Chateau de Beaucastel - Vertical (1998-2004)

Last Thrsday I hosted a vertical tasting of Chateau de Beaucastel.
Chateau de Beaucastel is one of the biggest estates in Chateauneuf du pape (CdP) and maybe the most famous. It's wines are some of the longest lived wines in the region and one of the greatest and most consistent.
The vineyards are planted with all 13 grape varietals permitted for CdP , with Grenache and Mourvedre consists 30% each, Sirah and Counoise 10% each , Cinsault 5% and the other varietals have smaller percentages. Of course in each vintage the percentage of the varietals in the blend is changed depends on which varietals were better in a particular vintage. Although Beaucastel is maybe the best known CdP, its actually a bit atypical wine for the appelation in that the percentage of the Mourvedre is very high compared to other CdP estates while the Grenache percentage is one of the lowest. This combination results in a wine that is darker, more structured and tannic, needs more time to reach maturity and is longer lived compared to other CdP. Each year there are about 20,000-24,000 cases made.
The 1989 vintage was Wine Spectator wine of the Year in 1991 , and scored 97 by both WS and Robert Parker. I had it about 4 years ago and it was spectacular. (I had it again in a vertical tasting at Wine Route and while very good it wasn't as spectacular).
Beaucastel makes another special cuvee - The Hommage a Jacques Perrin which consists (on avarage) 70% Mourvedre. they make only about 400 cases from it each year. They also make some white wines which considered by many to be the best White CdP.
Beaucastel wines are imported to Israel by Shaked and can be found on Wine Route stores.

The Tasting:
2004 : Obviously yound and drank way before its time, it has a dark colour. a closed nose of red and black fruits, turned to a bretty nose after 20 minutes , and then the brett largely dissapeares and the fruit, mostly black came back, with some black pepper . In the mouth is was medium bodied , and also quiet closed. For now I would score it about 91-92 but I guess it will become better with time.
2003 : This was a very hot vintage , with higher percentage of grenache in the blend and it shows. The colour is brighter , and the nose has red fruits especially red cherries and Raspberries combined with black pepper. In the mouth its full bodied, vibrant with good acidity , great persistance and nice aftertaste. My score : 93-94
2001 : Maybe my favourite vintage. Dark coloured, Nose of black fruits, licorice , cigar box, spices and black pepper. In the mouth its full bodied , tannic with long aftertaste.
my score :95-96
2000 : This was the favourite wine of most of the participants. Dark coloured it has a burgundian nose of Leather, dump earth , fungi with the fruit on the back. In the moth it was very rich and long with special acidity combined with sweetness. Very impressive .
score : 94-95.
1999 : Fell between such great years as 1998, 2000 & 2001 , the 1999 was forgotten a bit, but it still a very nice vintage and the Beaucastel made a lovely wine. Dark coloured , nose of black and red fruits with some spices , medium bodied, elegant with smooth tannins and medium length. really nice wine to go with food. My score : 92-93
1998 : This one was supposed to be the star of the tasting but when we arrived to it, my palate was a bit tired and closed so I Couldn't evaluate it properly. Still a great nose of red fruits , mainly cherries with licorice and some leather on the background, full bodied , rich with considerable mid palate and long finish. my score : 95-96.

For desert I opened a bootle of Chateau Guiraud 1999. Golden coloured it has a nose of tropical fruits, some honey and citrus on the back. without much botrytis. In the mouth is sweet and thick with good vibrant acidity to make it balanced and long aftertaste. A wine I like a lot (It was the last bottle out of 3 or 4 bottles I bought, and I would buy more if I could as the price was about 200 NIS for a 750 ml bottle). My score : 94-95.

Something I've learned again - The greatest wine on earth can be just a good one when tasted alone. Its the company of other friends that makes it perfect. There is the old story (most probably not true) of one of the Rothschild family who was asked what was his best bottle ever and answered he don't remember exactly but it was drank one night with a beautiful young girl on a beach (or river I don't really remember). It's a kitchy story but its so right. Wine is a social bevarage , and sharing a wine with good friends who appreciate it, makes it so much better. So I thank all my friends who came (and paid a bit) and drank the wines with me and made the evening wonderfull.

BTW -- The wines I serves some cheeses bought from a wonderful cheese shop held by Ran Buck (hope I wrote it right) on Sokolov 81 St in Ramat Ha-Sharon . Ran is one of the biggest specialists in this area in Israel (He also wrote a nice book about it) and he has great selection and nice service.
Have a nice week.