: Linden Wilkie
Venue: I.O.D. building, 116 Pall Mall, London SW7
Date article was added: 27/03/05
Date of event August 24, 2004
Château de Beaucastel – An Atypical Châteauneuf-du-Pape
One of the great estates of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Château de Beaucastel is unusual in that Mouvèdre takes equal prominence to Grenache at 30% each, followed by an unusually high proportion of other grapes – Syrah 10%, Counsoise 10%, Cinsault 5% and other varietals – mainly Vaccarèse and Muscardin. Their top cuvee, ‘Hommages à Jacques Perrin’ a 5 acre vineyard with vines reaching 100 years of age, emphasises the importance of Mouverdre even more at 70%, with 15% Syrah, only 10% Grenache and 5% Counoise. Château de Beaucastel has the lowest percentage planting of Grenache in the appellation, and an unusually high percentage of Mourvèdre – which generally adds structure to the wine.
The Beaucastel Style
All that Mouvèrdre leads to a particularly ‘meaty’ style of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and one with a little less of that exceptionally sweet tasting Grenache influence. The philosophy of the estate is described in Robert Parker’s Wines of the Rhône Valley, ‘(1) a wine must be made naturally, (2), the percentage of Mourvèdre in the blend must be significant, and (3) the wine’s character and intrinsic qualities could not be compromised by concessions to modern technology.’ P345. The one seemingly contradictory element to the winemaking (in terms of ‘non-intervention’) is the (controversial) flash pasteurization of the grapes, which the Perrin’s call vinification à chaud. This is meant to reduce oxidation, extract more colour and aroma, and provide other technical winemaking benefits. It doesn’t seem to have done any harm! The wines are great.
The Tasting
In this tasting I set to provide both some younger examples (1998 and 1993), and some mature examples (1983, 1981, 1979 and 1972). The “middle focus” for the tasting, and the intended highlight, was the highly regarded 1990 and 1989 pair in both regular and ‘Hommages à Jacques Perrin’ cuvees.
The Result
The 1998 was very good, though a little atypical. It was one taster’s wine of the night. The 1993 had the room split – I liked it, though recognised its shortcomings. Others thought it was weedy, under ripe and even ‘dead’!
.jpg)
Hommages à Jacques Perrin - Controversial
It was the “middle focus” that proved the most contentious however. While most people really liked both the 1990 and 1989 regular cuvees (though some said they’d had better bottles of the ’89), not everyone was impressed by the two Hommages à Jacques Perrin. I thought they were great, though both clearly in need of more cellaring time.
Indeed, they prompted Neal Martin to write ‘…the Hommage 1990 left me distinctly nonplussed. Take away the label , the Parker points, the exorbitant price-tag, the kudos that surrounds it and I am left with an ordinary CdP, inferior to the regular wine.’ For his full review, click here
I was alone in voting the 1989 Hommages à Jacques Perrin my wine of the night. Only two votes were given to the 1990 HJP as wine of the night. [NB, these were immaculate, perfectly stored examples, and as you can see from my review for them below, I thought they were terrific wines].
 |
|
|
Wine tasted |
|
Rating/100 |
|
|
Wine list:
|
|
Château de Beaucastel 1998, Châteauneuf-du-Pape |
|
93 |
|
|
|
Château de Beaucastel 1993, Châteauneuf-du-Pape |
|
87 |
|
|
|
Château de Beaucastel 1990, Châteauneuf-du-Pape |
|
97 |
|
|
|
Château de Beaucastel ‘Hommage à Jacques Perrin’ 1990, Châteauneuf-du-Pape |
|
98 |
|
|
|
Château de Beaucastel 1989, Châteauneuf-du-Pape |
|
95 |
|
|
|
Château de Beaucastel 1989 ‘Hommage à Jacques Perrin’, Châteauneuf-du-Pape |
|
99 |
|
|
|
Château de Beaucastel 1983, Châteauneuf-du-Pape |
|
85 |
|
|
|
Château de Beaucastel 1981, Châteauneuf-du-Pape |
|
95 |
|
|
|
Château de Beaucastel 1979, Châteauneuf-du-Pape |
|
90 |
|
|
|
Château de Beaucastel 1972, Châteauneuf-du-Pape |
|
89 |
|
|
|
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
