Yesterday evening, a special tasting of Beaucastel wines , conducted by Pierre Perrin, the current winemaker was held. Here some of my impressions from the evening :
1. It was the first time I tasted the famous whites of Beaucastel. While very nice (The regular white CdP with mostly citrusy flavours and fresh acidity in the mouth. the Rossanne VV much more complicated, with less fruit and more butter and minerality both in nose and the mouth), I didn't fell in love with it, and still prefers the whites of Alsace and germany.
2. The 2001 and 1998 vintages of Beaucastel regular red CdP, always among my favourite wines , underperformed this evening. The 2001 was too ripe and porty and lacked the freshness I got from former bottles. The 1998 had too much brett in it, in my opinion.
3. Before this evening, I couldn't understand why they put the 1994 vintage in this tasting, but this wine was the big surprise of the evening, a lovely wine, great for drinking now, with great balance, and good food matching.
4. The Beaucastel regular CdP from 1989 vintage was the wine of the night (WOTN in hebrew). without any serious competition. Simply gorgeous. Complicated nose of red fruits (mostly Cherries , with some meat and spices in the background, medium, to full bodied, balanced, very rich with long long finish. Superb.
5. The Hommage 2005 tasted like ...Shiraz. Dark coloured, strong nose of raspberries without much subtlety , superconcentrated and a bit sweet. Even though I like some Australians, this one was too much for me, and didn't integrate well with the other wines. I liked the regular Cdp from the same vintage much more.
Showing posts with label Beaucastel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beaucastel. Show all posts
Friday, June 20, 2008
Saturday, January 12, 2008
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.
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.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Wines I buy regularly
I guess that most wine lovers have a list (smaller or bigger) of wines they buy on a regular basis, vintage after vintage, wines they know will satisfy them most of the time, wines they don't need to taste first or to read a critic tasting note (WA, WS and so on) before they buy it.
At least I have such a list of wines that so far , rarely dissapointed me , most of them are not terribly expensive and performs well in weaker years , while excelling at great years.
Here are some of the wines I buy almost each year :
Beaucastel - CdP , red - One of the first major Cdp that was available in Israel (since 1998 vintage). untill the last 2 vintages it was priced very attractively , but even now I keep buyng it. What makes Beaucastel is special in that it has many varietals (I think about 13) , and the percentage of each one changes every year according to the vintage , so no two vintage are a like. Favorite vintages - 1989, 1998 & 2001.
Numanthia - toro - I've had almost all vintages since the debut vintage of 1998. A very impressive wine, with huge body , usually a true blockbuster. very tasty. The variation between vintages is not very wide, and usually you know what you get. sometimes too heavy but overall a lot of wine for your money. Favourite vintages - 1999 & 2001
Pichon lalande - The 1982 was one the most amazing wines I've ever had but I also loved more recent vintages , including the 1999 , that didn't receive such a high scores. The high percentage of merlot makes it more hedonistic and seductive. Favourite vintages - 1982, 2000 & 2003.
Cos d'Estournel - like Pichon Lalande (and Palmer) this wine usually has high percentage of merlot. In recent years it made superb wines each year. Cos is one of those wineries that performs well not only in great vintages but also in avarage ones. Favourite vintages 1996, 2000 & 2001 (Haven't had the 2003 yet, I have 2 bottles from it)
Paolo Scavino - Bric del Fiasc - most Barolo lovers will put this one among their favorites , the fact that piedmont had a series of great vintages from 1996 to 2001 didn't hurt. Even though Scavino is considered a modernist, this wine can not be mistaken for anything but barolo, and a great one. The release price in Italy is about 50-60 euros that makes it an excellent value. Favorite vintage - 1997
D'arenberg - The dead arm shiraz - The first time I've had this wine was on the yearly "top 10 wines " tasting at Wine Route, It was the 1999 vintage , and I was quite impressed by it, compared to other australian wines. I've had prior to that. During the last few years my taste became more "old world oriented" but the Dead arm remained a reliable shiraz that always deliever the goods at a reasonable price. My favourite vintages so far - 1998 & 2001.
Yarden - Heights wine - I love sweet wines. Everyone who will go down to the cellar of the Wine route store can easily recognize my cell. Its the one full with sauternes. Israel wine industry is mostly red oriented, there are also some whites and very few deserts, but in my opinion (and it looks like the wine advocate agrees with me) this is the best Israeli wine. Its always very sweet, thick, fragrant (mostly dried apricots, and tropical fruits) and so yummy. At an avarage price of less than 20$ for 375cc bottle , I think its a great value. So far I've bought every vintage since its debut in 1998.
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More reccomendations : (wines that impressed me on more than one vintage and are relatively fairly priced)
Rhone - Vieux Telegraph - CdP Le Crau, Pegau - Cuvee Reserve
Bordeaux - Malescot St-Exupery, Lagrange (St Julien) , Smith Haut lafitte (red). Guiraud
Alsace - Zind Humbrecht - Pinot Gris , Clos Windsbuhl (including the great VT)
Tuscany - Tua Rita - Giusto di Notri , Guado al Taso
Piedmont - Clerico - Barolo Ciabot mentin Ginestra , Aldo Conterno - Barolo Cicala
Australia - D'Arenberg - The Laughing magpie , Noon - Eclipse
Israel - Castel - Grand vin & Chardonnay "C".
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