Opened, had a taste, and served about 40 minutes later. Tasted with food (porcini risotto and grilled steak and lambchop, in case you were wondering). Tasted on its own. Tasted at a dinner with 2016 Saxum G2, 2007 Donaine LaleurePuot Corton Rognet and 2012 Calera Jensen Vineyard Pinot Noir. Dark garnet color. Nose offers leaves, cedar, leather and dried cherries. Wonderful dried red fruit profile with leather, dried tobacco and earth. Clean in that there is no Brett or funky manure/barnyard elemnt.. Wonderful depth and elegance. Please but also a bit surprised how good this is with 34 years of age. Delicious.
13.5% abv. Used a Durand to extract the cork. Cork was saturated 3/4 up. Paired well with the mushroom risotto.
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Décanté une heure avant consommation.Robe évoluée,nez d'une intensité exceptionnelle et d'une complexité magique:on débute avec de la réglisse puis on évolue tour à tour sur des fruits rouges puis noirs,de la garrigue,des épices.C'est réellement splendide !!! La bouche confirme le diagnostic:c'est soyeux,suave,magique.On est plus sur les notes épicées qu'au nez.Longueur magnifique.Incontestablement une très grande bouteille....
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Two couples to dinner at the farm: PnP and allowed to open in the glass, with significant evolution over time. Translucent colour. Nose initially strong on menthol and barnyard, split the party between those who loved it and those who coulnd't bear it. Plalate surprisingly high-energy, still plenty to give and plenty going on, smoke and cured meat and dark fruits and herbs.
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T's 45th Birthday (Søllerød Kro): From magnum. Red currant and raspberry fruit but it is difficult to find behind the very "animalistic" style of the wine. The wine simply explodes with perfume and flavors of wet fur, barnyard and grilled mushrooms. It is certainly not a wine for everybody due to the very animalistic notes :-) There is plenty of spicyness and a decent aftertaste. I loved it a lot but there were some discussions around the table where some were claiming that it was corked. I did not find anything wrong with the bottle but simply claim that an old Beaucastel is simply a very special wine :-)
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Celebrating Todd's Milestone Bday (The Milling Room - NYC): First bottle of the evening, this one in my cellar for about 12 years. Great fill, high neck, cork came out clean. Decanted for about 45 minutes prior to drinking. Had been somewhat concerned it might develop too quickly and rollover...not a problem with this bottle. Was ready to go and lasted/evolved throughout the evening.
Translucent red/purple plum color. Nose showing some barnyard to start that blew off, moving to dusted red fruits, black cherry, cinnamon, sous bois. Palate of old cherry, pomegranate, baking spice, balsamic and garrigue. Silky and elegant texture, and nice persistence of plum/cherry through the mid palate. Medium weight and finish.
This was the star of the show on this evening. This one seems like it has life in it, well stored bottes are great now but not likely to improve (IMO). WOTN for both of us
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Cf our notes 2+yrs ago, what has changed is that the fruit has begun to dry out a bit. This of course affects the balance. It is still a great wine, but we would advise to drink fairly quickly.
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Clear medium red. Lots of red fruit here, nutmeg, thyme, and forest floor. Rich and textured spicy berry, currant and black cherry flavours with a long dry rich berry finish.
Still years to go here. I think this is a great wine, maybe one of the best Beaucastel ever. I would rather drink the 95 though.
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Things were better in the old days - Beaucastel was, at least. Stunning wine still - and no signs of fatigue. Everyone was guessing Burgundy of course, such is the elegance, the smoothness, the richesse, the caressing sweetnes and the real personality and discretion. More Grenache and less iron here than last time. Same impression on day 2. From IB #JR&Co
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Fragrant, old-world barnyard, horse sweat, a bit tired, whereas the 1989 was in a totally different place. The '89 was much fresher and had the acidity to carry it many more years. The '90 developed nicely as the evening progressed, integrating the barnyard with herbal characteristics. The '89 not as much. This was a thoroughly enjoyable and fascinating bottle, but I would recommend drinking any you may have very soon.
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Faded colour but even throughout and not browning. Wonderful nose. Palate is fresh and very long. No air required and did not decline in glass. This continues to be fabulous and showing no sign of decline. I started off with two cases over 30 years ago. Two bottles left............
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Started beautifully smelly, cedar, sandlewood, truffles on the palate. Still has some grippy tannins and will age further although I believe it’s drinking at almost peak.
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a few years on since my last TN on this wine and while past peak, it's holding nicely and ageing gracefully. fantastically enticing funky bretty nose, with savoury aromas, herbs and damp forest floor. palate is burgundian and feminine in texture, silky and graceful. a slight saline note on the long savoury finish. such a lovely wine.
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Small supper at Noizé (Noizé, London): Rich nose with hints of aniseed and a little beefiness, just the faintest line of brett on pouring which is absolutely appropriate. There is little grapefruit juice lift here too and just a pipette drop or two of age-derived balsamic. Palate is rich warming and long, hints of leather and maybe a hint of cinnamon. Good acidity.
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Easter dinner of seared duck breasts. Just a magnificent bottle, cork disintegrated, lots of sediment. Opened an hour before dinner. Absolutely wonderful. YUM.
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{Tasted with EB, TS, AM; was bought on release} Beautiful, Burgundian elegance, could have convinced myself the nose was that of Pinot; just danced on palate and length/depth all there. impressive sediment. No Brett as was common complaint in the early 80s bottlings. A real step up from last bottle note I entered in CellarTracker, alas I think I've drunk all mine up! Great wine.
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Vineyard Brands label. Purchased on release and stores since in my home cellar which is in the low 60s. Good fill. Cork stained 1/2 way. PNP. Brownish red brick color. Red fruit soars from the glass at open. Could have mistaken for an old rustic Burgundy on the nose. On the palate more earth, minerals, leather on the finish. This faded a bit and feel it was at its best at open but good throughout. I should be drinking up now. A-
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This wine needs a 4 hour decant for it to fill out and the flavour intensity to build. At that point big black fruited wine with hints of menthol on the nose. While good it is nothing like the spectacular bottle I had back in 2006. Quite drying at the end, age rather than tannin I think. I don’t expect this to get any better.
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I was skeptical about this bottle from the get go and it seemed pretty much dead on opening. a heavy soy sauce without much fruit left this wine wanting. Next day, to my surprise, it had perked up a bit. Still showing very mature, and would benefit from better acidity, but nevertheless an enjoyable pairing with the richness of Antep pistachios. I suppose pristinely stored bottles might still have a chance, though i think one can safely call this past prime.
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Better than my previous experience, but not at the extraordinary level it was about 5 years ago, the medium-bodied wine is elegant, refined, soft, silky, and spicy with layers of sweet cherries, kirsch, green olives, earthy raspberries, pepper, and herbs. There is no need to decant and no reason to hold this any longer. Drink 2022-2024.
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Exquisite. Easily the finest showing of this wine. As with the greatest vintages of Beaucastel, this has achieved a transformation abs transparency with time that is breathtaking. Light brick. Totally refined, completely ethereal, with telltale game and bark aromas and flavours. Obviously in late maturity, the wine is supple, but still filled with fruit. Gentle tannins, a complete, balanced palate, and a stunning finish, all pressed in a complete, and refined structure. Not as rich as the 89, but this particular bottle really delivered a stunning refinement that we chase in aged wine. No real hurry with bottles in this condition, although I don’t think it will improve, only develop.
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After my last bottle, I decided to pull out another. This looked the same but it was clear from the medium+ intensity nose of red fruit, minerals, tan spices, and a touch of Provencal herb that this bottle was on another level.
In the mouth, this wine was beautifully balanced with light tannin and great acidity.
This was maybe the best bottle of this wine I have had. While it should last for 5+ years if well stored, I see no reason to wait. Clearly, there is a lot of bottle variation with this wine. Arguably 95 pts.
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From an excellent bottle purchased on release, this wine had good color with orange at the rim.
The nose was clean with some red fruits and minerals but was not particularly complex. The mouth followed suit. It had good balance and length but no wow factor.
This had a couple of hours in a decanter and was good but just not up with other bottles.
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I don’t know what more I could ask for. Nice brett hit, meaty Mourvèdre flavor, lingering finish with and age appropriate crunch on the finish. My favorite vintage after the 88 back in the day.
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my last of seven bottles, this was again a treat, a little less full bodied than I was expecting, nice elegant red and dark red fruit, with easygoing acidity underlying, at about three hours in decanter I tasted it and it was superb (with umami on alongside the acid and fruit), but then tapered off when taken to dinner a couple hours later... still a real treat and not BIG like some '90's can be (which is not my style frankly)
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Clearly the oldest wine of the night, very faded ruby with sediment filled black core; old aromatic sandalwood, licorice, stewed/macerated red fruits, and a touch of sweetness from the tannins dropping out and almost full resolved. Really beautiful and in great shape for an old CdP. 5th place. Lawry's DD CdP dinner.
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Last bottle from a case purchased upon release. Nice tight cork (unlike the ‘89’s), medium garnet with little sediment upon decanting. Musty, Beaucastel nose, medium bodied, silky texture. All tannins gone and the wine through the evening got better and better. Consumed next to a bottle of the 1998, which was good but not in class of the 1990. Maybe with 8 years of aging it will improve but I doubt it will quite match the ‘90.
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Back when I first started collecting I can remember older collectors waxing poetic about the 89’ and 90’ Beaucastel, not as much about the current vintages, which would’ve been the mid to late 00’s. I was able to try the 89’ around that time, and while it was funky and rustic to the extreme, it had an undeniable energy and complexity which held your interest and easily got the bottle finished. Years later I found a mag of the 90’ and that was a fun bottle, it showed well, cleaner than the 89’ but not quite as energetic or complex as I would’ve expected. More down the middle, with clearly “sunkissed fruit” from the warm year. So when this bottle was opened I didn’t expect much, but it turned out to be a pristine bottle from a 50 degree cellar, and was absolutely soaring on the nose, fresh and holding well on the palate. Best showing of the 89/90 Beaucastel I’ve had, even if missing some of the magic of the 89’ from my memory, it was just a great bottle of an archetypal, classic wine.
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Quite a treat to get another stab at this wine. This bottle showed impeccably, and for my palate, it is drinking at peak. You have some warm, baked red fruits from the vintage with softened tannins, a little red pepper, too. It remains fresh, balanced, and should hold a few more years but I don’t see it improving from here. I guessed 89 right bank, but should have known better.
WOTN at Murley tasting. Red brick color with amber rim. Tremendous complex nose---starts with barnyard followed by dried black cherry, raspberry and plum, grillade of beef, smoke. Palate adds more dark fruits with sweet merde, old leather, dark cocoa. The tannins and acids have balanced out the fruit. Long finish. Love this wine.
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Decanted 3 hrs. Cork broke. Brick red, pale edge, rather low density. Large bq w meat, barnyard, dried rose petals, spices, light smokiness, dried cherries, raspberries. Plenty of rounded tannins, also plenty of acidity, still plenty of dark fruit, all very well integrated. Long, elegant aftertaste , where the acidity makes the wine feel younger than it is. Of course fully mature, but can be kept a bit longer. Lovely wine!!
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Lucid garnet with orange tinted rim. Smoky nose with truffles, red fruits and some orange peel. On the palate this is unbelievable complex, balanced and silky with most of its tannins shed. Finishing on its balancing refreshing acidity with smoky fruit notes. So intense but light on its feet and elegant. 5/14/19/9. Since release perfectly stored bottles like this will hold through for some more years and then slowly decline. -2025+
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Tucson Lunch Bunch En Magnum dinner: Served en magnum at our wine group dinner. Very funky nose with some Brett, red fruit, leather and herbs. The palate is ripe, smooth with sweet fruit. Soft tannins and excellent finish.
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Red with brick around the edges. Obviously aged character. Buttered popcorn on the nose, the fruit os muted at this point, the length is incredible. I anticipate still tasting this tomorrow morning. Cork was very difficult but manageable. What a treat.
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really nice, despite the full-minus body this did not feel heavy at all, purple fruit (ie in the middle of red and dark), and great umami spice... sweet and savory all at the same time, and awesome mouthfeel at this age... this feels at peak
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Juicy and fresh, fully mature — elegant and drinking well. Some funk initially after opening, but that completely blew off after 15 minutes. A fine example of aged CdP.
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Shared a well stored bottle with very close friends and once it began to open up the experience was one of a wine that tasted like it was at its peak. So smooth and still so rich with body and fruit. A lovely long finish. Wine color was like the previous review--so typical for older high quality CDP's. Such fine integration. What a pleasure to enjoy.
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A lovely generous offering from DT. I didn't really want to rate this numerically because it feels unfair to rank such a graceful old wine. Clearly fully mature and perhaps in some way in a very early stage of gentle decline but very, very gracefully. The colour was almost orangey red. The nose and palate was just essence of Beaucastel for those who know the wine. The mouthfeel was so rounded, no edge at all, no tannin, nothing out of place, seamless. If you have these they probably need to be consumed in the coming years but this old wine is ageing very gracefully and will continue to give great pleasure.
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Slow ox for 30 min. This wine is ready to go without much air. It feels like it is in decline now. There is a nice nose of strawberries, herbs and brambles. The wine is medium bodied, with nice balance, not a lot of structure or tannins, a little bit of funk. Overall this is delicious and fascinating but it lacks a little energy now and I would recommend drinking these soon
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Wow, amazing wine! The cork crumbled away, opened an hour before dinner. Just a beautiful aged Beaucastel. Glad a few bottles were set aside, had with some long cooked duck legs. Many years ago (probably around 1990) took the tour at Beaucastel, and later that evening had dinner at La Beaugraviere in Mondragon. One of the Perrin brothers was having dinner with an English couple and old unlabeled bottles from the winery were served, along with truffles on every course!
Nose is sweet red cherry. Wonderfully rustic, very farmy although not as far as animalistic. Reminiscent of an '82 Emedio Pepe enjoyed last month. Perfumed and floral. With the exception of Rayas didn't know Chateauneauf could achieve this lightness. Palate is more robust than the nose suggests. Texturally soft and silky. Some darker more raisiny fruit. Still very farmy. Integrated and resolved. Glorious swan song here and imagine this is peak. Drink right now.
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Another bottle drunk on New Year's Eve. Partnered with braised brisket, for which it was an excellent partner. Similar to previous bottle, plenty of depth, good balance and still going strong.
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Lost my detailed tasting notes on this, had the night after Thanksgiving with aged country ham leftovers.
Perfectly in its drinking window. Needed a slight decant to open up but nothing off about it from first taste to dinner. Light red berry profile with some secondary and tertiary flavors (darn you lost notebook!), good acid and structure, I remember multiple layers of flavors which all melded together. Finish was a little short, but not distractingly so. Overall very solid and enjoyable.
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During a Cdp dinner. Expressive tertiary nose with a clear animalic/bretty top note uperpinned with ripe cherry, sweet spices, earthy elements, complex and complete. The palate is medium-full bodied with excellent structure and freshness. A grand CdP. 95+
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First of three bottles found when reorganizing - I thought I had drink all these and a good lockdown surprise. Colour reflects maturity. On first opening slight firmness in finish which made me wonder if is was on the way down. Then very persistent with a good mix of red fruit and leather armchair notes (slight whiff of farmyard but nothing excessive - if anything this added interest). After a couple of hours in decanter it drank very well with no signs of fading. Though no longer as vigorous as a few years ago the extra depth compensates. Mellifluous and worth the wait. (bought on release). I don't like competition among wines but it had the edge quite clearly over the '98 drunk the next day and possibly by more than the point I have given.
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White import label on front. Cloudy brick orange red showing age and sediment. Pretty good out of the bottle but great with 30 minutes of air. Such a wonderful nose of mature ripe red fruit, leather, earth, barnyard. Such a wonderful sense of place - Rhône at its best. Feels like at its peak for my bottles. I only hope other vintages of this wine will match the ‘89 and ‘90 - soon! A
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For old times sake: Horse stable, leather and forest floor in the bouquet. Same on the palate. Very complex and mature. Certainly special and still lovely. May stay on this level for some more years, but will not improve anymore.
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I stand corrected - found 2 more of these in the cellar so not quite done with the case yet. And thankfully so as this bottle was stupendous. Red and black fruits, spice, underbrush, sauvage, some meat and pepper. Highly nuanced and delicate. These bottles are at peak and in certain bottles starting decline. Drink up and good luck. I have had mixed bag from a case I bought over a decade ago. Some really fantastic bottles and some that were OTH.
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BBQ at The Papies (The Papies, Elizabeth St, London): Every time we open this wine is a bit of a coin toss as we have had many bad bottles along with some great. This time it landed on heads. And it was beautiful. We did not decant just left it to breath. And it was singing all the way. Soft yet full of life, smoky, light dark fruits, herbs de Provence all the way and exactly what we wanted. A superb example of a well aged CdP from a great vintage. 94
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From a perfect looking bottle, the this wine had a deep red center and light red/orange rims. The medium intensity nose put forth cassis, cherries, soy, and some roasted meat.
In the mouth, this wine was rich and ripe with notable rounded tannin and solid acidity. It had nice balance and excellent length.
This wine had a slightly alcoholic/astringent element that held back its score. However, this was a nice bottle, better than average. Drink up!
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superb. the nose is classic beaucastel for the era... saddle leather, sweet herbs, wet leaves, plum. the wine's colour and (lack of) opacity show its age, with increasing, almost burgundian translucence. lovely silky texture. this is still beautiful but on the decline and likely beyond its prime. don't wait!
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Fine Wines SG - Rhone Tasting Set (Delivered to Home): Deep ruby, with browning and fading edges. Aromas of paprika, blackberry, fern, and smoke. Soft tannins, big alcohol heat, blackberry flavours, and a savoury kick of pepper, meats, mushroom and soy. The mushrooms and meats persist, to a very long finish. Excellent wine!
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Ah the Joy fo a great bottle of 1990 CdP! after a few off bottles this beauty came along and reminded us why a few year sao we said this would be the wine to buy if one could only buy just one wine! The nose was capable to launch a 1000 ships. Soft and elegant, herbs de provence, light smoky meat, earthy, soft sweet undertone of fruit. Beautiful and so expressive from the pop f the cork . We left the wine to relax and did not decant fearing it fragile. The palate is very healthy and alive, soft and elegant and follows the nose on that albeit the nose is supreme. Super slid wine but we fear more of a function f individual bottles of this as so many we had were sub par. Solid still. 94-95 on this.
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No decanting here. Just a pop and pour was all that was needed to bring the flowers, baked cherry, kirsch, spice box, herb and green olive aromatics. Silky, soft, fresh sweet and tart cherries with a strong note of olive tapenade and cocoa in the finish. This is not as good as it was a few years ago. If you are sitting on any bottles, you should consider drinking this sooner than later.
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superb again, had alongside the '89 (another of my past favorites) and the '78... 90 was classic but elegant grenache / Mourvedre blend with super fruit and less secondary stuff -- age has made this elegant but not so much spicy... the '89 was funky when opened, then 45 mins later was just as good but with more character / spice and less purplish fruit, the '78 was understated and while nice, it was a little washed out next to the two greats of '89 and '90... I suspect the '78 was much better ten years ago
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Dinner w/Matt and Katie at Bistro les Amis in NYC, great spot for casual French and corkage friendly. This was one of my contributions for the evening. Cork came out relatively clean, decanted for about 30 minutes, drank over course of the evening.
Consistent with prior notes:"Faded purple/plum color, cloudy. Took the nose about 15 minutes to show. Old raspberry and black cherry on the nose. Palate showing dusted cherry, pomegranate, rhubarb, plums. Classic CdP baking spice in the mid palate..." Adding...Medium weight, nicely perfumed wine. Delicate and elegant wine, baking spice and plum through the mid palate.
Really spectacular showing on this evening. We drank this next to a 2003 Beaucastel CdP - fun to compare the older elegant 1990 with the fruit forward/sexy 03. Nothing to not like at this point, well stored bottles have more time in them but it wont likely improve...
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I opened two bottles for this tasting. Both bottles were in excellent condition but the cork looked essentially brand new on one (both authentic). This wine had a deep red center and tawny rims. The medium+ intensity nose showed black cherries, anise, soil, and plums.
In the mouth, the first bottle was nice but a bit firm. The bottle with the better cork was sweeter and better integrated. Both bottles had a reasonably long finish.
If you have read my other reviews, you know that I favor relatively long decants. This wine seemed to do a bit better with a shorter decant, say maybe and hour or so. There was clearly bottle variation here and, in general, it is time to drink up.
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From a magnum, this wine is still lovely and has nice balance and rounded tannin. However, I see a clear trend here where it is losing its red fruit and becoming a touch more rustic.
I love aged wine and this wine has been excellent in the past. However, I now believe this is headed in the wrong direction. Drink up.
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Cosnistent with my notes of 12-13-15 - "Blackberry, black cherry, roasted meat, saddle leather, tobacco, peppercorn, a little bret, some Provencal herbs, spice, touches of bacon fat and cigar box." The wine was a little better in my earlier tastings, but still a good wine.
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I bought this wine "en primeur", lost it in a house fire and was able to replace the case. I now have just three bottles left.
Double-decanted and poured it straight away, to allow it to evolve and open in the glass.
Mature, pale brick colour, but no sign of browning. The intense nose combines deep bouquet of cured meat, cedar, mushroom and gentle spices with some still bright red fruit. Palate is developed, umami, earthy flavour, sous-bois and gentle cooked cherries, melon (brett). Finishes long and fresh.
I have to say, this is my perfect wine.
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The quintessential Beaucastel. Fully mature, but has the makings of a 50-year wine. Tree bark, tobacco, cigar smoke, leather, raspberry, feral notes, camphor, opulent fruit. Tremendously complex, and quite structured. Not as round or forward as the 1989, this structured wine is on,y starting to show the gorgeous transparency that Beaucastel develops. Generally I occurs around 25, but here we are at 29....96 plus ...
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Fully matured, the notes by the group described it better than I can, so I won't be adding to it. Over a meal, I thouroughly enjoy this wine, more so than the Guigal la Landonne 1991 (technically I have to score the Guigal much higher 96-97), which was opened at the same dinner.
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Having read Papies’ previous note, I decided to open my last 750 from 750s and magnums bought on release. Decanted around two hours ahead of dinner, a small taste convinced me to put this right back in the bottle. It was definitely ready to go. The 90 is at its peak with nothing more to be gained. In fact, holding it longer might be a risk as the previius review noted. That being said, this was just an all out great bottle of CdeP. A thrill to drnk but sad there are no more in the cellar.
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The wine is definitely in the "Drink Now" stage as its startign to tail off. Still a pretty well aged wine with all the hall marks but its lackign the energy and brightness that made this wine exceptional and we rated it 95-96 4-5 yrs ago. We have had this wine now a good 20 times over the last decade and its definitely now in its last legs unless this was cellared immaculately from release. Definitely a wine we have been on a journey on and much like all great journeys at some point come to an end so that other ones can begin.
Soft wine, well evolved, herbs de Provence, soft dark fruits, hints of smoke, soft red fruits. Short on the finish and lacking a vibrant side. 90 and drink now. We have 4 more bottles that we definitely need to accelerate.
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Tasted blind, I nailed this was a CDP. I was a little bit off on the year. I said 20 years old, but this was closer to 30! Lots of raspberry and blackberry bramble with mint and cola. I would say it had started to fade just a bit from what I know these can be. However, I know that a lot of these Beau's typically go really dark with tobacco and fig and I really was not getting that. Finished with a healthy dose of cedar tannin which was very rounded off. Neat wine.
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This wine had a deep red center with tawny rims. The medium+ intensity nose showed blackberries, forest floor, cherries, and iron.
In the mouth, this wine showed light rounded tannin, solid acidity, and very good length.
While this wine seems to be a bit more soil oriented and less fruit driven than in the past, it is still an excellent wine. I see no reason to wait. Enjoy!
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Look at me drinking CdP! Great nose. Amazing sweetness and a bit horsey but not much. Dark fruit. Plummy. Blackberries good acid and crunchy. Savory and meaty and sweet dark fruit on palate. Great Crunch. Savory and meat finish. Just spectacular. This is at peak and will probably stay there for another 10 I think. Nose - 5.5/6, Palate - 5.5/6, Finish - 5.5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1.5/2 = 18/20.
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Well, expectations were high, but the cork was completely saturated and showed signs of leakage. Still, the fill was solid, so we forged ahead. Slow oxed for an hour which was really needed to blow off some cellar funk. This bottle probably had some poor storage along the way, but was certainly drinkable. Probably not the best example of the wine, so I won’t leave a score. The Grenache was showing loudest at this point. I was surprised by the amount of bright bing cherry fruit still hanging around. A little stewy but overall good quality. A well stored bottle probably has life left
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Murky purple color. Anise and mint initially, which opened into sweet cherries as the wine received air. Broad and expansive, particularly with air. Utterly relaxed and easy-going, but lively and not at all dull. A really lovely older wine.
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Last bottle of a case I bought in 2010. Overall the case was disappointing. Most bottles - like this one - displayed lots of band aid, plastic, some rubber. TCA/Brett laden. Shame as a few bottles were amazing but most tainted with too much wet cardboard and funk. Not what this wine should be.
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We made the mistake here and decanted it for a long time. The wine was solid on open, smoky, with nice dark fruit edge and a bright palate. The decant killed it though as this (not sure if its the wine or the specific bottle which was very solid in level and cork) wine was fragile . Shame on us but at least we have more of these to rectify the error. No point in rating this time
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With Tom at Octavia in San Francisco, a bottle left in his custody. A good opportunity to open this, followed a Dom. Laroche Chablis. Somm decanted for us, taking out most of the sediment. Cork broke but in good shape.
Faded purple/plum color, cloudy. Took the nose about 15 minutes to show. Old raspberry and black cherry on the nose. Palate showing dusted cherry, pomegranate, rhubarb, plums. Classic CdP baking spice in the mid palate. Medium body, nuanced finish. Drank with good flavor and nose for the full hour.
This is beautifully aged at this point, classic old world wine in a great spot. Well stored bottles should hold a while at this level, no reason not to try it through...not sure it gets better...
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Oh, dear me, what a treat; I was guessing '81 Beau, not because it was agingm but because of the cool, mineral, almost Northern Rhône look of this wine. Intense, vibrant, vertical - this is Mourvèdre speaking more so than Grenache. From IB. #ChaveBlancXtravaganza
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Friday Tasting Group: "Killer Bar" (#02 for me) (Vintage Wines Ltd., San Diego, CA): "Château de Beaucastel red is a 70-ha vyd with one single plot at the N of the appellation. The terroir is archetypal of the best terroirs in Châteauneuf: rolled pebbles on the surface, sand, clay, & limestone deeper down. Each variety is harvested manually & separately. Vinification is completed in truncated oak barrels for the reductive grapes (Mourvèdre & Syrah) & in traditional tiled cement tanks for the oxidative grapes (such as Grenache). After the malolactic fermentations, the Perrin family blends the different varieties, & then the wine ages in oak Foudres for a yr before being bottled." 30% ea Grenache & Mourvèdre, 10% ea Counoise & Syrah, 5% Cinsault, and 15% Vaccarèse, Terret Noir, Muscardin, Clairette, Picpoul, Picardan, Bourboulenc, & Roussanne;
N: Smoke, some cherries
P: LM body; NICE frt met by firming acidity which fairly seamlessly evolves into a very LONG, BALANCED finish with a tangy/swtness to the firming dusty tannins. A wine that basically flummoxed this group's *very* EXPERIENCED tasters, the guesses I overheard being either Burgundy or Barolo. A *very* IMPRESSIVE wine for NOW & poss 5 yrs more? 13.5% ABV; My Exceptional-. 95 pts Decanter (Jefford, 2/25/16), 17, 17.5, & 18/20 (4x!) Jancis Robinson, + more on the "Pro Reviews" section of this pg, and the "Critic Reviews" section of wine-searcher!
Note: From the same bottle as bankermd this same date
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Beautiful bouquet upon opening-knew the wine was in excellent form. Color mature but neither browning nor watery. Elegant, not powerful. A tremendous treat and very pleasant surprise on its condition. So different to New World syrah blends...
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Brought to our wine group's quarterly killer bar. This wine was absolutely singing. In a perfect place, fully resolved but beautifully balanced. Flavors of Grenache which reminded me of Rayas (at several times the price), and which even the Grenache hater in the group thought was fantastic.
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Saturated cork that came out solid. Wine was clean but a bit tired and fading this time as she caught up to this bottle. Pleasant but lacked the charm of orior bottlrs
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Color was sort of cloudy and feel it may have been shaken up when the guest transported it. Never really came around, and didn’t enjoy. Hopefully bottle variation.
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Bought a few bottles at auction hoping to enjoy a nice aged CDP. Unfortunately the first bottle exuded a noticeable aroma of brett and the first sip confirmed this. Overpowering brett on the palate rendered the bottle completely undrinkable - a total write off. The second bottle also had a pronounced brett presence, perhaps not as dense but unpleasant nonetheless. I assumed poor provenance was the culprit, but see other reviewers observed the same flaw. Very disappointed.
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Some funk, but on the whole a lovely raspberry/ black cherry/herbal/smokey melange, deep in color and in beautiful balance. It is hard to define maturity in a wine, at least for me, but this wine is in a very good place right now, and will likely remain at this level for at least several more years. Improved and deepened in the glass.
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Decided not to decant this because I didn't want the brett to bloom. I could smell a little on the nose but it never hit the palate. This was delicious, lighter body, integrated flavors. It vanished quickly.
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This wine has been very consistent for me. I purchased a case at release but did not open the first for about five years. I have now opened 10 bottles and every single one has been flawed. Serious Brett and an awful nose makes this undrinkable for me.
Great fill. Cork half soaked. Half teaspoon of sediment. Quick decant. Silky smooth. Sweet red fruits, touches of cedar, truffles, and some black fruits at the back end. 30 second finish. Bliss.
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Heavy brett on the open. Did get better over a couple hours. But never went away. Nice spices and red fruits. Very delicate at this stage. Nuanced and moderate complexity. Drink now - no further upside.
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Still holding well but starting to gracefully descent downhill but stylishly with royal dignity, seductive nose, ripe dark berries, spices, liquorice, smoke, tertiary aromas and wide mouthfeel, alcohol does not come through as might for younger vintages, brett is never far away from Beaucastel and it is present here as well but at the back, convincing long and lingering aftertaste.
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Fantastic. Aged coloring. Beautiful nose. Surprisingly fresh, spicy, some smoke, kirsch, ripe fruit, earth. Med long. Best CdP I have had in my limited classic-wine drinking life. Can't see how this is getting better.
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Great balance of black cherry and raspberry flavors with sous bois and savory notes, including roasted herbs, tobacco, and pepper. Tannins were silky smooth and the acidity definitely present and vibrant. Though I imagine the fruit may have been more prominent if it were opened earlier, it still held up very well.
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Have consumed 4 bottles in the last two months. Many of the thoughts in my notes of12/13/2015 still apply: the intensity of the fruit has diminished somewhat. Although there is bottle variation, the noses were sort of consistent to past tastings: blackberry, black cherry, roasted meat, saddle leather, tobacco, peppercorn, a little bret, some Provencal herbs, spice, touches of bacon fat and cigar box.The fruit intensity in the mouth has slightly waned . The zenith of its apogee seems to be now in more of a downswing now. It's still an decent wine, but the fruit intensity seems to have diminished. If can find the rest of my bottles, I'm drinking them up. Scores 91-93.
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Golden red rim color, faint nose, delicious dark red fruit with smoke and black pepper flavors, elegant, very smooth, softened tannins, excellent structure, ample finish
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{Bought on release, Vineyard Brands importer, house storage until 2004, professional storage since, a bit less than 1 cm ullage, perhaps 6 left now} lighter brownish edge to rim, beautiful mature nose, very Burgundian at this stage, lovely mid-palate, alas somewhat clipped on the finish compared to prior bottles. Completely clean wine, none of the brett of the '81 and '83. Drunk with the 2006 Pegau and 2006 Marcoux Vielles Vignes, which are heroically sized wines and a bit unfair to this Beaucastel. Drink up before 2020 as I think now entering a gentle decline. Others at the table would have probably given this bottle a 92-93 score just on the nose and palate.
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En magnum. The corked was almost 90% soaked through, but totally intact. Decanted for approximately 30 minutes. Medium-red color with noticeable amber on the edge. Tremendous nose of leather, earth and spice around a dark berry core. Everything perfectly in alignment - fruit, tannin and acidity. Not overly sweet, but felt like biting into a dark berry tart with a finish that really stains the palate. Maybe a little fresher than my last 0.750 bottle, but not a huge difference.
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Decanted for a good 30 minutes before served. The joy of hitting a singing bottle of 1990 Beaucastel ( we have had a lot of poor bottles too) ! Such an elegant and beautiful wine. Herbs de Provence, soft fruit, lightest touch of bret (almost adds to the wine:) ), soft yet alive on the tannin front. Almost Burgundian at this stage. lovely earthy side and just excellent. 94-95 once again and adjusted for the price this is one of the best value for money we have come across.
Dinner with Beaucastel (Chez moi): Very round and harmonious, very 1990, performing effortlessly. Complete wine in complete balance, generous, without showing off. My WOTN. #Auction wine.
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Vineyard Brands label. Pretty good out of the bottle and great with 30 minutes. This proved the last bottle was just flawed, and kept enthusiasm alive for the rest, as this is fully mature but seems will hold for some time. Great wine. A
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Gives an intoxicating fragrance, though the palate is more memorable for me. Great fruit with a bit of sweetness, and still with excellent acidic freshness. Medium in body with good complexity to the fruit. Finishes clean and pure, on fresh red fruit, short to medium in length. This was really in the zone, such a great drinking wine, and unsurprisingly excellent with steak. Served cool so any earth and funk were held pretty well in check. Tannins fully integrated. From magnum.
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Pale garnet colour. Highly aromatic, mature nose of dried berry, leather and earth with a balsamic note. Some volatile acids present, acetic and acetates, but not off-putting if you enjoy old wine characteristics. Elegant, complex and integrated palate; harmonious finish. 4/5
*sampled from 375mL bottle as a vertical tasting: 1990, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2012
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Wine of the year; maybe the decade. The wine was so on-point and universally loved by our table of 8 comprising oenophiles to largely non-drinkers. Acid, tannin, dark fruit / leather, a delightful whiff of mustiness--intoxicating, balanced, harmonious. Insanely delicious. Highest score I've ever given to a wine--may deserve higher (finish was ONLY a minute long!).
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Ruby with clear center; nose of wood, leather and barnyard; pfn with addition of fennel and cinnamon; thin, drawn mouthfeel; long finish; balanced; still drinking well, but nearing the end of its life
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Vineyard Brands label. PNP. Even with an hour of air this never showed well, or near my previous notes. Not corked, but an off bottle. '89 blew it away. B+?
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Decanted and served. This followed a poor bottle that we opened before and helped to put a smile on our face. Very consistent with our previous good bottle note. " So well aged, still quite bright, light earthy, herbs de Provence, light red cherry feel. Elegant and pure on the palate with a nice balance and although its fully mature still has a lot to give. A wine to drink sooner that later but still with a good decade in it. 94-95 once again"
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From a very nice looking bottle with a 2 cm fill, this wine had a deep red center with oranging rims. The medium intensity nose offered up cherries, oranges, rhubarb, and brown spices.
This wine was interesting but subtle and subdued for the first few hours. Afterward, it slowly firmed up and filled out. It had light tannin and firm acidity. There were moments where there was a touch of excess alcohol and moments where it seemed to be well balanced. It was borderline 93 points.
While this seemed to be entering the drinking zone, it needed 5+ hours in a decanter before it reached its potential. It will certainly last for 10 years. Will it get better? It seems to me there has been substantial bottle variation with this wine.
Decanted for a good hour. Not a bad idea to decant this wine. The joy of coming across a good bottle of this wine is a fine pleasure. So well aged, still quite bright, light earthy, herbs de Provence, light red cherry feel. Elegant and pur eon the palate with a nice balance and although its fully mature still has a lot to give. A wine to drink sooner that later but still with a good decade in it. 94-95 once again
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Beautiful nose of sage, winter chimney smoke, strawberries, and old boathouse. Soft and fully unfurled. The tannins, fruit, and acidity are totally in sync. Light bodied and saturating with exotic spices. Long finish. There are many aspects of this wine that are similar to great mature wines in general-mature Bordeaux, etc. But there is also another level to it that surfaces nostalgic feelings and happiness. For me, wines like 1990 Beaucastel capture the magic of wine.
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Dinner and a Great Mix of Wines at Lonny's (Lonny's Place, Mpls): While the '89 Beaucastel got accolades tonight, the '90 was also drinking very well. A bigger wine overall, it did have a lot of brett which may have put some off. I loved the garrigue on this with intense spice and pepper. The fruit is darker, black cherry and blackberry, more full bodied, very nice, silky tannins. Thanks for sharing this pair of honeys Jason and Tracy.
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Excellent wine. Probably at the end of it's peak, though. Gamey, tobacco, gravel road, with fruit still hanging on. Great with an elk and venison dinner.
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Beautiful aged Chateauneuf. The nose is filled with savory notes, slightly dried red berry fruits, dried violet, saddle leather, dried herbs. The palate is rich and fabulous, great fruit, slightly dried, but delicious, savory, earthy, aged, excellent. Definitely no upside from here, so don't wait too long, but this is excellent.
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I noticed that this bottle - I've had it for a while - had some seepage and a little lower fill than some of the other Beaucastels from the same time-period.
Absolutely beautiful. This is one of the best wine's I've ever had; smooooooth, still-young, dark, stinky, with great balance and flavor; blackberries, mushrooms, cola, and Turkish spice.
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This wine is not only holding up well; it seems to be right around its peak. Typical Beaucastel notes of lavender and herbs de Provence. Full of "serious wine" aromas like smoked meat, dark-roasted coffee, leather, and black truffle. Full of umami. A backdrop of ripe cherry and blackberry. Altogether huge--including the tannins. A little too muddy and tannic for my tastes; reminds me of Barolo in that regard. That's just a quibble, but it's the main reason why I couldn't put this wine in the 95-100 range.
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Underbart mogen doft med svampskog och stall. Skulle jag fått det blint så skulle jag på doften trott att det var en mogen Bordeaux. I smaken är det däremot helt uppenbart södra Rhone med mogen sött frukt och silkiga rena tanniner. Fint långt slut. En aning för sötfruktigt för ett par till.
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From a magnum. Perfection and the essence of what a great CDP should be in all respects. Decanted just 1 hour and really no need as it was drinking beautifully right from the start. I've never understood the need for luxury CDP cuvees, especially when a wine performs as this one did at lunch today.
UWS 2016 End of year dinner (@ CdW and KvdK): Beautiful and mature bouquet with a lot of stable/barnyard and earthy impressions, but so lovely and complex. I love it! On the palate the same (pleasant) bretty flavors. Firm acidity, but in beautiful balance with the sweetness. Soft tannin. Great wine imho.
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This bottle was a bit heavy on the brett, but it was still tasty. I am sure other bottles of this are much better than this one. Plenty of earthy, leathery stuff going on.
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this wine bested (by a nose) the 1989 version on the same Thxgiving night, this wine - like the '89 - was med red fruited with lots of holiday spices that went down like silk, great balance with acidity and brightness, this wine was full-minus bodied and oh so luxurious, but all the while elegant and silky... oh boy, what a performance, one of the best wines I've opened in the last twelve months, at peak for sure but feels like it has a decade (or more?) left of life
Monday at Domaine (Domaine Wine Storage - Chicago, IL): It's been almost 6 years since I last had this wine and it's still a showstopper. Beautifully aromas of spicy red fruit, silky floral notes, and damp earth. The wine seemed to be made from silk. Wonderful composition that blended the exotic fruits of the vintage with the rustic notes that Beaucastel is so well known for. The complete package in CdP.
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Decanted just before serving. Garnet colour with lighter rim, material sediment in later glasses despite careful decanting so filtered those. Initially seemed a bit faded but the fruit quickly ripened up in the glass. Mellow kirsch and red fruit with attractive leather, a nice element of saddle (in balance) and a hint of herbs on the finish. I expected this to be a touch more vibrant and multi-faceted and despite the fill level I think it was an average bottle. One to revisit as this was a nice and decent aged Beaucastel but not a good 1990 Beaucastel for sure. ***1/2+
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Food: French @ Darcy & Liz Hong Kong Duration: 4 hours Condition: Perfect Aroma: Floral, candy, cherry Notes: I've always found old Beaucastel to be somewhat similar to the Chambolle/Bonnes Mares aroma. But unlike other vintages like 1988 or 1989 I found the 1990 a little weaker while the wine is not expressive enough. I didn't enjoy this bottle very much. I think we can probably keep this wine for another 5-10 years but I don't see how it can develop any further from here onwards.
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Amazing wine. The cleanest 1990 I have had. Plenty of fruit left in this beauty. This particular bottle could probably easily last another 5-10 years. So much elegance in this wine, plenty of strawberries, herbs. Just a lovely treat. Not much can provide the enjoyment like a pristine bottle of mature Beaucastel.
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A very fine wine indeed but a bottle not at the level of old ones. We are starting to worry if this wine is taken the tail off road. Did not decant just opened and left to rest. We feared fragility but not really there in the end. Very elegant , well secondary nose, balanced, light spice, good fruit still but a soft undertone rather than a bold punch. Very solid 94 but far from the 97 we came across a few years ago.
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Solid Beaucastel, drink them up as they are fully mature. One person, a Beaucastel aficionado, said that this bottle didn't bring quite the accustomed "funk" to the table. Overall while the group enjoyed this wine they were not blown away (some had expected to be)
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Excellent bottle with still perfect cork....aged strawberries and herbs and very modest barnyard...this is very elegant and still full flavored...very pretty bottle of wine
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Wines of Good Hope: Summer 2016; 7/9/2016-8/31/2016 (River's Inlet, British Columbia): Best bottle of this opened yet - really impressive showing. Highly expressive aromatics of game meats, drying leathery berry fruit, and rustic soil. Plenty of power left on the palate with tannins fully resolved and providing great balance. Texturally silky. Very elegant. Terrific bottle. Very happy.
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Quite pale and lucent. Cooked strawberries in the nose, just a hint of barnyard in the beginning. 1st day: On the palate now tender, medium bodied, again cooked red fruits, leather and meat, very complex. Good, refreshing acid. like an old Burgundy. 2nd day: The second half of the bottle was more fullbodied because of the sediment on the bottom.
Rating: 92 for structure and power, 94 for elegance and sophistication.
Decanting is necessary to air and to even the structure. Drink soon.
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As Mike notes, this was a big step below other bottles of the '90 Beau he's opened from the same stash. It feels more mature and less powerful than I recall, with the red fruited flavours coming across a bit simple, and a faint black tea-like note on the nose amidst the leather and earthy notes that suggests this bottle is a bit tired. The palate feels a bit awkward, not showing the depth and power of past bottles, but rather coming across a little disjointed with the acids sticking out on the finish. Still quite enjoyable, but not what this should have been.
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An atypical Monday (Dale's): What a disappointment from a case that has delivered such highs, but this was (by far) the worst bottle from the case. Rather advanced on the nose, with savory/soy notes along with leather. The bit of soy on the palate as well distracted from the funky, leathery, earthy character. Nice texture and structure, but it just tasted like a wine well past its prime (which it clearly is not, judging by other bottles). What amazing bottle variation.
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This bottle was not perfect. The cork smelled of tca, however the wine was not corked. I tried this last year and it was a better wine then. But then again with older bottles some are better some less so. This also had stiff competition as a Bollinger Grand Annee 2002 Hudelot Noellat Clos du Vougeot 2009 preceded it - both showed really well. This was still a treat with a rack of lamb but I was missing some depth and length in the finish. Let's hope the next bottle will be in full stride. 92 on basis of this bottle, previously rated 96.
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Happy Easter! The '90 Beau is such a privilege :) Very grateful to own a few of these, and I am even more grateful when they show well.
Stood this 750ml last night, decanted for a little over an hour, then served with rack of lamb. This bottle showed fine/well, but fell short of the amazingness that usually embodies 1990 Beaucastel. Really fading color-wise: wide meniscus, plenty of bricking - all of that looks gorgeous to my eyes! All of the fascinating funk on the nose is present: savory spice, 'shrooms, earthiness. Herbaceous, olive/tapenade, dark fruit and pepper notes on the palate. Long finish.
Highly enjoyable, as expected. But usually the '90 has all of this in spades - this bottle was a bit muted relative to the usual laser show :) Having had this a few times, I believe it's 100% bottle variation and nothing at all to suggest being near the end of its reign!
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Drank at Giando's Restaurant Hong Kong - This bottle was clearly in great condition and as is often the case it was the clarity that gave it away. This wine is at its peak now although I suspect it will remain there for sometime. It has resolved the alcohol and fruit extremely well and is now impeccably balanced. I'm not convinced that the recent trend towards high alcohol in Chateauneuf-du-Pape will produce wines like this anymore.
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Un nez fantastique, une éruption de fleures orientales. En bouche c'est précis, soyeux, et les fruits sont encore présent juste ce qu'il faut. La longueur est impressionnante... Une grande bouteille.
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When this was poured , I think everyone at the table felt it was time get get down to business! This bottle of Beaucastel 90 was youthful, open, classic, aged and mature, and what I would consider a perfect bottle of this wine. Best bottle of the 4/6. I loved everything about this wine. It why I drink wine.
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Served double blind. Immediately says southern Rhone to the table, with waves of lavender and herbs de Provence. Just a whiff of funk for my mileage (others got more). Lovely core of fruit, a bit meaty, nice mouthfeel, I guessed 2001 Beaucastel or Pegau. Was shocked on the reveal, such a youthful bottle. I've had this wine once before and it was wild and complex and a little feral, but this bottle must have been cryogenically frozen. Still, excellent.
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Some mustiness, (or is it Brett?) remained while we enjoyed it. Obviously, soft tannins, with silky red fruit, garrigue, maybe a little sour cherry, and very complex.
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This wine is 25 years old but is still on top and tastes absolutely wonderful, extremely complex, intense, dark berries, spices and provence herbs. Rich, still good acidity and tannin structure, long long finish. Viva la France!
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Garnet. This nose. Just wow: Black cherry, blackberry, game, menthol, and garrigue are some of the savory, dark, and animale notes that leap from the glass. On the palate, juicy dark fruit, earth, and some brett-driven barnyards notes that fortunately do not influence the bouquet. Medium bodied with soft, largely integrated tannins, this wine is almost weightless in the mouth, yet packs an incredible punch of both fruit and earth. Sexy and erotic. This is a world class Châteauneuf-du-Pape, exemplar of the form, particularly as an example of what Mourvèdre is capable. Drink through 2025. (Poor cork with extensive seepage, but this wine showed no oxidation.)
cp 50 (Gentofte): Everyone (me included, alas!) was guessing pinot noir and Burgundy here, goes to show the elegance of the ’90 – and also the importance of psychology; everyone is looking at the host, thinking of his cellar, rather than tasting the wine. But this was great! Creamy, elegant, smooth, quite light, but yet will a full base of Grenache. In the Top 5 of the night for me – but hey, that’s me.
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Another great bottle, after a sting of a few off. Needs decanting for sure, a good hour. To Nicol who tried it blind this was so youthful and fresh she said late 90s. And indeed once again (Papies rated this wine 95-97) it performed. Elegant, bright, light earthy, good fruit and has presence without being heavy. Another great experience here and no need to repeat old TNs. 95
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Fresh as a daisy, we seem to have found some excellent (extra) bottles of Beaucastel 1990! Very well delineated layers of leather, cassis, smoked bacon in the nose. This bottle seems significant younger than bottles I had 3-4 years ago. Full bodied and well-balanced on the palate with lots of red fruit but also leather and bacon. Smooth and long finish with silky tannins.
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Zum Weihnachtsessen 2015: Farbe schon etwas hell. Nase fein, zart. Geschmack: Delikat, typisch Rhone, keine Tannine, rund. Reif, aber sehr schön! Noch bis 2020?
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To the eyes a surprisingly pale ruby wine with garnet hues. Aromas (before swirling) of fresh kirsch, plums that are sweet and almost like jammed fruits alongside scent of damp forest and dried flowers.
Bouquet of pungent ripe red cherries and wild berries with a beguiling selection of wood/herb-based perfume – sandalwood, cedar and tobacco leaves mostly. This is accompanied by an overlay of bacon, mushroom, leather and hints of Macadamia Nut. This wine has a huge spice box under its sleeves although it is not in any way overpowering. Overall, a superbly expressive, mature nose!
Each mouthful of wine is full of intense, lusciously sweet fruits (mostly cherries and plums) consistent with the nose with racy acidity and silky tannins followed by a warming white peppery finish.
It is indeed an elegant wine although elegant might not be the most usual word to describe the rouges from Châteauneuf-du-Pape. It grows on you as you take each sip as the wine envelops your palate with its complex set of flavours that stay for a good 20-30 seconds. It is a poised and generous nanny that not only serves you comfort food and takes care of all your everyday needs but also gives you a wink when you want to go out and play when you find yourself too bored in life.
Well, that is simply a difficult way of saying that this might just be the perfect wine for this festive season!
I thoroughly enjoyed this wine with family at home with Wagyu steaks and homemade Spaghetti Bolognese under intermittent, small pours in 10 hours without prior decanting.
I reckon this might just be the peak for this wine but I am confident that it will continue to stay this way for another 2-3 years if stored well.
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A good bottle but not a great one, nothing like the sensational bottle I had in 2006. Youthful bottle CNDP Earth, kirsh and garrigue. Ripe dark fruit, very good but never sang.
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Last tasted from my stash about 28 months ago. Last night I tasted this at a friends' get-together. It seemed then that the intensity of the fruit had diminished slightly. Therefore, I opened this bottle today at home to confirm. The nose was consistent to past tastings: blackberry, black cherry, roasted meat, saddle leather, tobacco, peppercorn, a little bret, some Provencal herbs, spice, touches of bacon fat and cigar box. A fabulous nose, however, the fruit intensity in the mouth has slightly waned . The zenith of its apogee seems to be now on a very slight downswing . It's still an excellent wine, but the fruit intensity seems to have very gradually diminished. Excellent balance. I have about nine bottles left and am aiming to consume them within the next three years.
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Great showing for a bottle in perfect shape. Stinky Mouvedre nose with leather, animal, tree bark and a touch of sweaty saddle. In the mouth, close to fully resolved with spice, tannic tree bark and sweet raspberry fruit, along with a spicy intensity that has huge length and presence but still feels light on its feet. Is this at its peak (for taster who appreciate aged Beaucastel). The wine is in a more structured, "masculine" style than the 1989 or the 1985 - this is more about structure and clarity of expression in a rustic and gamey style. Exceptional.
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Perhaps my last bottle and inspired by CCT's recent note. The wine has shedded a bit of its mourvedre driven power of a decade ago for a burgundian complexity. Yes there is brett, but an essential component of the wine. Just the right amount. Round, complex, spicy. At full maturity. A beautiful bottle and reminds me of many other excellent bottles before. I associate Beaucastel with lots of great experiences over a mutli decade affair with this passion, and this one was true to form.
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A beautiful nose with a mix of meat, olives, raspberry and mushroomy savory background with just enough brett to add interest. This is a wine at peak and very comfortable in its skin. Still fresh and with beautiful fruit, it's ripe, but perfectly so without any sense of heat or cooked fruits. Texturally fantastic with a beautiful sappiness and elegance that seem tailor fitted to the broad structure and give it a Burgundian finesse. Power and grace, and very long. My last bottle of this and drinking fantastically. This has really turned into a beautiful wine.
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My first really disappointing bottle of this ever. Overwhelmingly Bretty, and doubly a shame, since this bottle had great color and was in better shape otherwise than most I've had recently. Oh well, you never now, but the batting average has still been amazingly high.
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Controversial wine and in my experience there are good bottles and overly bretted bottles. This was suspected to be corked initially by some, but it was brett and seemed to disapate, which is unusual for bret. Earthy dark black aromas with animal and horse saddle. Dark briary fruit and somewhat rustic, but dark fruit and nice acid lift sacs the day here. Lots going on here, some will love, some will hate. I liked this bottle, but would not be a crowd pleaser unless they are all wine geeks.
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As Salil noted, this showed amazing evolution with air. On open, showed very pure fruit, excellent structure, and a very good but not earth-shattering wine. The earth-shattering part happened two to three hours later. My note read simply "Holy Shit" and indeed, this was the best bottle yet from this case. Herbal, funky, earthy, fruity, everything-y. Amazingly light on its feet, with incredible complexity and a very long finish. Wish the bottle lasted longer.
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A sip of this soon after opening was good but not impressive, with a lot of red fruit but not a whole lot else. A few hours later (slow-oxygenated), this is a completely different beast, with a spectrum of savoury earthy, truffled, leathery and Provencal herb flavours framing a core of bright red fruit that's still very fresh and youthful. The fragrance is absolutely compelling, and this just keeps getting better with air. Spectacular wine. Thanks Mike.
Opened at 3 PM, allowed to breathe in bottle until 6 PM, then decanted, re-bottled and brought to the restaurant. Tasting began at 8 PM. Five hours of aeration were not enough. Funky notes of poopy barnyard and Band-Aid dominated the bouquet until 9 PM. Hiding underneath were more pleasing notes of garrigue, grilled herbs, red plums, hints of mincemeat and soy. After another hour, the bouquet finally freshened up to reveal lovely notes of kirsch, framboise, minerals, and garrigue, though still not living up to the hype for this vintage. My #3 tonight.
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Rhone Tasting: What a beautifully intricate wine. The nose is sublime: silky red fruit, beef broth, complex spice, pepper, bacon, roses. So pure on the palate, bold but fresh, elegant, full of tangy life. Red berry fruit, dried roses, rhubarb, charcoal, fire pit, beef broth. Complex, long, clean, pure. A gorgeous treat.
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Finally. This really showed well tonight. This needs a good couple hours in the decanter to blow off the funk and get to a special place. Tonight it had nuanced flavors of spice, cherry, some pepper. Soft and elegant. Good color - still a deep purple. And a solid finish. Glad this has finally come around for me. Also, this wine needs to be served with food. Really brings out the better side of the nuances.
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Quite nice still, but decidedly lighter overall in color and flavor than what I recall from bottles drunk some years ago. I would call this fully mature, and, I think at 25 years, one should think more about drinking rather than storing. Lighter red color but little browning from this bottle, stored well since young. Somewhat closed at first, opening up over 1+ hrs over dinner.
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Signs of slight seepage, but still into the neck. Corked soaked thru, yet totally intact. Muted on the nose at first even with with Vinturi aerator. Took about 1 1/2 hours to show its stuff. Medium red color, somewhat translucent and clear to the edge. Classic Beaucastel nose of saddle leather, earth and a touch of spice. Perfectly balanced with soft tannins in the background. Black and red fruits dominate with a tremendous finish. Still trying to decide whether this surpasses the '81 Beaucastel.
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Not flawed, but somewhat dilute and muted, compared to my previous bottles. The last glass was the best, from some of the sediment, which imparted a richer more vibrant character. I've been drinking this fairly consistently since 2002, and this bottle was the least exciting or interesting. I'll need to try one more bottle, but this great wine may finally be going over the hill.
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Lovely nose of provençal herbs including a little of that barnyard aroma, but only slightly that way. The wine has a medium body with silky red fruits, garrigue, saddle leather, forest floor and a long finish on the back of the palate. A very elegant wine.
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Wines @ Mike's (Coventry, CT): This has that rare oxymoronic trait of "clean funkiness". Forest floor and barnyard scents, but so fresh and clean... mixed with lovely herbs and bright red fruits. Complex, balanced and lively. Excellent example of Beaucastel.
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Another great bottle of this. This never fails to deliver a wow experience. Layers of bright red fruits, leather, earth, and other savoury sous bois and truffle-like notes all coming together very seamlessly on a polished, medium weight frame that conveys power with a sense of elegance and restraint. The tannins are incredibly refined, mostly integrated, and this is drinking beautifully right now.
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December birthdays (Coventry): Absolutely beautiful, with a captivating nose that builds with time. L sensed bramble on the nose. Leather, earth, some cherry, mushroom. Very clean, with a good deal of structure--the tannins are medium but quite integrated, the acid is medium-high. Medium finish, driven by cherry, earth, and acid. Very pretty wine.
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1990 Beaucastel is a consistent beauty that always seems to deliver. The wine is complex, with a garrigue, thyme and kirsch filled nose. The texture is luscious, silky and sauvage, ending with a blast of fresh, sweet, spicy cherries. This is probably at peak, but there is probably no hurry to finish your stash.
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Two bottles. I was a bit underwhelmed with this tonight. Quite translucent. The expected "Rhone funk" was present of the nose, and a bit of fruit, but the wine seemed quite thin relative to a bottle drunk last year. Not much going on for me in the mouth either. Both bottles were the same, and not seemingly flawed, jut not to my taste tonight.
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Outstanding CNP, at peak age right now, with tannins and fruit in perfect balance. Sensational wine, went great with beef roast and mashed potatoes, purple cabbage.
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Stored in a cold cellar since release. Neck fill. Perfect cork. Lovely complex medium bodied wine. Still lively with superb balance.Only 13.5%. A true masterpiece which proves 14.5% is not always necessary. Is this fair maybe the grapes had arrived a optimun ripeness? At peak but will last depending on stoage. To 2020 at least but hard to judge after then.
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SbS with the 95 and 98 however this was a pop and pour. The most earthy aromatics initially with some older bottle funk notes which receded within 10 minutes to reveal plush dark red and blue fruit. Probably hit peak within 1/2 hr. It showed silky and mouth coating goodness with a seamless start to finish balance. We were blessed with a clean bottle which was drinking at peak. A classic which was enjoyed by all with a grilled leg of lamb and white truffle mashed potatoes. Excellent. If you got them drink them!
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Welcome Home Peter! (Park Palace, Grand Park Hotel): I don't quite know how to place this bottle. While still clearly very good indeed, it was so marked by Brett that I could not quite enjoy it completely. Served blind, some on the table adored it, voting it wine of the night, others were less thrilled. Personally, I thought it was perhaps the poorest of the few smashing bottles of the 1990 I have had over the years. The Brett just hit you on first pour - with lots of funky smells, reminiscent of barnyard and gym sock, floating over more pleasant tones of dark plums and black cherries laced with a lovely fragrant spice - cumin and menthol and cloves - and then a nice interplay of savoury mushrooms and sweet violet florals. The palate was clearly Brett influenced as well, but was thankfully less funky than on the nose. While there were savoury, meaty notes and a little sauvage edge, these were in the background rather than dominating the palate. Beyond that, the wine was actually very fine indeed, with the brilliant balance and fine, silky tannins that have always given this vintage an almost Burgundian feel. There were lovely flavours in there too, with a pure expression of sweet dark fruit - black cherries again, and blackberries - mid-bodied at first, then opening up and taking on depth and a subtle power. Lovely stuff. Very strong, very complete, and while the Brett came out rather distractingly again after time, very long on the finish too, with black fruit was kissed by savoury meat and earth and a long trial of white peppery spice. I should have decanted this rather than popping and pouring, and I wish there wasn't that much Brett, but it is a testament to how good the wine is that it still showed this well even with all that going on.
Good bottle, solid cork. Decanted served after 2 hours. Decanting is advisable albeit 2 hours maybe a bit long. As with previous numerous notes ( papies 95-97) this is a wine that does not fail us given a healthy bottle. Excellent once again. 95
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OJH Party (Racquet Club Chicago): Another nice bottle from the same source. Lovely charcuterie and herbs on the nose. Round and fresh in the mouth. Great ripeness and balance.
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This is drinking very nicely. Elegant and complex with earthy leather notes, some light black pepper, iodine and spice. Slightly tart and dry. A CdP that is only 13.5%! We thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing Bob H.
Birthday Celebration (Paris Club - Chicago IL): This is another wine that has performed inconsistently through the years. Good combination of earthy, mushroomy character with plenty of black fruit and background spice. Good depth and moderate power.
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Belated celebrations: This was all about the texture. The body is absolutely amazing, like liquid silk. The aroma was less exciting and not on par with some of the previous bottles. It is also more clean and less funky than previous bottles. Began to develop a little sweetness after about 2 hours of air. This is certainly drinking well with fully-integrated tannin and there doesn't seem to be any reason to hold. Very yummy.
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Another outstanding bottle. So fragrant and complex with layers of bright red fruit, earth, leather, truffles and herbs coming together into a scent that's hard to move away from, and a remarkably graceful, polished texture. This is all about finesse and elegance with a palate presence that I'd normally expect in a top Burgundy. Seamless, drinking beautifully right now, and really compelling.
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Can you say Rockstar! Wow! Packed with supple textured, ripe, sweet, spicy, fleshy red berries, plum, herb, earth and kirsch aromas, every sniff and sip got better and better. While there is no urgent need to finish your bottles, I do not think there is much to gain by holding them any longer.
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This remains such a wonderfully funky (!) treat. Stood bottle for weeks, double decanted, served at restaurant two hours after opening. Very consistent with my previous TN: "Beguiling, rich herbs on the nose. In the mouth, it had everything: sweetness; pepper (more kirsch this time); full, curvy, sexy body, but also with a ton of nuance. Very long finish." No rush at all on these!
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From a bottle without the white import label. Decanted 30 minutes. This was great. Fully mature, elegant fruit. Nose has a bit of brett but overall a very nice mix of mature fruit, leather, barnyard and a nice finish. Outclassed the '90 Pegau tonight. A
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Birthday in the Firm (TKQP Boardroom): The 1990 Beaucastel has been a rather slipping experience for me in recent years - the first bottle was absolutely mindblowing; the second less so, but still superlative. This one was clearly very, very good indeed, but it was yet another step down. I am not sure how to put my finger on it. It could be the much more overt funk and bretty barnyard notes on the nose; but then again, these were mixed in with lovely accents of rose petals, sweet dark cherries and blackberries, spice, garrigue, and then tons of stony mineral, lots of spice, garrigue, all undercut by a savoury, meaty twang. A really complex, engaging nose, a lot to like here - if you do not mind some funk that is. The palate was less lushly fruited than the previous bottles as well. It still had a really nice blush of dark cherries and blackberries at the forefront though, all this laced with lovely acidity and fine, velvety tannins. There was a lot of strength here, but also wonderful elegance - something that I enjoyed in the past. However, what really came out most strongly for me was the great minerality on wine. Past the midpalate the fruit was reduced to a wonderfully stony, pebbly, stream of mineral that flowed into a long finish amidst fragrant notes of warm spice and sweet herbs and a final little glow of sweet cherries. It was a lovely warm finish, full of generosity and charm. All in all, this just lacked some of the breathtaking quality of earlier bottles, but it was still smashing bottle. Perhaps time to start drinking up though - I suspect that the wine may have settled into a long, slow decline.
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1990 ANYTHING Dinner (Our house): Very similar to the last bottle. Red fruit, meat, a bit of iodine and iron on the nose and palate. Great balance, texture and integration. Medium finish. Nice right now.
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Rhone North & South 1990, with Richard Brazier (Handford Wines, London): This is a wine that we always sing praises for and it did not let us down. Elegant and full of complexity and depth, good fruit firm tannin and full of life. Took a bit of swirling for the nose to develop but this is a gem of a wine. Just be careful of badly sourced bottles. Had a bit less fruit this time than last but a solid 95
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Quite evolved nose, barnyard notes, plummy fruit, ripe, meaty, spices - very complex and intriguing. On the palate powerful and complex, superbly balanced, fresh, multi-layered with superb length. Fantastic. Probably still at its peak. 95-96
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This was very nice. I am a little disappointed though, this was my first bottle of the 1990 and I am quite honestly, underwhelmed. I had high expectations for this wine, but maybe it was bottle variation. The nose had a beautiful smoked meat tone that was great, but the palate just didnt live up to the hype. The fruit didnt really come through at all and just felt a little "bland". It was a good wine but nothing jumped out at me like some of the comments. It didn't wow me. This wine have plenty of finesse but the complexity wasn't as good as I had hoped. Hopefully the next few bottles will be better.
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TTTG; 3/27/2014-3/28/2014 (Coventry, CT): Perfect cork and great fill. This wine just does not disappoint. Plenty of Mourvedre funk, great red and black fruit, earth, smoke. Very perfumed, complex nose. Beautiful. (group's 1st of 10 by consumption volume)
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Very different from the last two experiences I've had with the '90 Beaucastel, but still fantastic. This bottle came across a lot older than I would expect with the fruit rather understated and gentle, and savoury truffled, earthy, tarry and smoky flavours dominating in the foreground. There's great purity of flavour here with no sign of brett or any of the meaty/leathery notes I've found in this before, a very graceful and polished palate presence, and this was my favorite of the night.
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A "Blended" Birthday Dinner (Garibaldi, Purvis Street, Singapore): Wow. Every now and then I come across a wine that captures my imagination, and the taste of it lingers in the memory for years after. Coming back to another bottle of a wine like that always runs the risk of real disappointment - of bottles not stored as well, with food pairings being not quite right, of taste not quite living up to the memory. With this bottle though, it was as if the cobwebs of prevailing time swept aside and I was brought back almost to the place where I was when I first tasted it. It was perhaps not quite the perfect CdP the last bottle was, but boy this was a gobsmackingly good. Opened a couple of hours before service, it still had lots of Beaucastel funk on the nose when poured, with leather and game meat and hints of barnyard swirling around a beautiful core of dark cherries and berry aromas, and then bits of spice and garrigue and drifts of gun-smoke trailing behind. Quite wonderful stuff. It was on the palate where the wine really hit the ball out of the park though. This was crazy good, with wonderful complexity unfolding across the mouth in layers of earth and spice and meat and dark-fruited plums and blackberries, seasoned of spice and garrigue, menthol and wild flowers - all this couched in fine-boned tannins and laced with a beautifully fresh, lively acidity. Wow. Open, elegant, soaring - this almost had the silken structure of a Burgundy, but wed at the same time to the moreish depth of a great CdP. When paired with a gamey duck ragout, fireworks just went off in the mouth. Great finish too, with funky meat and smoke and a hint of garrigue filling the backpalate with effortless length. Amazing, It may not have been quite as ethereal as the ex-Chateau bottle that the Beaucastel folks brought down to Singapore a couple of years back, but this still ranks amongst the best CdPs I have ever tried. I always hate to vote my own bottle as WOTN, but this bottle really stood out for me amidst some sterling reds on the night. Wow. I have one last bottle of this squirreled away - while this was singing on the night, I would be interested to see where that goes in a couple of years' time.
89 and 90 side by side. The 89 was the clear winner tonight, it was very good from bouquet to finish. The 90 didn't seem flawed at all, but was lacking the pleasure that it typically provides.
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Platinum Tasting - Rhones (Andre and Sabine's House, Mountain View, CA): Lighter red than the other wines in this flight. Fabulous nose, Great balance. The type of wine that I would spend hours smelling in the glass (A). Sublime palate with just the right amount of brett, spices, earthyness and herbs (A+). My #1, Group's #2 (27 pts). Tasted blind.
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It's obvious I caught this wine in the sweet spot with all its sweet, ripe and over ripe dark red berries, cherries, kirsch, pepper, sweaty horse and garrigue aromatics. The wine is soft, elegant, concentrated and deep, ending with a least 40 seconds of black and red spicy fruits. There are times I prefer the 1989 and other days when I think the 1990 is the wine to have. Today, it's the 1990!
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My first experience ever with the 1990 Beaucastel and my goodness, this is a phenomenal wine. Classic Beaucastel with a bit of funk and farmyard on the nose but still plenty of red fruit. From the days when finesse was preferred over power, this is so easy to drink. The nose is perfumed and captivating. Wow. Nicos and I had a difficult time to keep our hands off this bottle whereas Asher found a bit of band aid there (brett). This bottle was finished very quickly. Easily the best Beaucastel I have ever had. Too bad they've cleaned up their act so much that their wines have lost their soul chez Beaucastel. At home in Notting Hill with Asher and Nicos.
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I probably didn't let this sit long enough after decanting, only about 1 hour. A very fine bouquet, not at all like earlier drinkings, but great texture and balance, a great example of an older CNDP
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Fantastic tonight, and one of the best CdP's I have ever had. The cork crumbled open opening, so I was very concerned, but the bit of funk blew off during an hour decant and the wine was drinking beautifully. Light to medium body, with great aromatics and exotic cherry, cigar and cedar notes. Like a cross between a typical rhone and a burgundy. Some browning, so it may be entering the latter part of its life, but still tremendously enjoyable.
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KW Epic tasting/ mens best bottle (KW): tasted blind among 6 other wines in flight 2 Blind notes: Thin in the glass, bricking Nose was complete funk. barnyard Beautiful on the palate - smooth, integrated tannins, mixture of dried fruit and herbs I guessed it was 1980s Burgundy
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Belated Birthday Dinner (Table 6 (Denver, CO)): 6 years since last note. Decanted 20 minutes and swirled. Reddish violet with only a little brick. Nose was very clean from the get go. Bright cherry fruit, compote, tobacco, garrique, asian spice. Palate blasts off with medium plus weighted expressive red fruit and tannins that, while softening, felt quite rustic compared to the elegant CSJ served just before. Amazigly balanced acidity with touch of mineral for a CNP. Plenty of flavor complexity and even a little textural as well. Perfect pairing for the lamb and shaved pork. Lots of life ahead.
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Opens with a weird, antiseptic, animalic nose that really just reeks. After a few minutes in the glass the stink starts to recede and the bouquet is kaleidoscopic; beefy, sanguine, anise, black tea, clove, cinnamon, olive, and potpourri. Substantial tannin remains but the texture is soft, satiny, & full without any edges. The acidity swells and resonates beneath a sweet currant fruit. Dried roses, licorice, pepper palate add to the palate. The mouthfeel is more like a dessert wine in its density and weight, but it simultaneously floats on the palate. The wings are spread. One of the greatest wines I've ever tasted, a well-deserved legend.
The original $29.99 price tag was still on the back of the bottle. If only...
Another excellent performance here. This is a magnificent wine. Requires just a touch of decanting. This is a burgundian in style wine, with a nose that u keep going back and back and back. Earthy, mushrooms, black truffle side to it. Super complex nose just kept on developing as the evening went on. The palate is still very much alive , with good fruit weight and length. To be honest if this had a touch more fruit on the palate (no dryness here to be clear) this for us would have been a perfect scoring wine. still a well deserved 97 and worthy of its 150£ price tag. Drinks very nicely now and must buy more..
As with most oldie wines (esp from hot areas) bottle variation is a big issue. Some ex-chateau bottles would be the way to go if the source is not trusted. We have had our fair share of bad bottles.
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Browning at the rim. Reddish-ruby color, with bricking. Initially, I got some barnyard or bret on the nose, but this soon blew off. Then, wonderful and highly complex aromas of blackberry, black cherry, roasted meat, saddle leather, tobacco, peppercorn, some Provencal herbs, spice, touches of bacon fat and cigar box. Just about everything you’d want in a Chateauneuf du Pape. The flavors encompassed much of the same. Big, rich and powerful in the mouth. Tannins are fully integrated. Intense fruit. Great balance and structure. A long and profound finish that lingered with intensity. As I’ve previously indicated this wine is quite appreciable by itself. This time, though, was the best pairing so far with rib-eye steak. Mesmerizing wine! When it was imported, I bought this wine for $25.76! Times have sure changed.
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While I like this wine, I have to score it lower due to the preponderance of glue on the nose. As I have stated in previous notes the wine is good (esp after a couple hours of air) but the nose is horrific. Certainly part of the enjoyment of any bottle of wine comes from the smell and how it enlightens the senses. This wine is a turn off on the nose but the juice is good. Not sure what to make of it but will continue to see how this evolves.
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BYO - Erik (Frederiksberg): Impressive nose with farts, chemicals, cream, caramel and raspberries. A lovely raspberry flavor dominate the palate with some sweet vanilla. Also some manure and sewer. Impressive structure and balance!
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Opened with a funky barnyard nose exhibiting flavors of damp leather, earth, merde. As I swirled I got a nose of bloody meat with some white pepper and amazing minerality. On the palate, the dry red cherry was intense. There was a hint of spiciness. As it opened, the minerality exhibited itself with flavors of crushed wet rock. Overall, a great showing for this wine. Wish I had more!
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PnP - Wow, Wow.... Wow! This is a perfect CDP but, I deducted a point just to be a jerk. Beautiful expansive nose with remarkable freshness for its age! Super silky and layered palate. Weightless but yet powefully grabs your attention. Burgundian CDP! Way fun to drink this wine! I'd pay $150 for this all day long. Drinks like a $500 plus rock star I can no longer afford.
This was a very nice bottle....cork crumbly and plenty of smelly socks on the nose, but the palate was soft and round and plenty of sweet red fruit left and this time opened pretty quickly....perfect bottle of wine
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Purchased on release and well-stored since; decanted about an hour before the start of the consumption period which continued for another 3 hours. The nose is a little gamey and sweetly smoky. Fairly evolved and rounded but with good, grippy mid-palate presence. Ends long with more game and sweet/sour cherry. Fantastic right now (this is why cellaring wine makes any sense at all), but I personally do not see any reason to be in a hurry. I'd be very surprised if this is not still drinking just beautifully in another decade.
Second day: The additional glass and a half did nothing to dissuade my day one analysis. Baking spices, notably cinnamon, became more prominent. The Right Stuff. The lofty reputation is well deserved.
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A fair amount of bretty, horsey barnyard notes in the nose that was not off putting to me. Leather notes and still some good fruit. Palate was silky and long. Still drinking well but I would start drinking bottles in the cellar, as I think this is not as good as times I've tasted in the past.
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Brought to a tasting of CdP ranging from 1978-2006. Stood out to me as classy, elegant, refined and one of the better wines presented. Flavor profile rings true to my previous tasting note. Classic
On a side note - a bottle of 1978 and 1985 Coudoulet - BEFORE Beaucastel had official ownership of the vineyards - were opened. I was told that both these wines were harvested and then brought to Beaucastel for vinification. These both really showed well after all those years, and being a CDR bottling. What a treat to have these wines side by side.
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Brief Notes from Grand Sichuan: See Salil's note. My third bottle, all showing very well. Capsule showed a bit of corrosion, but wine was in great shape. Probably at its peak, but no hurry to drink.
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Mike's bottle. Very Mourvedre. Dark and sauvage - animal fur, brambles, deep plummy fruit, smoke. Really chunky on the palate with similar flavors. Good acid. Some tomato and spice. Great verve with a driven finish with excellent acid. Really singing tonight - dead on. Nose - 6/6, Palate - 5.5/6, Finish - 5/6, Je Ne Sais Quoi - 1.5/2 = 18/20.
Absolutely stunning. This is drinking so well now, amazingly complex, fragrant, layered and totally seamless. There's an incredible fragrance combining mature red fruits, leather, smoke and meaty elements, and such depth and complexity on the palate. The tannins seem fully integrated and there's a sense of real polish and finesse to the texture, with amazing length. A real wow wine, thanks Mike.
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Quite a mature bottle - lots of bricking and then waves and waves of old leather, cherries, red fruits and smokey herbs. Cut through with that slightly sweet horsepoop sweaty Beaucastel palate. Awesome stuff. A wine to be slowly contemplated over several hours.
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I have tasted this wine pretty frequently since 2008, and it is my perception that (from a relatively warm cellar and from 750 ml bottles) it is beginning to decline. From magnum, however, it was terrific, with lots of vibrant griotte cherry and dark, sweet, plum sauce flavours complemented by charcoal, wet earth, and the signature animal / leather characteristics that one expects from this estate and its cépage. Fresh but showing some attractive sur maturité from this warm vintage, this supple-textured wine, with fully resolved tannins, would be very interesting to try from a cold cellar, but anyone who owns it is advised to check in soon, as it would be a pity to miss its mature charms.
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Intense nose of cherries, smoke and oak. Full bodied, intense though integrated tannins with cherries, tobacco, oak and woody herbs. Some heat from the alcohol. Very long length.
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Terrific wines with outrageously good cassoulet as the supper club reconvenes. (Christine & Marty's.): A terrific bottle and with a more masculine and serious profile than the '89 as it shows blacker fruit, a less perfumed nose and more muscle to the tannins. There's a strong blood character on the nose and palate, slightly more pepper to the spice blend and more garrigue showing. While the black fruit is ripe and has good depth, it's a bit more subdued than the flamboyant red fruit of the '89. It bears mentioning that both this bottle and the '89 were amongst the cleanest I've ever experienced. No one at the table detected any brett, which is a frequent companion to both wines. A.
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Drank with duck confit watching the Super Bowl. Cellared since purchase. Poured direct, no Brett, limited funk, great body and glyceriny legs, but not at all heavy or unbalanced. classic Beau nose, mature and delicious. Very good, but slightly (emphasis slight) one dimensional w/o the lift and nuance to call it great.
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The supper club meets at Sarah's. Champagne, Burgundy, Loire Chenin and CDP are served. (Sarah's.): Quite a bretty bottle, but with a sufficient amount of air it eventually subsided enough so the raspberry, earth, garrigue, olive, game and spice flavors and aromas could shine through. That said, the brett never left, but I'm not brett averse. This is drinking beautifully now and is probably at peak, though has a long life yet. There's richness, but balance and depth. Nice sweetness to the raspberry fruit, but it's not roasted. Always one of my favorites. A.
Decanted for at least 4 hours. Dark brick color. Still had some fruit but mostly earthy and tobacco finish. Very long finish. Shared with family on Christmas day!!
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Magnum. Double decanted four hours before dinner by sommelier at Tocqueville. Substantial sediment. Gorgeous garnet color, nice legs. Not a tinge of brown edge. Deep smell of woods, mushrooms, wild game, leather, tar, a little barnyard. Fully resolved tannins on the palate, alcohol present but not overwhelming, Hitting its prime with incredible smoothness and length. Compared to regular bottle I had a few months ago the magnum definitely mad ethe wine feel younger and more vibrant. Amazaingly still opened up further during the evening. Just supreme.
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Mature brick red color; double decanted for 2 hours. Lost of sediment. Absolutely terrific nose of classic CNdP, mourvedre, grenache and Syrah fighting it out, with the mourvedre gaining the upperhand after about 2 hours. Leather thyme Provencal herbs, game, smooth as silk on the palate, medium weight only, alcohol hardly noticeable. Delicious to enjoy over dinner. All in all a great beaucastel , the nose of which is beginning to develop complexities like the , all time great , 1967 Beaucastel had developed in the past (although this is from memory). Is there something to comment? hmm, the palate is very smooth but doesn't match the gorgeous nose. Anyhow , a real treat!
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Beyond a Birthday dinner! (The Papies, Elizabeth St, London): Decanted for 2 hours, definitely needs some decanting. A touch cloudy in colour, but still on the dark side in colour. The nose sings. Open and long full of fruit, elegant and never let go. On the palate the same tune continues, well structured wine, silky tannins but full of life, complex and with lots of depth. This is the 5th time we have tried this wine and although a couple of times we had bottle quality issues every time we have a singing bottle we end up with the same conclusion. MUST BUY MORE! 96+
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PnP fr 375. Love Beau, and loved this particular one, but sadly this bottle didn't fare as magically as the one two weeks prior (see below). Tough love, that! Those same notes mostly apply, just with far less precision and purity therein. Rich herbs on the nose. Sweet with pepper on the palate, with some lovely nuance, just far less than previous. Very long finish. Sadly, my last 375ml bottle......
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Classic Beaucastel character with the blueberry notes that I associate with the high Mourvedre cepage. A tad jammy at first, that faded to be replaced with a growing sense of horse blanket. By no means as Bretty as some people's experieces, it nonetheless was too Bretty for a few of our friends.
Mon Dieu! PnP fr 375. I have rarely tried old half bottles, so I really didn't know how this would show. It was literally nearly perfect. More remarkable to me is that it was 99% ready to rumble upon PnP! As in, this needed less than 10 seconds to do 22 yrs of leg stretching. Beguiling, rich herbs on the nose. In the mouth, it had everything: sweetness; pepper; full, curvy, sexy body, but also with a ton of nuance. Very long finish. I wanted this to last for the rest of my wine drinking life. Arguably one of the best single bottles - in any size! - I have ever tasted. 98+ pts (note, a couple weeks later, my last 375ml bottle was very good but not nearly this good - hence, that old adage.......)
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Overwhelming aromas of heavy brett - stinky barnyard, wet horse, merde, and animal qualities. Some big black fruits as well Palate did not seem as heavily impacted as the bouquet, but clearly present. Big bold rich dark black cherry, graphite with impresive balance. I could not get past the nose, which others did not mind nearly as much.
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Decanted the bottle and waited for about 30 minutes. There was almost no nose. The wine was OK but not as good as I had hoped. This might have been because of the age, cork or past storage.
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Browning at the rim. A reddish-ruby color; bricking characteristics of a matured wine. A profound and expressive nose with aromas, similar to my last tasting, of blackberry, black cherry, saddle leather, some cigar box, black pepper, spices, licorice, sweet herbs, roasted meat and some bacon fat. The whole ball of wax for expressiveness. Like last time, I initially got some bret that blew off after a while, as the wine warmed from cellar temperature. Similar flavors that are full throttle, rich and intense in the mouth. Great balance and acid. Again, an elegant, lingering and silky finish. As I did last time, I used a #1 Impitoybles to evaluate and fully appreciate the wine. Pairs nicely with a pork-rib roast, appropriately spiced. But, as I’ve mentioned before, the wine is more appreciable by itself.
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A brooding wine drunk alongside the 1990 close des paper. Both great examples but different. The Beaucastel more animal and wild, no significant brett, but swirls of garrigue herbs and meaty animal flavours. Developed as we drank it and secondary characteristics came through. A delight
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I have bought and consumed many bottles of this wine over the years, and they have ranged from excellent to perfect. Unfortunately, there is a slight cooked note on the nose, and the palate is a little lean. Consumed in memory of a good friend, 5 years gone, who generously opened many of the finest wines I have ever had. This was not a perfect bottle, but he was not a perfect man.
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From memory. Some seepage into the damp cork. Decanted for sediment and consumed the following 3hrs. Garnet red with serious bricking. I agree with the other tasters about the iodine under the fruit, herbs, iron and leather. Great complexity and a real joy to drink.
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The nose at the open was horrific - glue, rubber, funk, farmyard. I almost dumped it out. But, having had this happen before I decanted the wine for about 2 hours and came back. Nose was better but not really what I would call good. The wine had some decent notes - some pepper, spices and other CdP traits. However, would say this thing prob needs 3-4 hours of air to blow off the funk and get to some place reasonable. By the end of dinner the wine was good and there still wasnt much a nose. Would say drink these now.
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Still a beautiful drink, but while this bottle was in excellent condition, it seemed to lack some intensity of flavors, though still complex, that made this monumental in the past. Admittedly, I haven't had the '90 in several years. Everyone else thought it was superb, so my score, while high, is not in the 96-98 range I would have given to previous bottles. Yet happy to drink this anytime, and still one of the absolute great QPRs in the wine world.
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A Chateauneuf Papies-Odyssey (The Papies, Elizabeth St, London): Another bottle from what looks to be a bad batch. Not flawed and drinking well but much like the previous one nowhere close to the level this wine can achieve out of a proper bottle. Shame really. Our earlier notes are more representative of this great wine (Papies rated this 97).
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Rich and warm, lighter colour but still deeply flavoured. Classic flavours, in harmony as usual, softening very gracefully. Nothing bretty at all. Delicious. [JN]
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Impressive. Dark fruits, spice, ferrous, wood notes on the nose. Deep and full on the palate. Iodine taste on the medium finish. Smoother than I expected.
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Tasted alongside the 1989 (comparisons can spoil the experience of drinking a good wine. This is a fine wine, but not as good as the '89. This wine is a little heavier and has a little less drive, seeming like a hotter vintage wine. Still a good wine that would probably have seemed better in weaker company or on its own.
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I was nervous cuz the bottle I'd won at auction was showing a little seepage, but it was fine: she drank absolutely beautifully. This was the oldest CdP I've ever had and was an absolute revelation for me. Beautiful fruit that was at once mature and fresh, some leather, some earth, baking spices, garrique, solid acidic and mineral backbone, looong finish, nuanced yet intense, delicate yet powerful, a slightly piquant note that I had a hard time putting my finger on but which served well to enliven things and keep me guessing, etc etc etc. I haven't kept any empty bottles since my college days: this bottle I'm holding on to for sure. I don't know if I'll ever be able to drink a young CdP again without lusting over the memory of this guy.
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Lovely wine. Fully mature but in no danger of heading downhill anytime soon. Enticing nose of tobacco, herbs, saddle leather, a little mint and some barnyard. On the palate a beautiful integration of all the elements of the bouquet with minerals and garrigue. Just a seamless CDP that is drinking beautifully now.
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Absolutely brilliant. Lovely mature nose with a mind-boggling array of scents: damp earth, worn leather, fresh herbs, dried flowers, cinnamon, and iron. So complex and beguiling it's almost hard to take a sip, but the reward is a sweet, silky, impeccably balanced beverage with only a bit of a drying finish holding it back from perfection. An absolute benchmark CdP and one for the personal pantheon.
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One of my all-time favorites this Beaucastel 1990. Very complex nose with both fruits as well as autumn tones. Garrigue, Iodine, wood, leather, medicine chest, dried plums, "speculaas" (dutch spice cake), iron and strong 'game' meat tones - flesh and blood. Chocolate, wood, leather and so many other secundary notes on the palate, long lingering on. Bit drying, but still incredibly pleasant. (Next day nothing less, still standing.) Highly agree with Eric saying 'this always brings a smile to my face'.
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A dark reddish-ruby color; some browning at the rim; looks mature. This time I was able to give undivided attention to the wine, as no one else was tasting with me; also, I used a #1 Impitoybles tasting glass. I get more a little more complexity in the nose and flavors - blackberry, black cherry, saddle leather, a touch of tobacco, peppercorn, spices, licorice, sweet herbs, roasted meat. Initially there was some bret, but this seemed to blow off. A lot of depth, richness and intensity in the mouth. Great balance. An exceptionally long finish; velvety and no heat. Sompteux! Note: the wine has been stored at 56 degrees. Pairs nicely with Prime NY Steak, but as I've previously indicated, this wine is more appreciable by itself. A very bargain priced wine, compared to the cost today.
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Blind Chateauneuf and Gigondas 1988 - 1995 (Berkeley): Group's #1; my #2; 4 first; 3 second; 1 third; 1 last. Aromas and flavors of cherries, cassis, mushrooms, chicken stock, spice, stone, and minerals. Full bodied, complex with balancing acidity and a long finish.
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Dinner at Colicchio & Sons (NYC): Black blood, with a touch of brick. Crazy complex on nose -- sweet cherry, cream, raspberry, mango (?); chalk. Earlier, the nose was all leathery horse, but that all blew off leaving a very pure nose. Palate silky, round, well balanced, plenty of fruit. Medium body, medium length. Quite Burgundian, with a really kaleidoscopic nose. Ready to go, but no hurry, as this will keep for many years. An excellent bottle of '90 Beau!
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Simply outstanding stuff. I didn't get as much barnyard as others; just a wonderful blend of herbs and fragrant prunes and forest floor on the nose and an incredible sense of poise and balance on the fresh, youthful palate that had a sweet and spicy finish that seemed to dance in my mouth for minutes on end.
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Wonderful, wonderful juice. Barnyard, leather and prunes on the nose. Smooth and almost velvety in the mouth, with a sweetness in the fruit. A gamey meatiness comes through, with fully integrated tannins, and still good tannins. Medium weight and it layers on in the mouth. This wine is drinking beautifully at the tail end of its drinking plateau. You still have a few years yet. Again a beautiful benchmark, mature CdP - it couldn't be anything else.
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This fully matured Beaucastel offers highly perfume and complex bouquet that is dominated by sweet dried fig paste accompany with secondary note of truffle, earth, dried herbs with just little touch of wild gaminess, barnyard all lifted with perfume red and blue floral scents. Fresh! This has incredible drive and energy, fully integrated and at its peak now. Almost Burgundy like elegance, silky smooth texture with good inner perfume of sweet dark fruirts, wild gaminess and floral. It was soft, subtle but deeply layer and full of nuances at the lingering finished, with a touch of spiciness and roasted herbs aftertaste. The scale and depth is smaller than the Hommage but delicious all the same. This should continue to drink at its peak for another 5yrs.
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Chateau de Beaucastel Dinner (Tippling Club, Singapore): Incredibly beautiful. This was as close to a perfect CdP as I have had for a long time. As good as the wonderful 2001 Hommage de Jacques Perrin that preceded it was, this bottle had the advantage of 11 more years of age, and it was far more ready to drink. After more than 5 hours in the decanter, it was at just about a perfect place, leading off with a beautiful nose that was pure Provence, with lifted scents of black cherries and dark berries dancing alongside a leathery, meaty base with a lovely touch of garrigue and stony minerality at the edges. Complex, compelling, but almost playful in its liveliness, this was a bouquet that just drew you in - it was about the perfect introduction to the wine's stunning palate. Here, above all, it was brilliantly fresh, focused and refined, lacking some of the warm voluptuousness of the 1989 Beaucastel maybe, but this was more than made up for by the wine's wonderful sense of poise and graceful balance as it almost soared through the mouth in pure, bright flavours of dark cherries and blackberries weighted down by a lovely touch of meat and spice. Make no mistake though, there was tons of power in the wine, yet it wore its depth and weight so well, given the wonderful balance and its robe of silky tannins, that you barely noticed this. A perfect pairing with roasted Canette (duckling) breast in a foie gras and clove reduction, every mouthful of wine wrapped the tasty morsels of meat in a super long, yet freshly detailed finish of sweet black and red cherries - always high-toned and lifted, it was delight all the way into a lingering tail, where the fruit was kissed by a hint of smoke and some lovely garrigue notes. Amazing. This is a wine I wish I could drink on a regular basis. It is hard to decide whether this or the 1989 is better, but both wines are a tremendous credit to Beaucastel. While this should go on in the bottle for many years yet, I see no reason why this should not be consumed now with a nice lengthy decant and some appropriate food.
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Older mature warm sweetish acids wood smoke leather. In a word, nice! Fruit still lingers in the background without ANY raisins or stewed flavors. Acids lively but not overpowering. I doubt this will continue to get any better but very drinkable still.
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Musky, barnyard, chicken poop, white peppers on the nose. Rich ripe red fruit, rich acidity, peppery, red capsicums, earth and bittery raspberries on the long long finish.
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Wow! Superb nose of chicken fowl , barnyard , horse sweat and calf leather. Benchmark cdp. Smoky chicken poop and horse manure but I like it! Terroir driven
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Brickish color, nose had that beautiful earthy, smoky flavor. The wine still has delicious fruit with mellow tannins, good acidity and an amazing and long finish. Drinking beautifully.
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We tasted this wine together with the '00 vintage of Beaucastel CdP. Amazing strength and character. Muscular structure with lots of black fruit content. Complex on the nose and palate. Structure was really well balanced- ripe and firm tannins. Nice acidity and minerality. Almost too young. Nice medium+ finish. This can hold for another decade or more.
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Rhones 20+ Years Old (Western Chicago IL Suburbs): Tasted blind. I had lots of trouble getting past all the Brett on the nose. Very good red and black fruit aromas and flavors come through if I pay close attention. The Brett gives this both a dirty and forest floor character. Acidity quite prominent on finish.
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This bottle may have suffered some heat and/or other damage. Not corked, but not quite what it should be. Musty, earthy funky nose (even for a Beaucastel), the wine was austere, acidic and still tannic, with little fruit left for balance. Drinkable, but not particularly enjoyable. A disappointment.
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N: barnyard, brett, some garrigue, more leather. P: Beautiful, full palate; herbs, leather, some fruit (cherry, blackberry). Fine tannins, structured to keep for some time IMHO (8-12 years). The tannins Beaucastel produces are filligreed and fine. Drinking well. I enjoyed this one the most.
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Dinner party with friends. No aerator this time. Waited a while for the wine to warm a bit from cellar temp to about 65 degrees. Same fantastic aromas and flavors as when tasted 12-3-10. Blackberry, black cherry, tobacco, spice, pepper, leather, and no bret. Seemed to be in perfect balance this time. Concentrated, rich, elegant. A very long pleasant finish. Everyone really like the wine.
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A complete package. Layers of savoury red fruits, Provencal herbs, mushrooms, forestal earthy notes and just a touch of leathery funk in a package that simultaneously conveys remarkable power, finesse and elegance. There's amazing depth here, great balance and a long, resonant finish. Phenomenal wine.
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Tasted at domaine. Mushroom, truffles, leather with some barnyard on the nose. Silk, depth, balance...Long, long, long finish. Wonderful wine drinking beautifully.
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Whoa!!! Yes! … and THIS is why it pays to sit on these Beau’s for a considerable amount of time.
Beguiling, complex, expressive and broodingly dark Nose of goodness --- perfect mixture of ripe blackberry, plum/prune compote, leather, and subtle hints of funk and garrigue. Color was dark purple, and of great depth --- certainly did not look like a wine with 21 yeas on it. On the palate, this was pretty much everything I could hope for in an aged CdP. Show-stopping purity, balance, and intensity of all that is good about CdP. This wine is currently striking what I consider to be the perfect balance between primary and tertiary elements: lots of fruit still hanging around, a hint of soy, strong underlying leather note, and a hint of funk with just a little bit a tannin still hanging around to help pin these flavors to your palate for a long pleasurable finish. Alcohol was not noticeable, and the acidity provides the perfect amount of lift to the intense S. Rhone flavors in this wine.
Drinking *very* well now, but will continue to sail for another 10 years, easy-peasy. Nearly a perfect wine, in my estimation. Bottle kindly provided by gpowell1978.
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On the nose, barnyard aromatics meshed with rose, leather, black pepper, roasted strawberry, BBQ spice and grilled steak. On the palate, silky, rich, concentrated flavors of ripe black cherry and wild strawberry fill your mouth with pleasure. The finish ends with a 40 second blast of black and red fruit. Everything is in balance. This wine seems fully developed and while there is no hurry to drink it, based on this bottle I am not sure it's going to improve.
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beautiful color with no hint of oxydation. Unbelievable intense nose of flowers, mushrooms, spices and cherries. Delicious palate combining dark and red fruits, soft tannins and long finish. Small amount of sediment. Just perfect!
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Wow what a bottle of wine. This was spectacular. Completely round, elegant and delicious. Soared from the glass. Decanted for one hour. Drinking beautifully now.
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J’avais l’impression de retrouver, avec émotion, un vieil ami. Un petit coté animal au nez, mais rien en comparaison des HJP. Il a des aromes plus classiques de garrigue et de viande grillée. La bouche est élégante, presque bourguignonne. Un vin abouti, épicé, qui n’a pas la densité ds HJP bien sûr, mais qui s’exprime avec grâce dans un registre plus aérien. Un magnifique vin, jeune adulte, qui a sans doute quelques décennies devant lui. Superbe! 94 pts
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Bottle with fill above the vintage, cork had some advancement of the wine about 1/4 of the way. Upon opening, very musty and sour smelling. Reading some of the notes here, knew that it would take a while to get to its place, and it did. After 2.5 hours, really came together - leather, tobacco, raspberries, brown sugar, and a tail end if great provencal herbs, light earthiness and just a slight whiff of barnyard. Palate has extremely tart cherries and a slight herbal bitterness. Tannins are still present and provide some astringency. Medium light bodied wine. This wine is refined, classy, and extremely enjoyable.
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Tasted blind, this wine had a deep red center with light red rims. The high- intensity nose featured black cherry, raspberry, brown spice, and soil.
Ripe and rich in the mouth, this came across as a heavier style Burgundy due to its great balance and length. Contrary to some prior bottles, this wine seemed likely to continue to improve over the next 5 to 10 years (1-2 points).
A shockingly impressive performance for a wine that was quite reasonably priced upon release.
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Fantastic. Fom a perfectly stored bottle. Nose of cigar box, leather, cherry tobacco. On the palate, tart cherry, medium tannins, and a long finish. At it's peak now. Doesn't get much better.
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Very similar to the bottle I had on 2/17. Really disappointing nose on the open. Just funk and barnyard. Again, the glue aroma came out. However, as many have stated on this wine - give it some time in a decanter and you will be rewarded. Classic old school CdP after an hour or so. The nose never really got a lot better (only less bad) but the wine was good. Good color and well balanced - a small amount of sediment in the bottle but not bad. I would say drink now - hard to see this getting a ton better. 92+
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Tasted blind, this wine had a medium deep red center and red/orange rims. The medium intensity nose of ripe cherries, raspberries, and soil was attractive.
In the mouth it was ripe and rich with lovely balance and very good length. It certainly needed 3+ hours of air to show its best. I would say this bottle was just the tiniest bit hot and I would argue that, while it will last for many years, it is at its peak (assuming extended aeration).
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Stunning wine. Refined pure and concentrated raspberry and cranberry fruit allied with warm leather, smoke, lanolin, farmyard and mercaptins. Medium bodied with perfect balance and bright acids, this wine has a stern iron ore aspect to its flavour. Spectacular spice aspect to the fruit. The wine is not as opulent as the 1989 but it is equivalent in quality - a more masculine wine to the feminine 89. This wine opens up beautifully. Not a baby, but certainly a candidate for a couple more decades of aging. Exquisite wine in a barnyardy old school manner. This will improve.
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Popped and poured at Parkway Grill Restaurant. Temp 64 F Appearance was a clear medium to deep garnet with a slightly transparent rim. Nose was medium to pronounced fruit, floral, and organic truffles and damp garden compost. Palate was dry with medium-high acidity, firm but silky round tannins. This wine was medium bodied with very intense flavors.. Finish was exceptionally long and very complex. Elements I got in this wine were, cranberries, lingonberry jam, violets, tobacco, cedar, black pepper, barnyard animal, mushroom, black olive, chocolate, wet leaves, leather, and earth... This wine great structure and finesse..
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I brought the wine to a NFL Draft party. We poured the wine into a decanter, through an aerator. I personally thought the aeration slightly took away from the complexity, which I had tasted from the same wine on 12/3/10. The wine today had the same prior descriptives (tobacco, pepper, spice, saddle leather), but did not seem to have the same depth or intensity. Still a wonderful wine though. Next time I’ll do a normal decant, Normally, I use an aerator only on young or undeveloped wine.
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As always, so stellar. This was a more mature and lighter bottle but screaming with garrigue, ripe and roasted, just textbook CDP. It always brings a smile to my face.
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Dusty ruby/crimson color. Notes of clay and red berries with a meaty streak. Also a bit of wet hay - bretty. Flavors of red fruit, pepper and iron. Balanced, wit a very long finish.
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Very enjoyable bottle, full on what I expect from an aged Beaucastel. Still has a ton of fruit, and is quite silky in the mouth. I'm wondering if this will develop further, given it seemingly soft acidity.
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Chateau de Beaucastel Tasting with Marc Perrin (The Sampler, London): One of our favorite wines and great to see it tasting so beautifull once again In its 3rd phase now and accoarding to MP in its peak and will last another 5yrs +. Lots red fruit ,cherry still!. Garrigue. Lots of depth and very layerd. We simply cannot praise this wine enough. 97 easily. Drink now but will last many more years.
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Some definite funk on the open. Glue-like aroma. An hour in much better. Cherry, maple syrup, plum and other red fruits. Good color - deep dark red. In spite of the good color a good amount of sediment in this bottle and in the glass. This bottle never really got to that sweet spot. Was a fine bottle but was expecting a little more. Have plenty left so hopefully better bottle await. 92+
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This wine still needs air which amazes me....I did not decant and popped not long before dinner....color a medium to light red and plenty of funk on the nose....I was a bit under the weather that night so not sure I trust my palate and the foods were a bit spicier than I would have preferred...nice and round with some cherry and plum...I drank the rest the following night in one decent sized glass as the Steelers pummeled the Jets on their way to the AFC championship....much more exciting than the night before and really lovely
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Stunning example of CNP from a generally good year. Still reqires over 2 hours of decanting to reach it's best, but once it does the wait is more than worth it. Almost etheral in it's length on the palette, it has an earthy undertone that is quite different to the post 95 Beaucastels which have more fruit but seemingly a little less structure - maybe it is just the age. It is a wine to be drunk with friends and good food, not a romantic twosome wine, leave that for the silkier Pomeral's or opulent Pinot's.
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Lunch @ 28-50 - a murky bottle, not sure why as it had been standing for a while. lovely earthy spicy CDP. long finish , medium weight. not best bottle of this i have ever had but still a pleasure to drink and shows much potential
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Glorious Rhône lunch at 28-50 (London): This was a murky, cloudy bottle of the 1990 which seemed to bother some people, and I have clearly had better examples of the 1990. Nonetheless, this wine is always a pleasure, and this was its usual garrulous self. Loaded with garrigue and bramble, it has a lovely, exotic ripe and roasted character to it yet finishes with a pleasing dry and herbal edge. This is always such a wine of pleasure.
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Medium dark red. Rich, warm nose of leather, red peppercorn, plum, licorice, allspice. Light and persistent tannin, low acid; seemed fully mature and holding well. Full in the mouth, good plum fruit and mourvedre spice. Round, full finish. A classic Beaucastel, drinking really well, a model of the house style.Bottle #2 of four.
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I had one bottle left in the cellar of the 1990, and I had high expectations for this wine. We had it at the Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. We decanted it at home and brought it to this BYO restaurant, so about 2 hours prior to actually drinking it.The wine was definitely mature and had developed a level of complexity that we wine lovers all wait for. The color was fading, but the nose was fruity with a lot of (good) earthiness. The thing I remember the most is how elegant and harmonious the wine was! Oh if all bottles of wine could be like this...
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Tuesday at the Papies (The Papies, London): Another great showing of this beautiful wine. Decanted for 1 hour. So elegant with lots of finesse. Open on the nose yet so delicate . We can go on and on here but no need to. Just like 10months ago when we tried it for the first time, this continues on the path of greatness. Drink now but can last another 10yrs . ( 96-97)
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Gigantic nose - tobacco, pepper, spice, saddle leather. Just sit and smell the wonderful aromas and enjoy. In the mouth, the same, but just slightly not as profound as the nose - still wonderful. Clean - no bret. Has a long finish that tells you it’s a great wine.
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The nose is absurd. So deep, rich, and complex. Tones of underbrush, grange, olives, dried rose petals mix effortlessly with tertiary flavors of coffee, blood and aged saddle leather. Palate exploded with earth flavors, mushrooms, cassis, black cherry, and roses. So elegant, so refinded, so lithe. Just an effortless wine. Despite it's relatively light mouthfeel, I think this is one of the most profound wines I've ever tasted. Harmoniously paired with a beautiful lamb shoulder - I could not have asked for a better way to enjoy this wine. Simply sublime.
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Once you got past the horse scents, (which some people didn’t) spices, earth, wild cherries, jammy black fruit and more were a pleasure to discern in this Chateauneuf du Pape! This is no shy wine and your palate knows it as it becomes coated in lush, sweet, jammy fruit. This was a good bottle of 90 Beaucastel, but I've tasted better examples
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Grenache with Dan P (Estadio, Washington DC): The virtues of patience with Beaucastel become quite pronounced when you have the distinct pleasure of drinking varying vintages of this seminal producer. The wine always adheres to its familial roots of a beautiful pitched nose of cherry tapenade, garrigue, grange and sweet pitched cassis with a delicately balance between refined lush tannin driven mouthfeel and lithe acidity that dances with varying cuisine. The mourverdre sings with its two decades of age. Drank alongside an 04 Pegau, a wine of considerable substance but of infantile youth, it shows the pleasures of aging ageworthy wines. These wines develop a pitch and idiosyncratic expression of terroir that is irreplaceable. To me, wines like Beaucastel, in such an age, reinforce the sadomasochistic ritual of buying wines on release only to leave them to mature for decades. In these wonderful instances, it is indeed worth the wait. A perfect expression of wine. Simply superb.
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Koffmans- sweet spicy red fruit nose. light in the mouth but not clipped or short, in mouth a very pleasant mix of red fruits, some spice and a bit of pepper/coffee. med weight , med length nice wine
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Berserkerfest very brief retrospective notes (PDH NYC): Had alongside the 1995, which is similar, but less complex and in a cleaner style. The 1990 shows some funk, incredible complexity, and a very long finish. Yum.
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It is close to perfect a wine as I have ever had. Still has amazing fruit, a beautiful color, the nose is amazing and the palate is incomparable. Almost drank another... but restrained myself for another day of perfection.
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ArieS and pyang do Dallas: Tasted non blind at a wine dinner. Opened and served immediately. Garnet color in the glass, fairly clear looking. Nose of leather, barnyard, a hint of flowers and a mix of berries. Flavors of berries, cherries and a hint of plums. Bright acidity, medium tannins, medium body. Drink or hold. Others didn't care for it but I thought it was good aged Rhone myself. 93+.
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Bottle came from a full case purchased pre-arrival from a San Francisco wine merchant when first offered and stored in a temperature and humidity controlled cellar since taking delivery. We stood the bottle upright for 24 hours for the sediment to settle and to allow the wine to slowly warm up to about 65 degrees Fahrenheit, before opening. After removing the top of the capsule, I was surprised that the top of the cork was completely clean with no mold. The bottom tip of the cork was about 25 mm above the wine inside the bottle. The cork came out in one piece, but I had to be careful not to break off the bottom tip. All of the corks from the 1989 and 1990 Beaucastels that I have seen are damp with saturation for most, if not all, of their lengths; this particular cork was no different. The sides of the cork were damp to the touch with light red staining that ran almost the entire the length of the cork. This bottle was imported by Robert Hass Selections/Vineyard Brands and appears to have been shipped in a refrigerated container from France. After opening, I decided to decant, since that is what I always do with older Beaucastels, because of their high Mourvedre and Syrah content relative to other Chateauneuf du Papes and to get the wine off the usually heavy sediment. However, a small pour directly from the bottle showed really well right away. The sediment in the bottom punt was quite heavy, but unlike other bottles of the 1989, 1990 and 1993 there was none adhered to the insides of the shoulder area.
After letting the wine sit for 60+ minutes in a decanter, we poured our first glassfulls into Impitoyable No. 3 stems. The color was ruby with a slightly paler garnet meniscus. The wine is full bodied with a multitude of thick, slow running legs that coat the interior of the glass after a quick swirl. Following the long decant, the wine had a beautiful, soaring bouquet of cooked black cherries, raspberries, ripe black plums, overripe strawberries, black licorice, cinnamon, sandalwood, hickory smoke and fresh espresso. The saddle leather and smoked meat notes in the first glass poured directly from the bottle had completely blown off with the decant. My experience with older Beaucastels is that if you decant them for 60 minutes before serving, the leather, meat, and animal/barnyard notes completely blow off. My advice is that if you do not like these leather, meat and animal notes, then you must decant the wine and try a small sample before serving. If the animal scents are too strong, then let the wine sit in a decanter for 60 minutes before serving: the evolution in the decanter is quite dramatic and well worth the wait.
On the palate, the initial impression is one of candied sweetness as if the wine were a red Banyuls wine, despite being fermented completely dry. The flavors consist of canned Bing cherries, stewed raspberries, ripe black plums and bruised strawberries, followed by black licorice, cinnamon and mocha with some noticeable ripe tannins emerging on the long finish timed at 90 seconds. Despite being a warm year, the acidity is good and provides focus for the intense fruit flavors. As the cork dried, a fine dusting of tiny tartaric acid crystals appeared on the stained sides and bottom tip where it had become saturated. Based on this bottle, the 1990 Beaucastel regular Chateauneuf du Pape is now mature but might even improve in a cool, humid cellar in 750 ml bottles due to the still-present ripe tannins. Magnums and larger formats should be getting close to maturity where well stored, but there is certainly no rush if the fills are good and the corks remain sound. Rating: 97
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Dinner at Le Pichet with Dan Kravitz (Seattle, WA, USA): This is my "goto" wine on the entire planet, and this was a great albeit very gamey bottle. Warm, and easy, roasted and ripe, screaming of leather and and saddle and tilled manure, if you can tolerate the farmyard I don't know how you can not swoon over this wine. No one was apparently going crazy over this one, but somehow the bottle was completely drained in a matter of mere minutes. I would have loved another pour, as I thought this was just screamingly good.
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Ledbury with B&A and R&Y (The Ledbury, London): Seemingly a denser, darker red than the 89. A touch cooler and more composed. Still a youngster; the slightly formal, more restrained younger brother of the expressive feminine 89. A little less joie de vivre. Probably best in another five years or so, this was another lovely and impressive wine. Really top drawer. The 89 for now, this one for the cellar. *****
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Lovely cherry colour. Good clean nose. Very good weight and texture in the mouth. I felt this had more life left in it. Last bottle from the case bought on release. A truly great wine.
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Le nez m’indique immédiatement un vin évolué, assez animal et feuilles mortes, proche d’un vieux porto. Fruits sec et épices: j'identifie un vieux CNP. Belle matière, avec des tannins encore bien présents. Néanmoins, je ne vois pas l’intérêt de conserver ce vin plus longtemps encore, le fruit s’étant passablement affadit. 90-91.
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no formal notes, but what a wine, still very strong and powerful, lovely control on the brett it is cool blue fruit, saddle leather, concentration and elegance in a glass.
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A real funky nose but in many senses true to what it is :-) The nose has wet hay and a lot of horse shit (to be very frank). There is also wet dirt, sewer, a lot of resin/pine and leaves. Quite a complex experience! The palate is equally impressive!! Dirt and red currant flavors mixes nicely with a hint of coffee. Really fresh and slightly floral. The fruit is just so nicely fresh red currants, mixed with sewer notes and loads of acidity. Great intensity and balance... I loved it!
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One of the comments below said, "second only to the '89." I'd agree with that. It's also very different from the '89.
The nose is somewhat muted, with only a hint of beaucastel funk. There's a soft, elegant texture with strong, subtle fruit and a fair amount of spice and garrique (although restrained for a beaucastel). The beef broth characteristic I often get from aged Mourvedre comes across as black tea; a description I often read, but rarely taste. I don't think this will fall off for a while, but I'm not sure it will continue to improve.
We tried to imagine how the '01 could be like the '89 or '07 could someday, turn into this, but it seems a long way off. In a lot of ways, this reminded me more of an elegant old Daumas Gassac, left-bank Bordeaux or Musar than Chateauneuf, and less of the dense, funky beast that the '89 is, but that's not a complaint.
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Beautiful and mature bouquet. Rustic. Good fruits and spices. Firm amount of good acidity. Ready now, but it will stay on this level for many years. See also my previous notes.
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From a split. Pretty much ready to drink. Not a ton happening. Popped and drunk. Flyers are beating the Blackhawks 3-2 in the 1st and Halliday has a not hitter gainst the Fish going into the 9th. All is good.
Pink garnet color with sweet raspberry and lavender on the nose, kirsch extract, herbs, and raspberry with a long, crystalline finish. Deep finish has a hint of mouvedre, but that’s the only hint of any weight. Has the beautiful old wine sweetness. I could easily mistake this for mature chave. Just spectacular. Not heavy in the least. No sign of brett or funk
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Showing age with a hint of garnet at the edges. Leathery dark berry and still a hint of spice. But opened with an imperial of Hommage '90, an unfair pairing.
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1990 Dinner @ The Ledbury- clean porty color with lightening around the edges. touch of smokey bacon on the nose as well as some rasberry . medium weight in the mouth , soft lush tail end of fruit still. beginnining to show secondary flavors. medium long, lovely finish good bottle
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3 Decades of Chateau Beaucastel with Tomas Perrin. (Ambrosia Event Center. Victoria, BC.): The 90 has a great brick colour to it with a ton of browning around the edges. Lots of earthy notes with truffle and worn leather. The fruit is a bit muted. The palate is beautifully elegant. Soft and pretty. Lots of violets, bacon, black tea and worn wood. There is a lot going on here and it's ever evolving. Stunning. Second only to the 89. Drink now will last another 5-10 years.
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Puzza un po' troppo, sia appena aperto che dopo un po'. Naso per il resto bello pieno e fruttato, bocca molto presente, fresca e quasi 'frizzante'. Davvero peccato per la puzzetta che lo penalizza non poco, perchè é ancora molto vivo e fresco.
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POOPY - on the nose the barnyard was in full bloom. Served blind w/ many other wines , some thought this was a bad bottle. It wasn't and if you ventured past the nose there was a ton of wine there. Leather , black olive & tobacco , I like it but it is definitely a conversation piece. Decanted for about an hour w/ A TON of sediment, it plugged up the strainer.
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Nose : slightly gamy, autumn forests, smoke and leather with hints of confit cherries. In the mouth, the wine is velvety, tanins have evolved and are perfectly rounded, although the wine remain well structured. Fragrance are complex and balanced, tertiary aromas of leather, tobacco and autumn forest are balanced by confit fruits and hints of black olive. The finale is very long. The wine drinks perfectly now.
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Rednecks & Rhones at Greg Ellis' house. Very light ruby in color, this wine showed all the classic characteristics of Beaucastel. Medium bodied with a great richness and a very long finish. 50+13+12+8.5+8.5 = 92
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Chateau Beaucastel vs Vieux Telegraph with Steven Spurrier (Handford Wines, London): Handford Wines, Beaucastel & Vieux Telegraph with Steven Spurriier, London10-Feb-10 Structured, elegant, mature yet it wil last another 10yr easily ( SS view as well). Spot on drinking window. A very impressive wine. really spot on (Suggested decanting of 1hr)
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Hey, I'm right there in agreement with the average CT rating. This wine is very ready to drink. Mid-light garnet color with a beautiful nose of sweet dark fruits (whatever they are), and some of the good old Beaucastel barnyard funk mixed in. Sweet and balanced in the mouth. Yum.
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I first drank Beaucastel CDP in Paris in about 1995 or 1996. It was the 1989. We fell in love... nothing has changed. This bottle was a split, the second we have enjoyed in three days and both were right there at the top of anything I have ever had. I've always felt the '89 was a tad better... still do, but who cares when measuring at this level? I have several left and think another year or two will really bring this wine to the top. It still has huge fruit and I believe the "velvet" characteristic that happens with as these wines age more will be very apparent in a year or two. Holding.
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Spectacular wine. Barnyard, chocolate and strong coffee notes. Balanced and mature. Smoke, anise, and black cherry. Almost Bordeaux like. Not the best Cdp I have ever had, but close. A privilege and a real treat to drink. Fully resolved tannins, drink over the next few years.
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IWFSC 751st Dinner (Les Nomades): Gigantic fruit nose, great depth in the color, opulent, coffee aromas and a blockbuster palate of spicy, intense fruit.
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1990 Chateau du Beaucastel, Chateauneuf du Pape, alc 13.5%.... popped and poured… a little clearing at the edges but still ruby in color….nose of horse leather, hot rocks and sweetness….in the mouth.. .clean sweet and savory combine in an amazing palate attack…the fruit is rich and vibrant and the finish still shows some tannins…at an excellent point in it’s evolution but not tired in any way…great with the lamb and the spices…
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New Year's Eve dinner extravaganza at Steve & Barb's house, Greensboro, NC. Ruby with a little bricking. Very Beaucastel with horse leather and hot rocks. Clean sweet fruit on the palate that continues on to the finish. A pointe and while this doesn't see like it will fall off a cliff it is probably giving it's maximum enjoyment today. Very nicely paired with the spices in the lamb we ate with this wine. 50+13+13+9+9 = 94
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My first 100 and I've done a fair few TNs! This is what CdP should be all about. The stank on the nose was wonderful and deep. I personally don't care whether it was bret or the classic barnyard - it was ethereal and beautiful. The wine was medium bodied with an open good structure, great fruit still and acidity still holding up. We were eating a wonderful tasting menu at Bibou in Philly, with great company, which no doubt helped the experience but this wine was mind blowing. I now have a benchmark for future CdP, sadly one that is probably insurmountable.
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Expressive aromatics starting with barnyard scents meshed with rose petals, leather, black pepper, strawberry, BBQ and grilled steak. On the palate, silky, rich, concentrated flavors of ripe black cherry and wild strawberries fill your mouth. The finish ends with a 40 second blast of spicy, black and red fruits in this Chateauneuf du Pape wine.
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OMG, the best bottle of 1990 Beau I think I've ever had (tasted well over a dozen times). Absolutely killer, with a modest amount of brett framing an exotic nose, with the palate reminding me more of a 1982 Bordeaux first growth than a CdPape. Much better than a bottle a couple months ago. 9 left, hope they can come close to this experience.
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First note on this wine I have posted on this website. But #23 of the 24 bottles I have owned. I tasted this alongside the 89 maybe 8 times in the past 15 years, and this wine always won out. When we visited the winery, the Perrin's said this is the finest CDP they have ever produced. I agree. The 89 has been long dead, and this wine still lives. But, alas, only one bottle left, but it's prime drinking time. It drinks like an old burgundy, whichi is the ultimate compliment a wine can get from me. Had it alongside a 98 Gros Clos vougeot, and this wine blew the Gros away. You can drink this with almost any food. Wonderful wine.
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Another amazing bottle of 1990 Beau. I utterly love this wine. Enormously complex nose, leather, animal, hint of smoke, roast beast. Gorgeous palate, quite vibrant given the richness of the sweet core, herbs and hot wind across a dry Provencale field, really everything I look for in a great CNDP.
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A lot of complexity, charm and elegance here but also a undercurrent of brooding fruit that seems ready to tip over into the next stage of its evolution. Very wonderful resolved colour - quite sweet fruit but then cut through with very very fine tannins and that lovely earthy Beaucastel flavour. Touch of dark cherry - long finish. This wine has a long way to go and will mature into a real funky, animalistic wine in a few years. Excellent
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Stellar bottle. I have had this wine about 20 times, and this was a great example. An amazing mix of leather, spice, iced tea, Provencale herb, and white pepper. Supple, spicy, energetic, textbook Châteauneuf-du-Pape from a ripe vintage.
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Long Sunday Lunch @ The Oak- purple color, fantastic nose of brett and dark purple fruits and smoke. delicious mouth of spicy dark fruits and meaty gamey leather but still full and lush. laughed when ale said "there are no great wines just great bottles" as tonight we had great leflaive and beau
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Wayne's 70th Birthday Dinner (Paley's Place, Portland, OR): Opened about 4 hours before drinking but not decanted. Beautiful, clear pink-red color, like a 5-year-old Oregon pinot noir. Complex nose of truffles, leather, tea and tobacco. Much richer on the palate than the color would lead one to expect. Richly grenache tasting with outstanding fruit, fully-resolved tannins and moderate acidity to support the plush, elegant palate impression. Moderate, rich finish. This was everything we hoped for in a mature CdP. Paired beautifully with the cheese course.
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Completely mature. Barnyard and a bit dusty. Pleasant herbs. Very soft tannin. Still a great wine, but compared to the bottle I had 2 years ago, this one was less impressive and much more developed. I guess at this age there can be big differences between bottles. Nevertheless, a wine for which you can wake me up.
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This is the 3rd time I have had this wine in the last year but this was the best showing by far. Lovely nose of crushed berries along with meaty and spice aromas that just jump out of the glass. Really elegant and balanced on the palate with black cherry and more of those meat/animal notes that I love in a great CDP. Finish was long and layered with fine tannins. Would love to compare this side by side with the 89, which I have yet to try.
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It was late in the night, after a dozen bottles amongst the 6 of us, but this still KICKED ASS. What a killer wine. Little bit of barnyard, little autumn yard feel. Beautiful mouthfeel at the age of 19, vibrant and smooth with just a touch of acid hanging in. Dark fruit, licorice, pepper, olive, cedar, leather. A stellar showing. What aged CdP should be. Loved it.
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Import label on the front. Fill was just a bit on the low side, but this wine showed very well. It had all you want, and was drinking very well - just outdone a bit by the '90 Pegau, which came from a bottle with a full fill - so maybe not a fair fight. But drinking well, showing fruit, complexity, and fully resolved tannins - the elegant style of Chat du Pape at its best. A-/A
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Light garnet, a little bricking at the rim. This has an amazingly complex and aromatic nose. Definite notes of smoked meat, coffee, chinese five spice, tomato ketchup and polished wood accompany sweet underlying blackberry fruit. Medium bodied with good acidity and smooth integrated tannins. Beautiful balance in the mouth. Rich, defined flavours of leather, blackcurrant, coffee, dark chocolate and bacon fat. Evolves on the palate and lingers in the throat for minutes. Fabulous.
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Continues to be a beautiful expression of Beaucastel, but this bottle, for the first time, showed early signs of an emerging sweetness and silkiness that I haven't seen before in 90 Beau. always special.
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Very nice wine and very little of the barnyard. This faded a bit with time and became somewhat cloudy. Initally, quite a bit of the sweet kirsch of Grenache.
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Light red. Nice bit of fruit left in the nose but lots of other things like mushroom black pepper, blackberry and earth. Absolutely beautiful balance. My favorite of the great back to back years. I have preferred the 90 to the 89 both times I've had them together.
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Nose - cedar, leather, earth, wet leaf, tobacco, cherry, black raspberry, currant and floral. Palate - lovely integration of fruit and earthy characteristics....seemless. An almost subtle blue cheese note is really nice, cedar, leather, tart cherries, meaty and savoury. So elegant....wow. Aerate it and it explodes. Finish is long....complex and layered and come at u at different angles....the earth, wet leaf, chery, cedar, leather, herbs and a myriad of other things. This really makes u think! I love it. Almost classic...a bit flater on the palate then the last 90 but none the less unreal and an experience 94+points
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Dinner with friends (My place): Dark red color with a browning hue. Cabbage, animal dung, orange peel and banana on the nose. Cooked and oxidized taste - clearly an off bottle.
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4 Star Syrah Dinner at 11 Madison Park (NYC): Keith's bottle and paired with '00 la Nerthe and the gnocchi. This drank like a CdP tonight, horsey nose, sour cherry, pepper, blackberry, long coffee finish.
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Greeted visually with deep purple in the glass working its way out to a clear rim, not yet portraying a wine of 17 years in the bottle. Upon pouring a big wave of ripe red fruit, leather, tobacco and subtle forest floor greet you on the nose. Strikingly fresh, this wine is still a great pleasure to spend some time with. In the mouth it possesses very nice balance, some red and dark fruit retaining a subtle sweetness. The tannin a distant memory but, the wine has just the right grip to let you know that it is no where near deaths door.
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French label, very good fill and cork. Beautiful wine. Singing right out of the bottle. Needs a decant only for sediment. Ripe, fully mature, smooth finish. A
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The cork was completely stained but intact.Deep garnet red core with clearly browning towards the rim.Medium nose with lots of barnyard and good fruit.Great medium+ to full palate with bright concentrated red fruit/berries and plenty of barnyard and leather.Resolving tannins.Nice long finish.Striking how much fruit there is left and how well it is integrated with the developed aromas.This has of course many years left,but I think it is drinking just perfectly now.
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Commanderie des Costes du Rhone dinner at Cafe des Artistes: Tasted at Commanderie des Costes du Rhone dinner at Cafe des Artistes - Neil's bottle. Bordeaux nose on first pour just like the one I had last week. However, this mellowed quickly and the barnyard, cherry, peppery spice that I associate with this wine soon emerged.
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Keith brought this to Zachy's auction at Daniel - This was the sleeper of the night. Drank next to the '86 Mouton and it held its own. Just a tad lighter than the Mouton and it actually tasted more bordeaux-like than the last time I had this a few months ago. More dark fruit than red fruit with less of the spicy, white pepper that I usually sense.
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Frankly speaking, I was a little disappointed with this wine, I was expecting more out of this legendary Beaucastel. The wine is a little cloudy with a little jammy nose. It opens up pretty well later in the night with dry leave, tobacco, herbal with mixed fruits. It gets more and more spicy and juicy with times. Good long finish
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Rhone night at the Perche House- opened several hours before dinner-served with the '98 Beau (which most preferred) the '90 had a strong brett nose, leatherey and smokey. smelled exactly how i remember the last bottle of this. youthful looking, strong animal flavors in the mouth but still some zippy fruit. i liked it but it is more old style bloody meaty smokey rhone
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Beaucastel Vertical 81-01 (Gurnee IL, Jordan's house): nose: rich, sleek, elegant and very deep with wonderful layered tones of red fruits, red cherries, loads of herbs, spice tones, rawhide leather, and garrigue with a touch of funk. An intoxicating nose that beguiles the senses and is just so beautiful
taste: extremely layered and pure with rich tones of red fruits, red cherries, spice tones, garrigue and a bit of barnyard funk. Beautiful feel that seems to go on forever on the palate and really brings on the class
overall: a beautiful beaucastel. One of the classiest beaus that I've had and it just really turns it on. A hair better then bottle no2 of the 89 as this just has that extra edge of class that does it for me and makes me ponder
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Dark burgundy / mahagony, tawny rim. Powerful nose is incredibly spicy, with ripe cherry, licorice, tobacco, leather aromas. Intensely flavorful, maybe a hint of black-olive tapenade... waves and waves of fruit here, framed by soft tannins. An impressive Beaucastel at its peak.
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Tasted with Tori before in Dunedin (out of magnum). The wine is certainly in its plateau of maturity. Smooth, leathery and gamey with excellent concentration. A real vin de garde in an old world style.
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(served w/ steak frites and bernaise) An incredible wine ... the color is starting to fade just a bit, but the flavour remains. There is a slight (appropriate) funk on the nose, slightly dirty (in a good, terroir way). The flavour shows dark friuts, leather and a hint of raisins. I'm excited now to pop a magnum of this great wine!
Casual dinner at Michael (WINNETKA IL): Not the best 90 Beaucastel by a long shot..... I can see why the range of scores in this wine is varied. The nose had some type of dog biscuit or dry dog food smell that never really blew off. Eventually it gained a heavy soy note that made the wine singular and uninteresting.
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a night at michael (michael, winnetka IL): nose: classic beaucastel filled with leather, black licorice, Iron, animal blood, animal hides, black cherries, and some asian spices creeping in with even some dog biscuit notes emerging later. That said, this bottle just didn't seem to get into that next gear even with air. In fact, it hit a good plateau, and then faded later on in the evening. This wasn't that massively deep nose that I had become accustomed to from the 90 Beau
taste: really nice medium feel with leather, black licorice, animal tones, Iron, black cherries, and some barnyardish tones. This just doesn't seem to want to really get going and is lacking that extra level of depth and layering that the previous two bottles brought
overall: a really good 90 Beaucastel, but its hard when the past two bottles have been so good. This just seemed stuck in 2nd gear the entire time, and when I revisited it towards the end of the evening, it started to decline as opposed to get better. This wasn't the best representation that I've had, but still good
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fine mature brick red color, clear and shining to the rim; beautiful nose dominated by the mourvedre-grape (i guess). delicious and becoming more complex with 2 hours in the decanter, impressions of leather and thyme, secondary aromas; medium bodied on the palate, fully mature but will last a long time; gorgeous, particularly on the nose; one could continue to enjoy the smell for hours. (wit rack of lamb and oven baked potatoes carrots, tea spoon of very old aceto balsamico; a simple dish gives a great wine a better chance to be fully enjoyed)
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Another stunning bottle and still very young. Very complex nose of leather, black and red fruits and some of that good ole Beaucastel funk (mostly from Mouvedre if you ask me). Big in the mouth with a smooth sailing finish of everything you expect in Beaucastel (red and black fruits, spice, leather and some gaminess). Glad to have more of this and there's no rush to open.
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The color showed its age but the nose and palate were still very primary. Not nearly the barnyard flavor/nose that I recall from the 89. Not bad, but certainly not the wine I was hoping. In a dumb phase?
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This and the '88 had the most brett on opening the previous night, and where the '88 held onto some of it, this completely blew off by showtime. Dark and more akin to the previous weekend's wines. A beautiful nose of roses, black raspberry ganache, blood and dark cherries. So much more primal than any of the wines this night. On the palate, this was full of savage, meaty notes, rich blackberries, tns of minerality and a dense tannic structure held this wine in a separate class of maturity than the others this night. This is impressive stuff. Everything was turned up to eleven on this, but still kept in great balance. This has a ton of time in hand and for my palate will be better in a few years (although I doubt that if i had any it would survive that long untouched). 95+ pts.
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Blind. Still a full, deep colour. Nose and palate quite thin and again I thought Tempranillo, although after 30 minutes this started to fill out and seemed more likely to be a Chateauneuf. Seemed to start off very muted, and even when revealed after an hour or so was only just starting to show what it had. By the end though it was a revelation - I've only had the 95 and 96 before, and it was far more complex and compelling than those. My mental preconception about 90 Beaucastel was something bigger and showier and brettier but this was subtlety and complexity, and it evolved into displaying the most lovely, sweet-fruited nose. Really lovely. Understand this was opened about 4 hours before serving, but it really benefited from air and opened up and evolved dramatically, and beneficially, over a couple of hours in the glass. A wine best consumed when one can drink and consider a whole bottle over an evening, undisturbed! *****
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Good firm cork, decanted for an hour, before roast lamb dinner at home. Even deep red colour with slight browning at the rin, warm soft black fruits on the nose, leather, vegital, violets, dark chocolate. Deep rich flavours, wild black bramble fruits, hedgrows, warm chocolate, damp -earthy, light acid and tannins in the finish just enough to hold everything together. exceptional length, with a number of distinct layers Super mature wine for drinking now
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Still a deep red with only the slightest browning at the edges - quite a gentle bouquet but very clean - wonderful deep and full flavours of brambles, black fruits and pepper with extraordinary length - very impressive - drink now or keep
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Tasted at Eric's, CT Weekend. My first Beaucastel. Color was deep garnet with some bricking. Nose of dark berries, plums, cassis, leather. Palate of same with some earth and tar. Tannins largely resolved. WOW! This was spectacular. Easily my WOTN. Thanks, Eric, for sharing with us all.
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casual dinner with friends (Le Titi Paris, Arlington Heights IL): nose: this was like a barely tamed animal when it opened up. A big wild streak to this nose(and this would be a theme with this bottle) with beauty at the same time providing tones of exotic red fruits, leather, animal hides, perfumes, along with bits of herbs and spice tones
taste: very exotic with a serious wild streak that is hard to tame with loads of red fruits, leather, animal hides, and herbal tones. This makes me say, ooohhhh what a rush ala 80s era Road Warriors
overall: This bottle had a serious wild streak to it that was hard to tame. Lots of exotics that existed in this bottle that is hard to fully explain in either written words or in spoken words. This was a very interesting bottle that lead you on an adventure, but didn't take me to that next intellectual level that the last 90 I had did. The exotic red fruit attack presented so many interesting flavors, and the animalistic finish was gripping, but it was almost that this bottle fully needed to be tamed to really get to those heady heights
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Casual Dinner at Le titi (Le Titi De Paris): Less silky and more animal than the last bottle. It had more of a raw savage beastly character than other bottles. Still a great wine but not on the same leve of other 90 beaucastels.
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Wonderful wine. Barnyard galore on the nose, color starting to brown, dark fruit. On the palate, big mouth feel, and licourice coming in. Long fiinish with leather and balsamic taste coming at the end. Wonderfully integrated and is thie right time to drink. A little tannin and acidity left, enough to hold up the still very present fruit. Amazing, benchmark CnP.
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dark red. Great leathery, barnyard, garrigue, and dark red fruit nose. Palate is very rich, with flavors true to the aromatics. Literally oozes concentrated aged fkavirs, more leather, etc. than fruity. Acidity seems pretty low, but not sure if the extract is just covering the acids ornot. I am somewhat concerned about the acidity however. On this evening, incredibly enjoyable and a pleasure to drink.
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Mish Mash of wines (My house): WOW! Background is barnyard but in front of it is a wave of something indescribable but very sexy and hedonistic. Chocolate? Yes. Flowers? Yes. Grilled steak, dirt, forest floor, pine, and as my wife described morning dew- all there in the nose but swirling around. What the wine lacked in focus and detail (unlike its 1989 counterpart) it makes up in intellectual stimulation. The wine was so smooth in the mouth with a silky feel with a finish that went on and on. This wine was a revelation for me as it was more interesting and likeable than any other great 89s I have had.
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an easy sunday afternoon in the great white north (gurnee IL, jordan's house): nose: amazingly balanced and beautiful boquet with barnyard tones, black cherries, cassis, smoke, anise, and loads of perfumes. A soaring and utterly beautiful nose that just lifts you and makes you want to keep on smelling in delight
taste: sublime and balanced with distinct flavors just melding together in harmony of black fruits, creme de cassis, anise, valhrona chocolate, and roasted meat tones. This is pure delight and insanely silky on the palate
overall: This is a stunning wine that is really at the apex. An absolute delight, this wine reminded me of that girl that you always had a crush on throughout junior high and high school. The more the wine reveals to you, the more alluring it becomes and makes you want to have it so that it doesn't stop. For me, the scary thought was, if the regular beaucastel is this good, how good is the hommage? It doesn't matter though as this was just singing and a fun way to use my 1K Tasting Note here
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A lot of complexity on the nose with smoke and smoked meats, cherry, spice, cedar and a fair bit of funky brett. Good intensity to the palate, but the brett affects the length of the finish. I would have rated this 2-3 points higher if the brett hadn't affected the palate so much.
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Jeb Does Minneapolis, Round 2: CDP (Heidi's, Minneapolis): The best example of this wine that I've tasted. Great nose. Rich, layered flavors of dark fruit, fresh chopped herbs, and lilacs. Silky, lacy, incredible texture. Impeccable balance and length. This was less "slutty" and even more enjoyable than previous bottles. Thanks to Brad for sharing this.
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perfect expression of Beaucastel. Game, red and black fruits, leather, and earth. Mouvedre signature is present as mushroom and tree bark, rather than Bretty poop. On the palate, the wine is getting more silky as it matures. Will last many more years and get even more complex.
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This is only my second experience with any Beaucastel... First time was the 1996. This wine is stunning! It started of a bit soft and flabby, but picked up acid VERY quickly over the course of a two hour meal with Eric. Wonderful red fruits, anise, tar, and olives. Of course, this being Beaucastel, it was a little "funky". Bravo!
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Eight Rhones tasted sixth place. Dull beet red color in the glass, pleasant thick taste on the palate, showing its age, long finish. A disappointment to me.
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A bit more funk than typical (at least from these cases, which have been low on the bret), and while good, a less pleasing bottle than normal. Still a fun wine though.
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Cork removed in tack but stained nearly end to end. Aroma of sweet blueberries seemed to emerge even before the cork was completely removed. It got me all excited but this is nowhere to be found in the glass or palate. Giving up nothing on the nose -- concerned this is tainted. Shows exceptional balance and structure though. Got a little cedar on the nose eventually. Not sure what to make of this.
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Dinner at UNION (Seattle, WA): A beautiful 1990 Beau. Very little Brett, gorgeous waves of dried herbs and Provencale flavors, chewy, powerful. I love this wine, and this was a pristine, young, ripe, fresh bottle.
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Single blind at 89/ 90 Rhone dinner. Most of us thought this was an excellent bottle of the '89, and were shocked to see it revealed as the '90. Absolutely classic, and absolutely fantastic example.
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This was the English label. My favorite in the 99/98/95/90/89/83 vertical we did last week. Seems like all you want in a Beaucastel and plenty of time left. A
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(Chez Nous/French lunch club): WoTD by everyone's impression. Classic nose of Mouvedre still present, but has developed a rich and flavorful softness. Some leather and tobacco on the finish, but complements rather than overwhelms the still present fruit. Wonderful out of a 750 ... thinking the mags will be magnificent!
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A while since I drank a bottle. Still quite a plummy colour, gorgeous nose, waves of spicy plummy fruit. exotic but within a framework, bit of warm horse, rich on palate but still quite firm beneath, warm, long controlled power. Terrific bottle.
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Decanted 60+ minutes. Very similar to the previous experience in Paris. Ruby red. Nose was completely closed on opening but the palate was dancing with fruit and beautiful structure so I knew it was 'okay'. In just 15 minutes the aromas were exploding and this wine was strutting big time. Everything was there. Tasted over the next 3 hours with constant improvement (i.e., new nuances kept being revealed).
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Suckling Pig Dinner @ St John (London) Still purple color with a little lightening around the edges. sweet cherry smell on the nocse which was a bit of a surprise.in the mouth thiis was a really good bottle of beaucastel, one of the best from the case yer. smokey black cherries with a little spice and brown sugar. great balance and med long. this bottle was still on upswing and the wine got better towards end
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Gorgeous cork. Just perfect. Alas, this was a strong but not mind-blowing bottle of this wine. At first this soared with loads of garrigue and a nice, chunky, sturdy personality. Pine, roast meat, sweet herbs, soy, dynamic, vibrant, a beautiful Châteauneuf-du-Pape that is broaching maturity. I have had chunkier bottles and more expressive bottles. While outstanding, this one was right in the middle.
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Superb complex bouquet with little good oak, spices and some strawberry. Everything comes back in the taste in perfect harmony. And there is also a lot of refinement and still strong beautiful tannin. Heaven in a glass!
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Tasting Group Dinner w/ Paul Jaouen (Brad's House, Minneapolis): Slightly roasted, smoky black fruit, coffee, and licorice. Ripe crushed blackberries and Asian spices. Good minerality. The fruit profile is much darker than the 1989, tasted side-by-side. Delicious.
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Side by side with the 89. Interestingly, we all commented that we likely couldn't pick out which was which if we mixed up our glasses, which isn't typical. I preferred the 89 tonight, as the 90 seemed less complex and somewhat unidimensional.
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Paul Jaouen Does Minneapolis (Mugnier, Leroy, Papet, La Las, Pavillon, Celestins, Cheval, Latour, Palmer): The color is a deep rust red. The nose is very similar to the 1989 with dark fruit, mineral, smoke, and pepper. The taste is of ripe dark fruit with some earth/leather. Maybe a touch lighter than the 1989 but still palate coating. Great length and a long satisfying finish. Tasted blind I doubt I would been able to tell these two apart. Great showing.
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Opened it up and tasted it over a few hours. Medium garnet at the core and ochre at the rim. This bottle was in mint condition. Lovely nose - hint of barnyard was very evident ( my mum actually mentioned baby's nappies and she has never heard of this wine before). This led on to eucalyptus, red berries, mocha, herbs and spices. Very complex nose that developed new scents during the evening.
On the palate it was very well balanced - hardly any tannins, good acid and very smooth with lots of ripe fruits, more herbs, gaminess, leather and now onto black fruits. The flavours were amazing and the finish was lingering like an old friend who would not go away.
Wow - a top 5 wine for me - possibly the best after L'Evangile 90.
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Better showing than the last bottle which was a dissapointment. alot of barnyard on the nose but this time nice depth of fruit to balance out the high acidity.. I wouldn't call this a blockbuster either, but much better showing than last time. After about 2+ hours it really settles down and gets much much better.
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Triomphe Offline with Jay Selman: A beautiful wine that transformed many times throughout the evening. The first taste remained vividly on my palate for minutes. Not overly bretty and really quite elegant. At one point it seemed more Bordeaux-like.
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Older Rhone Dinner (Custom House): Full red/black color. Bright black fruit with nice spice and a hint of brett on the nose. Nice round red fruit with a slightly canned note on the spicy finish. I've had better examples of this one too.
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At La Tour D'Argent with Nancy. Not decanted, but opened and poured about 30 minutes ahead. Color was ruby red with almost no browning on the rim -- seemed like a well cared for bottle. Initially, very closed and tight but within 15 minutes was really starting to open up. Hugely complex nose of red fruits/berries, spices, earth, mushrooms, smoke, garrique, licorice, tar, meat and other stuff. No discernable brett, horses or barnyard. Full fruit on the palate that leaned ever so slightly toward leaness. Finished with nice structure of light, grainy tannins and lifting acidity. Grew in complexity throughout the evening. Every bit as good as the last bottle at home.
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Tasted in a flight of wines. Open for 2hours; Brown rim, initial barnyardy/horse manure nose blew off to show hints of dark fruits, spices and earth. Not a very expressive bouquet (compared to say, the 1999). Medium body, smooth, balanced ripe fruits with nice tannins. Some finish, but a little hot. Overall, nice easy drinking mature Beau. Not a blockbuster.
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Beautiful last night. Opened bottle for several hours in cellar and then decanted about and hour or two before meal. Changed and evolved in the glass after this. Reddish, some brickis-brown on the edge, spicy, earthy gamy, slight brett. Rich middle, reddish, plummy, complex on the palate. Moderate long on the finish. Not a monumental 78 but very example of how good Beaucastel can be.
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Not the greatest looking bottle to begin with, this was a yet another disappointent(after the corked 93 Bachelet). Incredibly bretty to the point of being amost undrinkable, this wine has nowhere to go but down. Have drunk great examples of this wine in the past so this was definitely just a lousy bottle.
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From a 375. Garnet in color. After 90 minutes in the glass, the nose exhibited charcoal, garrigue, pepper, and red fruits. The palate was complex, velvety, and warm, with lots of plum, cinnamon, char, and mineral. Tannins added just enough structure, with nice grip at the end of the long finish. Thoroughly enjoyable.
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My first Beau, and certainly first old one. Cork nearly saturated and provenance here probably dodgy, but I think the wine was fine. Audouzed early afternoon and then poured off a glass to help breathing an hour before going to dinner. The wine really came on w/ time and I never got a ton on the nose, but very ripe and wonderful fruit. Great with the cheese. Too much wine that night to give this the full attention it deserved.
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A terrific bottle of the 1990. Garrigue wafts out of the glass. The palate is spicy, not as ripe as some examples, not even the faintest whiff of brett. Just clean, pure, amazingly delicious CNDP approaching early maturity.
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A magnificent wine, decanted and drunk over 3 hours. At first a complex nose of grilled meat, lavender, herbs, earth, sweet fruit and goat. As it opened out pungent scents of blackcurrant, liquorice and menthol became dominant and were supreme after 2 hours. The flavour evolved in a similar way becoming more and more blackcurranty as time went by. Not a typical Chateauneuf but a truly splendid, complex and concentrated wine. This goes into my all time top 10 at number 3, making this the best wine I have had in 10 years. Given some air this is wonderful to drink now but I suspect it has another decade of evolution ahead of it.
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Chateauneuf du Pape BYO Dinner (DUO, Miami): CdP BYO Dinner at DUO, Miami. David & Roberta Ehrenreich's contribution along w the 94 Beaucastel. Served in first flight, without food it was outclassed by its 94 sibling, but was exemplary with Veal Sweetbreads, fig Tatin and crispy shallots. These two Beaucatels have restored my faith that eventually my 98's will come around.
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pretty pale with a hint of bronze- bretty nose with a good hit of sweaty socka, kirsch, leather, intense roasted herbal notes – bright acidity in the mouth, still very structured, red berried up front, wild strawberry and strawberry seeds across the palate, a little jammy and a touch hot, very long and succulent anise seed/ green coffee bean tinged finish, just a bit dried out, this lacks the explosive fruit of better bottles, bit of heat damage here.
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Rocking as always. Big notes of horse, leather, and garrigue. Classic Beaucastel. Very ripe. Extremely delicious. Lots of sediment and a bit advanced but an extremely enjoyable bottle.
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JasonG's 35th Birthday (Issaquah, WA): This featured a piercing nose, very Grenache, very young smelling. Mmm, big, sweet and ripe with a saturated palate. This is as primary an example of the 1990 Beau as I have ever tasted. This bottle was not even close to ready, just pure, clean and lush.
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Decanted for 3 hours. Medium ruby color. Nose of leather, game, truffles and damp earth. Very silky in the mouth although there's plenty of tanin you hardly noticed it. Kirsh, roast meat, lots of game and savoury flavours. Good depth and a long finish with a bit of "heat". Drank with a 1992 Hill of Grace which was more powerful and open on impact but the Beaucastel had elegence and balance and the stuffing comes at the back.
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Medium ruby tending to tawny. Complex, intense nose of damp earth, tobacco, nutmeg, clove, lavander, and leather. After about an hour of air it showed more meaty notes. On the palate it is very silky, and in contrast with the nose, there is a lot of wonderfully precise red fruit flavor, red cherry and strawberry in particular, with tobacco notes. The fruit coats the palate, and the flavor persists for well over a minute. Perfect balance, some slight tannin. After a bit over two hours the palate began to dry out. Not sure if this is getting close to the end of the road, or if the bottle wasn't stored optimally.
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A bit dissapointed with this. I was expecting a 95pt wine and this just didn't deliver. I built this up and opened 2 bottles for father's day with friends.. My wife said she didn't get it. Not the response I wanted. I agree with her it was pleasant but lacking in concentration and a little simple. No WOW factor.
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Awesome wine. Decanted for 2-3 hours before dinner. Classic beaucastel. Lots of exotic eastern spice, earthy, gamey, rich, ripe mourvedre. Center had some bright plummy fruit. Good structure. Had all those delicious, unique, indescribable nuances of a very fine CNP. Will try to expand later when I have more time.
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Drunk side by side with each other, the 89 and 90 Beaucastel. These were both absolutely perfect bottles (yeah for provenance) and both were simply outstanding. The 90 was a bit more of a slut (says Ben), and he was right, although it wasn't as sweet as it can be (which is good). The 89 was just perfect, and there was not one whiff of brett. Looking forward to the rest of these cases.
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Tasted side by side with the 1989. Although I;ve had both vintages a number of times, this was the first time I've had the two side by side, which was a real treat - thanks Brad! Tonight the 1990 was absolutely wide open, with a big, expressive nose that offered a mix of dark fruit, game and sous-bois components - indeed, perfectly mature. Rather lush / soft mouthfeel, with broad, expansive flavors of game, leather and dried fruit. Fantastic. Due to its flattering state of maturity, I preferred the '90 to the less expressive, though still wonderful '89 (see TN).
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Dinner at 112 Eatery (Chave, Beaucastel, Pegau, Voge, Donjon, and others): Tasted side-by-side with the 1989. Wow! Great wine. And is this open for business. On the nose this shows big red fruit with only a slight hint of barnyard. Just enough secondary elements to hold my interest. In the mouth this shows big, opulent red fruit. Plenty of stucture but gorgeous fruit and just a bit of earthiness. Very balanced. Tannins are mostly gone, although I am sure this will age spectacularly for years to come. Very special to taste these two side-by-side. This bottle too was recently sourced from an excellent seller in Europe. Thanks Brad.
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Two bottles, both similar. Quite a light brick red with tinge of orange. Decanted an hour in advance. Lovely complex nose. Palate complex also, but losing its fruit: not a blockbuster with a slightly dilute finish. To be drunk soon.
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Light brown color - clearly a wine with age. Powerful ", smell", of stables and barnyard! Later settles down and becomes more balanced with red fruits and some spices as well as some minerals. Medium-bodied with great taste. Evolves quickly in the glass and becomes more youthfull by the minute until it becomes very balanced.
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Old Wine Dinner (Caliterra -Chicago IL): Paired with the sensational 1989 Beaucastel. Rich, ripe blackberry and black cherry aromas with some liqueur hints. Similarly large-scaled fruit on palate with good spice and black pepper on finish.
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Always a pleasure and a real standby for just awesome CNDP. This opened up very tight with lots of blood and iodine, very spicy on the palate, yet dark and brooding, unusually muscular. With a couple of hours in the decanter this did soften and showed its lush personality on the palate, loaded with provencale herbs and tapenade, always a bit chewy, meaty and powerful, just an awesome example.
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Ray Goder Dinner at Caliterra (Caliterra): Full purple red color. Absolutely great nose of spicy black fruit with coffee notes. Huge rich sweet briar red/black fruit on the palate. Lovely. 94-95 pts.
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Dinner(s) with friends; 5/21/2006-5/22/2006 (Northern Ohio): A meaty, leathery young red fruit nose that's remarkably clean for Beaucastel. Full and expansive on the palate, and benefits greatly from time in a decanter. Concentrated but stops short of being overtly flashy. Some unresolved tannin. The most youthful and best bottle of this I’ve had - still years away from maturity.
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Beaucastel Offline (Snow on the Green - London): A little odd on the nose, some coffee and cedar - tertiary oak? Drier tannin than the 1989. Great but not as balanced as the 1989. ~94 pts.
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Tasting Group Dinner - 12 Years of Beaucastel (JP's American Bistro, Minneapolis): Big nose of garrigue and purple flowers. Deep, rich cherry fruit, with moderate, fine-grained tannin. Wonderful balance and minerality. Interesting note of Asian spices to go along with the garrigue. Still seems youthful. Great stuff. I guessed this was the 2001 and was way off. Blind tasting is so humbling! WOTF (by default).
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Recent purchase. Slightly low fill, but other wise good appearance.Like a bottle of '89 from the same cellar (see TN 4/3/2006), this bottle came across as muted and monotone, compared to other bottles of the '90 I've had over the years. The '89 fromthis cellar was slightly more impressive than the '90, FWIW. Rather than the usual, explosive nose, this had a somewhat reluctant nose of game and red fruit. On the palate, again, it's quite one-dimensional and nowhere near the wine it has been in the past from other sources. My initial guess was that this was stored badly - or at least not ideally. When I discussed this with the wine merchant they claimed the cases of '89 & '90 were impeccably stored by a local private collector since release and it must be a case travel shock, having recently been moved around (cellar to warehouse, to store, to my cellar)... I did let both wines sit for over a month... I'll be reporting on another bottle in a few months...
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Very lovely nose of rich fruit and barnyard, more of the same on the palate, lively, concentrated, youngest tasting wine tonight, needs three years to peak, long finish, great aftertaste, the image of the 1983 but seven years younger. Tied for first broke on older wine wins.
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Older Rhones - Group #5, My #3 - Full red/crimson wit ha bit of lightening. Forward aroma of slightly canned rich red fruit with briar hints. Lovely rich red fruit with slight sour notes. Candied notes as it opened. 3/06
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STG does Beaucastel: light pale brick color. and then the nose ! OMFG ( a borrowed LeVine-ism) such a mixture of barnyard and fruit.. horse.. saddle leather.... cedar..sweet stewed prunes..black pepper..again Latakia and Damask roses and then the palate: such smooth tannin integrated with the fruit... very giving.. it seems quite lite, not in a dilute way, but in a delicate, complex way with a long, long beautiful, smooth, finish clearly my WOTN :) !! Yippee !! 7 more in my cellar :)
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Seattle Tasting Group does Beaucastel (Issaquah, WA): Once again, the 1990 Beaucastel is my wine of a tasting. Cedar, pine, spice, leather, licorice and garrigue. This is is just so opulent and forward, a wine that just soars on the nose and palate, almost indescribably complex, never heavy, very pure with beautiful Provencale herbs and all of the usual game you find in a Beaucastel. It finishes out long and poignant. This wine is definitely and nearly always right in my happy spot.
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Legends of Châteauneuf-du-Pape with Leve (Los Angeles, CA): Sweet, lush and much more forward than the 1989. However, tonight, this is just a bit more simple than its counterpart. I usually prefer the 1990 but tonight the 1989 took it. Still, this has it all, horse garrigue, cherries, licorice, a dynamic and vibrant wine that is drinking extremely well.
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Drunk over dinner at a restaurant with friends last night. Bottle was in great shape with a good fill and had been properly stored by the restaurant since original purchase. Wine was decanted for approx 30 mins and then drunk over the following 2 hours. Delicious wine! Elegant, balanced, medium bodied and with bags of sweet, dark fruits. A hint of the trademark barnyard/brett on the nose but in no way did this detract from the wine (I especially dislike brett and am very sensitive to it). Wine did not evolve much over the evening (perhaps softening a tad) indicating that it has many years left yet although it seemed to me to be absolutely at its peak now. Perhaps lacking a little weight/power to really blow me away but nevertheless I would be happy to drink this any day.
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Princeton eBob Coche Dinner (The Ferry House, Princeton NJ): Bright, sexy cherry fruit with only a hint of Beaucastel funk. Large-scaled, ripe, and full of grainy tannin. Doesn't have quite the potential or exotic profile of the '89, but considerably more accessible at this point.
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Tim's 1990 tasting (North Cheshire): Brown, but still dark, polish on the nose, sweet and farmyardy - long, but somehow not big - a very good wine, but I've preferred most other vintages I've had
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Bottle was french label with iwa/julienne import label accross top. medium red. nose was great right out of the bottle. wonderful mix of fruit, earth, and cdp funk. elegant fruit with some tannin on the back end. after about an hour it shut for a while. about two hours later opened back up. next day although some oxidized flavor, the leftover makes me think this has time to get even better. A-
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Not the best showing for this wine- I've had much, much better bottles- this was dominated by horsiness, and you could sense the core of fruit, but it never really showed itslef- decanted for 1.5 hours.
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Dinner sans Manlin (Lampreia, Seattle): This was a terrific bottle that just blew me away. The nose was extremely expressive with leather, horse, and spiced cherries. The palate was ever better. It showed the stunning cherry notes that I love in aged Beau. It may not have the structure of the 89, but it is far more open and ready to go at this point.
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Dinner without Scott Manlin (Seattle, WA): Why is this nearly ALWAYS the wine of the night? OMG, from the moment we popped the cork, this was singing with white pepper, garrigue and cherries, soaring, delivering as always. It is hard to put words on how glorious and pure this wine is, but for me, this is one of the nost enjoyable expressions of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Bravo!
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“A more Burgundy style,” according to Thomas Perrin. This is very stinky on the nose, and it’s not just brett: I really can’t get past the stink. Maybe there is some raspberry fruit there? Really quite fresh on the palate, with lots of tannin almost from the beginning. The tannins recede towards the finish, revealing very fine, elegant fruit. I can see what Thomas means about Burgundy: it really does have a pinot feel to it. Very elegant. Excellent.
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With thanksgiving meal; the wine has an impressive, expressive, spicy nose and is still showing substantial fruit and a rich, complex, long finish. At its peak but shows no sign of fading and clearly has many years of life ahead of it.
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Another great bottle of this wine. This is an exotic CdP with layer after layer of flavor and depth with absolutely no signs of age whatsoever. Hints of coffee and ham on the nose alongide garrigue and ripe red fruits with a dusty/spicy element as well. The palate is a wild mixture of raspberries and blackberries in perfect harmony and balance. I've never had a bad bottle of this and I can't see it fading anytime soon.
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Roy Hersh Offline (St. John, London): More meaty, horsey, a little rustic, the brett takes something from the brightness of fruit of the 1989, something not quite right on the finish, almost metallic. On this ocassion the 1989 showed better to my mind, but I have had other 1989's from the same batch more in the mould of this 1990.
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This wine opens up with a great bretty, earthy nose. On the palate, delicious cherries are there, but it finishes with some drying tannins. This was good, but did not match expectations.
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1990 and older CdP Redux (Ed Murray's): Yep, it's true. Beaucastel is horsey. I'm having trouble reading my notes, but this was bretty and sauvage, but still retained plenty of sweetness and power. Great wine, but will not last as long as the Mont Olivet Papet.
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We opened this and had it poured into a decanter at the beginning of the meal. The wine was very dark purple and looked beautiful. Initially we noticed those barnyard / leather along with soaring black fruits, garrigue, pepper and earth. It really enveloped the table at the restaurant. The palate was medium to full bodied, with sweet black fruits, gravel, earth and a gamey quality, along with a very nice finish of about 20 seconds. Then it seemed to become muted for about half an hour, with all of the above elements minus the barnyard. Finally it came back to life, no barnyard funk but a beautiful nose of leather, fruit, garrigue and game, and a palate of full bodied bliss. This was a great wine and was superior in all ways.
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Antwerp - or "The Day the Music Died" (Antwerp): so we talked about other '90 and how beaucastel is a great wine and it would be interesting to compare it to the hommage.... Herwig says "one moment" and comes back with the '90 beaucastel... by that point i think surprise was outside of the range of emotions we could show but still..WOW...
i had this wine one time before as well...and it showed just as well the last time. Yes - the hommage surelly showed more class but this is a great wine in its own right. the animalistic power and the great fruit are there and ready for picking. I think this wine is ready and willing. lots of sweet spices as well... just a great bottle of wine.
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Roy in NYC part 1: "The Brothers" at Tribeca (Tribeca Grill): WOW right from the bottle this was clicking! rich powerfull tannic wine with tons of chocolate and leather notes. body is spicy and alive - its just rushes through you! I love this wine!!
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S.F. - Rubicon High End Rhone Wines (Rubicon, S.F.): Leather nose with notes of toasted cedar and earth. Great weight and solid inner core of flavors. Showing some secondary notes and that famous Beaucastel bretty nose that I have come to love.
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Drank at Manresa, 5/14/05. The 1990 Beaucastel was brilliant. Still a young wine that offered tremendous aromatics - black fruits, bacon and coffee flavors. A little tight at the beginning, it constantly changed in the glass; good many years of life left. I will be looking for more of this. Far superior to the 89 I drank recently.
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Double decanted back into bottle 2 hours before serving. This wine is simply hitting on all cylinders. A rivieting nose, terrific mouthfeel and a finish that continues to evolve flavors while lasting 30-45 seconds. Was a little surprised that there was no 'horse poop' and very little brett; just spices, flowers, earth and fruit galore.
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From a 375. Consumed again in just a few weeks, this wine again hits a home run. Decanted about 1 1/2 hours. Ruby hue. Nose is so terrific: market spices, cinnamon, horse poop (which blew off), pepper. On the palate, totally integrated and yet complex flavors of garrigue, pepper, violets, some leather, and some asphalt. Nice structure, tannins well-integrated. Lovely finish. Super wine now at its peak.
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Gorgeous aromas of char, minerals, coffee, soy and earth. None of the funk that some 89's have. Still young and a little bit tight, but definitely ready. Chewey, with some good unresolved tannins, and excellent acidic intensity. Full and luscious, and perhaps even lascivious. Significant sediment, needs to be decanted. Should have a long life ahead. A great wine, providing great drinking pleasure.
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Consumed at SOME. This was, in a flight of 4 CDPs, the most typical and the most outstanding. Dark ruby hue. Nose poured out of the glass exhibiting market spices, smoke, tar, pepper, and raw meat. Balanced attack combining blackberry fruit, pepperiness, garrigue, and grip in a most satisfying manner. Tannins provided backbone but not in an obtrusive way. Finish was exemplary. All of a piece and flawlessly put together, a complete wine. Bravo!
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1990 and older Châteauneuf-du-Pape offline at Kaspar's (Seattle, WA): This is wide open, just blasting along with horse, tapenade and sweet cherry. My note is brief, but this wine is yielding immense pleasure right now, at a perfect point to enjoy, still young and yet with so much complexity.
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Pre-'90 Chateauneuf in Seattle (Kaspars): I got the dregs of this from another table. I preferred this by a hair over our better bottle of '89 Beau. This had the full animale character I love in Chateauneuf. It was horsey, sweaty and had some old leather. But it also had great rich red fruit. Just plain super.
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Little ullage, but cork shows seepage to within 1-2mm of the end of the cork. Very nice, classic Beaucastel nose and mouthfeel, but seemed cranked down a notch. Merely very good instead of the hoped-for mind blowing. Perhaps a damaged or off bottle?
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I have little experience with mature CdP, so I was grateful for the opportunity to try this one from Greg's collection. As he pointed out, there is a complexity to mature CdP which is comparable to Bordeaux and Burgundy (and we had examples of both on the table at Wish). Spicy, very full and a satisfying accompaniment to meat or game dishes. The resolving tannins are relatively coarse which is suitable for the hearty flavor profile of the wine. Absolutely no hint of brett or other unclean elements. Outstanding and interesting red wine.
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from a 1/2 bottle purchased at the winery in 1996 and hand transported back by plane. After all of the positive notes recently on this wine I wanted to try a bottle, 15 years on. Wow, beautiful. Decanted at cellar temp and started to drink within 1/2 hour. The wine is starting to come out of it's shell. Not as dark as on release, but showing no brick. Sparkes in it's dark cherry color. Nose is the old, classic beaucastel, some horse, tar, brambleberry and violets. I would say that it is a bit more restrained than some, but his may be the 1/2 bottle. On the pallete it is wonderful, silky smooth and complex. I get loads of tar, cherry fruit and underbrush. The finish is quite long, and the sweet taste of the fruit is very persistent. Tannins are just there to frame the wine. This was magnificent with bbq strip steak. I think ready for the prime time now, at least from this format! No obvious brett, but this was one complete wine. Yum.
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Dinner with Clair and Paul (Seattle, WA, USA): Mmm, this is one utterly spectacular Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Some initial funk blew off to reveal a highly expressive nose of tapenade, Provencale herbs, leather, and licorice. The palate was powerful and soaring, loaded with kirschy notes, licorice, and dried herbs, vibrant, complex, layered and powerful. The finish still shows plenty of structure and a long life ahead, but this is absolutely delicious right now.
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Tasted March,17th, 2005 in the biggest wine store in Paris, called Lavinia with the Perrins brothers offering Beaucastel 1990 and 2000: the 1990 is not filtered, a slightly ambered ruby robe with sediments. Leather and pepper aromas on the first nose. An aroma of wet ground follows with notes of nutmeg .
In mouth, the wine is powerful, the wine slips on the palate with a strong aromatic feeling which is increasing, a strength perfectly balanced, it is a large, powerful and rich wine. The mouth ends on a fruit forward feeling and of complexity with a very large persistence, it is very long. Afterwards, it remains on blackcurrant notes, it is a splendid, straight and powerful wine. Already into a nice evolution and that can continue to melt its tannins, it is in a very pleasant phase already. Without any doubts, it requires to spend at least an hour in the decanter...I am glad to have some of these bottles in the cellar (actually Magnums !)....it should last for at least another 10 to 15 years.
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NYC Shafer Weekend; 3/14/2005-3/15/2005 (New York City): I opened this to accompany dinner at a french bistro in NYC. This is probably the best bottle, in my limited experience, of CdP I have had. Upon opening the nose had a slight barnyard nose that blew off after about thirty minutes. Medium body with lots of complexity and acid. Very well balanced. It will probably improve a little over the next three years, but not dramatically. At or near it peak. A great wine!
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San Francisco offline at Bizou (San Francisco, CA): This was my co-WOTN with the 1989 La Chapelle. On opening, this was a serious "whoa Nellie" wine with, for me at least, a huge blast of horse. For me this is a good thing, an the wine easily handled the funk. Bramble, cherry, licorice on the nose with loads of sweet, pure fruit on the palate. Perhaps the best part was the long, long, leathery finish. This was perhaps the most advanced of the 1990's we tasted, yet that was a good thing. Mmm, this is really everything I want in a great Châteauneuf-du-Pape!
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Dense, black fruit, licorice, prune, leather, tobacco. Gorgeous texture and balance. Less tannic and more expressive than the well-built '89, tasted last week. Well stored, I'd guess the '90 could still go another 10+ more years before starting to fade. This was perhaps the best showing I've experienced for this wine, which I've always enjoyed and which I've been lucky enough to have had at least seven or eight times now.
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Dark ruby red, fading to a paler color at the rim. On the nose early on this wine shows the barnyard character we expect, but this faded to a subtle note given time in the glass. After the initial olfactory attack, the nose is dominated by damp earth and blackberry, with complicating notes of saddle leather. In the mouth, surprisingly light perhaps given the reputation of the wine, but impeccably balanced in terms of residual fine tannins, acidity, and the evolved dark fruit. Seems to access the full range of the mid-palate and then finishes long and fine. Surprisingly aristocratic in its presentation, but lacking some of the body and sheer power I thought I would find. Perhaps this particular bottle was stored under less than ideal conditions (I don't fully know the provenance), since it seemed to be on the far side of its drinking peak.
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Dark ruby red, fading to a paler color at the rim. On the nose early on this wine shows the barnyard character we expect, but this fades to a subtle note given time in the glass. The nose is dominated by damp earth and blackberry, with complicating notes of saddle leather. In the mouth, surprisingly light perhaps given the reputation of the wine, but impeccably balanced in terms of residual fine tannins, acidity, and the evolved dark fruit. Seems to access the full range of the mid-palate and then finishes long and fine. Surprisingly aristocratic in its presentation, but lacking some of the body and sheer power I thought I would find. Perhaps this particular bottle was stored under less than ideal conditions (I don't fully know the provenance), since it seemed to be on the far side of its drinking peak.
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STG Does 90 and Older CdP (Issaquah, WA): While I love this wine, when it is tasted next to the 89 it does suffer a bit. It still, however, is a terrific wine. I hope to enjoy many bottles of this as I wait for my 89s to mature. The nose shows horse, dried herbs, and minerality that is reminiscent of an ocean breeze. The palate is open, sweet, and lush. In addition to sweet fruit, there is a good dose of minerals.
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Seattle Tasting Group does 1990 and older Châteauneuf-du-Pape (Issaquah, WA, USA): In comparison to the 1989 this is so much more giving and ready right now. The nose is unreal, just screaming out of the glass with horse, sweet herbs cherry, and menthol, utterly piercing and soaring. On the palate this is so sweet and delicious yet powerful with huge structure, still very primary and sappy. There is very impressive purity and intensity here. Group average 94.9
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This bottle showed nearly an inch of ullage, so I decided it was time. We took this with us to Cafe Juanita. When we pulled off the capsule there were signs of leakage. At first whiff the wine did seem to show some signs of oxidation, but after 20 minutes of air the fruit emerged to cover it. The nose shows leather, cherries, and smoke. This is the smokiest Beau I have tasted. The palate has the wonderful mouthfeel that I love on the 90s (while I like the 89 better, I like the mouthfeel on the 90 is better). I find flavors of sweet cherries, dried herbs, and a good dollop of minerality. All parts of this wine are perfectly integrated, leading to a smooth, seamless wine. Despite the possible oxidation, the finish is long and sweet.
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A local wine merchant bought a large collection just a few days ago. I was lucky to have nearly first choice (Damn you, LeVine :)) I was fortunate enough to get 6 of these. I love CDP but have not had many with age. I guess I did not understand what to wait for because they are so good young. I now get it. This wine showed some ullage but no leakage. The nose screamed from the moment I pulled the cork. (What a good sign!) The nose shows candied cherries, saddle leather, heather and roasting meat. The palate has picked up a ton of weight in the hour this wine has sat in the decanter. At first it was a bit light, now it is a lush monster. I find tastes of cherries, leather, herbs, with a long spicy finish. While this wine is perfectly integrated, the tannins are still lively and prove it with a kick at the end. The best part, however, is the soft mouthfeel. Extraordinary.
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Light reddish in the glass. Scents of chalk, dark berries, and creme brulée. There are also notes of black currant, jam and peppar. Superb, sweet taste with power and definition, good structure for keeping, and excellent fatness. Round and forth coming in taste and perfectly mature for drinking now, with the option to keep for many years. This wine combines elegance and power, with great purity,balance, harmony, and, luxurious viscousity. Long, sweet aftertaste.
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Tasted at a vertical Beaucastel tasting at the home of Amy Weinberg. Bright disc. Deep garnet robe with brick rim. Clean nose, showing very intense candied black fruit, exotic spices, herbs, meat, smoke and leather. Full-bodied on the palate, wiith low acidity, medium ripe residual tannins and similar flavors as for the nose. Long, smooth finish. This is a phenomenal Beaucastel which should drink well for at least another 8 years or so.
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Reminded me of the El Pison 95 in a way .. the aromas and flavors of fresh meat are strong. Great wine, with fantastic balance and strucutre. Huge finish. Good stuff!
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Tasted at the California Wine Experience, NY - 1990 Global Tasting Medium garnet color throughout - heady smell, astringency nice and round at first, then comes a touch of acidity then it turns bland and then comes a mouth-puckering (tannic) finish. A good wine, a long ways from having reached the end of its road. ***/****
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8 Rhone Reds Tasted (Walnut Creek, Ca.): Nose of barnyard, lovely fruit, allspice, saddle leather, tobacco, and forest floor, very tasty, medium/big body, elegant, like a rich cabernet sauvignon to me, long finish and long aftertaste. My #1 of 8. I bought 2 bottles of it the next day.
Rhone Wine Tasting (Lafayette, Ca.): Dull plum color in the glass, volatile, too big and earthy, medicinal nose, and taste, medium/big body, very intense, hints of sweatsox, good, rich fruit, almost leathery, nice finish, opened slowly with leather.
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3/15/2024 - t_moderne wrote: 94 Points
Opened, had a taste, and served about 40 minutes later.
Tasted with food (porcini risotto and grilled steak and lambchop, in case you were wondering).
Tasted on its own.
Tasted at a dinner with 2016 Saxum G2, 2007 Donaine LaleurePuot Corton Rognet and 2012 Calera Jensen Vineyard Pinot Noir.
Dark garnet color.
Nose offers leaves, cedar, leather and dried cherries.
Wonderful dried red fruit profile with leather, dried tobacco and earth.
Clean in that there is no Brett or funky manure/barnyard elemnt..
Wonderful depth and elegance.
Please but also a bit surprised how good this is with 34 years of age.
Delicious.
13.5% abv.
Used a Durand to extract the cork. Cork was saturated 3/4 up.
Paired well with the mushroom risotto.
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3/11/2024 - Dionysos55 Likes this wine: 98 Points
Décanté une heure avant consommation.Robe évoluée,nez d'une intensité exceptionnelle et d'une complexité magique:on débute avec de la réglisse puis on évolue tour à tour sur des fruits rouges puis noirs,de la garrigue,des épices.C'est réellement splendide !!! La bouche confirme le diagnostic:c'est soyeux,suave,magique.On est plus sur les notes épicées qu'au nez.Longueur magnifique.Incontestablement une très grande bouteille....
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3/2/2024 - ManhattanBeach Likes this wine:
Two couples to dinner at the farm: PnP and allowed to open in the glass, with significant evolution over time. Translucent colour. Nose initially strong on menthol and barnyard, split the party between those who loved it and those who coulnd't bear it. Plalate surprisingly high-energy, still plenty to give and plenty going on, smoke and cured meat and dark fruits and herbs.
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2/23/2024 - canan wrote: 94 Points
T's 45th Birthday (Søllerød Kro): From magnum. Red currant and raspberry fruit but it is difficult to find behind the very "animalistic" style of the wine. The wine simply explodes with perfume and flavors of wet fur, barnyard and grilled mushrooms.
It is certainly not a wine for everybody due to the very animalistic notes :-) There is plenty of spicyness and a decent aftertaste. I loved it a lot but there were some discussions around the table where some were claiming that it was corked. I did not find anything wrong with the bottle but simply claim that an old Beaucastel is simply a very special wine :-)
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2/21/2024 - walkerjfw wrote: 97 Points
Celebrating Todd's Milestone Bday (The Milling Room - NYC): First bottle of the evening, this one in my cellar for about 12 years. Great fill, high neck, cork came out clean. Decanted for about 45 minutes prior to drinking. Had been somewhat concerned it might develop too quickly and rollover...not a problem with this bottle. Was ready to go and lasted/evolved throughout the evening.
Translucent red/purple plum color. Nose showing some barnyard to start that blew off, moving to dusted red fruits, black cherry, cinnamon, sous bois. Palate of old cherry, pomegranate, baking spice, balsamic and garrigue. Silky and elegant texture, and nice persistence of plum/cherry through the mid palate. Medium weight and finish.
This was the star of the show on this evening. This one seems like it has life in it, well stored bottes are great now but not likely to improve (IMO). WOTN for both of us
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1/12/2024 - Stevie_chams91 wrote: 92 Points
Cork came out in one piece. Had it with deer. Excellent year. Assuming its now on the decline
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12/26/2023 - Leto South wrote: 92 Points
Cf our notes 2+yrs ago, what has changed is that the fruit has begun to dry out a bit. This of course affects the balance. It is still a great wine, but we would advise to drink fairly quickly.
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12/12/2023 - David J Cooper wrote: 94 Points
Clear medium red. Lots of red fruit here, nutmeg, thyme, and forest floor. Rich and textured spicy berry, currant and black cherry flavours with a long dry rich berry finish.
Still years to go here. I think this is a great wine, maybe one of the best Beaucastel ever. I would rather drink the 95 though.
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11/29/2023 - beatles wrote: 96 Points
Things were better in the old days - Beaucastel was, at least. Stunning wine still - and no signs of fatigue. Everyone was guessing Burgundy of course, such is the elegance, the smoothness, the richesse, the caressing sweetnes and the real personality and discretion. More Grenache and less iron here than last time. Same impression on day 2. From IB
#JR&Co
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11/4/2023 - WineAggregate Likes this wine: 95 Points
Fragrant, old-world barnyard, horse sweat, a bit tired, whereas the 1989 was in a totally different place. The '89 was much fresher and had the acidity to carry it many more years. The '90 developed nicely as the evening progressed, integrating the barnyard with herbal characteristics. The '89 not as much. This was a thoroughly enjoyable and fascinating bottle, but I would recommend drinking any you may have very soon.
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10/2/2023 - TheGreenFrog Likes this wine: 98 Points
Faded colour but even throughout and not browning. Wonderful nose.
Palate is fresh and very long. No air required and did not decline in glass.
This continues to be fabulous and showing no sign of decline. I started off with two cases over 30 years ago. Two bottles left............
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9/5/2023 - LB88 wrote: 93 Points
Started beautifully smelly, cedar, sandlewood, truffles on the palate. Still has some grippy tannins and will age further although I believe it’s drinking at almost peak.
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9/3/2023 - Dave Canada wrote: 95 Points
Such a great showing...perfect bottle with a fantastic mix of pure fruit and tertiary flavours....Beautiful.
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8/1/2023 - Amerique wrote: 96 Points
Rich, delicious, very round dark berry fruit with cigar box flavors, excellent structure, long finish
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7/2/2023 - #1 or #2? Likes this wine: 95 Points
a few years on since my last TN on this wine and while past peak, it's holding nicely and ageing gracefully. fantastically enticing funky bretty nose, with savoury aromas, herbs and damp forest floor. palate is burgundian and feminine in texture, silky and graceful. a slight saline note on the long savoury finish. such a lovely wine.
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4/27/2023 - Vinumming & Ahhing Likes this wine:
Small supper at Noizé (Noizé, London): Rich nose with hints of aniseed and a little beefiness, just the faintest line of brett on pouring which is absolutely appropriate. There is little grapefruit juice lift here too and just a pipette drop or two of age-derived balsamic. Palate is rich warming and long, hints of leather and maybe a hint of cinnamon. Good acidity.
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4/9/2023 - Brain Capers Likes this wine:
Easter dinner of seared duck breasts. Just a magnificent bottle, cork disintegrated, lots of sediment. Opened an hour before dinner. Absolutely wonderful. YUM.
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3/12/2023 - Benoit Hardy wrote: flawed
fake bottle
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3/2/2023 - grub94 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Same as prior note 11-17-21.
Full bodied CDP. Dark red fruits with plenty of roasted meats and spice.
Happy to have more.
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2/12/2023 - Eric wrote: flawed
ESTG does Southern Rhone and Provence (Seattle, WA, USA): A bit tired for a 1990, delicate, like the 83 but a bit bitter and clipped. The longer we sat with it, the more sure we were that it was just a bit cooked.
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1/31/2023 - Musigny1955 Likes this wine: 94 Points
{Tasted with EB, TS, AM; was bought on release} Beautiful, Burgundian elegance, could have convinced myself the nose was that of Pinot; just danced on palate and length/depth all there. impressive sediment. No Brett as was common complaint in the early 80s bottlings. A real step up from last bottle note I entered in CellarTracker, alas I think I've drunk all mine up! Great wine.
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1/2/2023 - MC wrote:
Vineyard Brands label. Purchased on release and stores since in my home cellar which is in the low 60s. Good fill. Cork stained 1/2 way. PNP. Brownish red brick color. Red fruit soars from the glass at open. Could have mistaken for an old rustic Burgundy on the nose. On the palate more earth, minerals, leather on the finish. This faded a bit and feel it was at its best at open but good throughout. I should be drinking up now. A-
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1/2/2023 - kevin h wrote: 91 Points
This wine needs a 4 hour decant for it to fill out and the flavour intensity to build. At that point big black fruited wine with hints of menthol on the nose. While good it is nothing like the spectacular bottle I had back in 2006. Quite drying at the end, age rather than tannin I think. I don’t expect this to get any better.
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12/25/2022 - BradE wrote:
Very, very good and a surprise on the upside. Haven't had a 1990 in years, and they are holding strong.
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11/26/2022 - nskelsey wrote: flawed
Too late, this sadly gave up the ghost a few years back. The vinegar was taking over.
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8/22/2022 - 911henrik wrote: 85 Points
OTT. Brick coloured, smooth tannins (like silk), drank it too late unfortunately
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8/14/2022 - soyhead wrote:
I was skeptical about this bottle from the get go and it seemed pretty much dead on opening. a heavy soy sauce without much fruit left this wine wanting. Next day, to my surprise, it had perked up a bit. Still showing very mature, and would benefit from better acidity, but nevertheless an enjoyable pairing with the richness of Antep pistachios. I suppose pristinely stored bottles might still have a chance, though i think one can safely call this past prime.
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8/9/2022 - Jeff Leve wrote: 93 Points
Better than my previous experience, but not at the extraordinary level it was about 5 years ago, the medium-bodied wine is elegant, refined, soft, silky, and spicy with layers of sweet cherries, kirsch, green olives, earthy raspberries, pepper, and herbs. There is no need to decant and no reason to hold this any longer. Drink 2022-2024.
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6/12/2022 - Marc wrote: 97 Points
Exquisite. Easily the finest showing of this wine. As with the greatest vintages of Beaucastel, this has achieved a transformation abs transparency with time that is breathtaking. Light brick. Totally refined, completely ethereal, with telltale game and bark aromas and flavours. Obviously in late maturity, the wine is supple, but still filled with fruit. Gentle tannins, a complete, balanced palate, and a stunning finish, all pressed in a complete, and refined structure. Not as rich as the 89, but this particular bottle really delivered a stunning refinement that we chase in aged wine. No real hurry with bottles in this condition, although I don’t think it will improve, only develop.
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6/10/2022 - fclarity wrote: 94 Points
After my last bottle, I decided to pull out another. This looked the same but it was clear from the medium+ intensity nose of red fruit, minerals, tan spices, and a touch of Provencal herb that this bottle was on another level.
In the mouth, this wine was beautifully balanced with light tannin and great acidity.
This was maybe the best bottle of this wine I have had. While it should last for 5+ years if well stored, I see no reason to wait. Clearly, there is a lot of bottle variation with this wine. Arguably 95 pts.
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6/10/2022 - fclarity wrote: 92 Points
From an excellent bottle purchased on release, this wine had good color with orange at the rim.
The nose was clean with some red fruits and minerals but was not particularly complex. The mouth followed suit. It had good balance and length but no wow factor.
This had a couple of hours in a decanter and was good but just not up with other bottles.
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6/5/2022 - k H i L o Likes this wine: 94 Points
C'est opulent et visqueux, à la fois doux et vif, acide et rond, chaudement frais... Ce vin est un oxymore à lui tout seul. C'est vraiment du lourd.
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5/9/2022 - dlduchon Likes this wine: 100 Points
I don’t know what more I could ask for. Nice brett hit, meaty Mourvèdre flavor, lingering finish with and age appropriate crunch on the finish. My favorite vintage after the 88 back in the day.
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5/6/2022 - WoodieBayArea wrote: 93 Points
my last of seven bottles, this was again a treat, a little less full bodied than I was expecting, nice elegant red and dark red fruit, with easygoing acidity underlying, at about three hours in decanter I tasted it and it was superb (with umami on alongside the acid and fruit), but then tapered off when taken to dinner a couple hours later... still a real treat and not BIG like some '90's can be (which is not my style frankly)
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4/20/2022 - peternelson Likes this wine: 93 Points
Clearly the oldest wine of the night, very faded ruby with sediment filled black core; old aromatic sandalwood, licorice, stewed/macerated red fruits, and a touch of sweetness from the tannins dropping out and almost full resolved. Really beautiful and in great shape for an old CdP. 5th place. Lawry's DD CdP dinner.
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2/6/2022 - WinoRick Likes this wine: 95 Points
Last bottle from a case purchased upon release. Nice tight cork (unlike the ‘89’s), medium garnet with little sediment upon decanting. Musty, Beaucastel nose, medium bodied, silky texture. All tannins gone and the wine through the evening got better and better. Consumed next to a bottle of the 1998, which was good but not in class of the 1990. Maybe with 8 years of aging it will improve but I doubt it will quite match the ‘90.
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12/29/2021 - Robert Pavlovich Likes this wine:
Back when I first started collecting I can remember older collectors waxing poetic about the 89’ and 90’ Beaucastel, not as much about the current vintages, which would’ve been the mid to late 00’s. I was able to try the 89’ around that time, and while it was funky and rustic to the extreme, it had an undeniable energy and complexity which held your interest and easily got the bottle finished. Years later I found a mag of the 90’ and that was a fun bottle, it showed well, cleaner than the 89’ but not quite as energetic or complex as I would’ve expected. More down the middle, with clearly “sunkissed fruit” from the warm year. So when this bottle was opened I didn’t expect much, but it turned out to be a pristine bottle from a 50 degree cellar, and was absolutely soaring on the nose, fresh and holding well on the palate. Best showing of the 89/90 Beaucastel I’ve had, even if missing some of the magic of the 89’ from my memory, it was just a great bottle of an archetypal, classic wine.
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12/9/2021 - joshabramson wrote: flawed
Cooked! Down the drain.
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12/5/2021 - jviz wrote: 96 Points
Quite a treat to get another stab at this wine. This bottle showed impeccably, and for my palate, it is drinking at peak. You have some warm, baked red fruits from the vintage with softened tannins, a little red pepper, too. It remains fresh, balanced, and should hold a few more years but I don’t see it improving from here. I guessed 89 right bank, but should have known better.
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11/25/2021 - AaronMaxwell Likes this wine: 94 Points
Needed the ah-so to get the cork out. Took 5+ hours before it settled down.
Rustic with plenty of farmyard funk. Holding together - but barely.
A huge hit at dinner.
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11/19/2021 - europat55 wrote: 96 Points
Such a beautiful wine, with both finesse and complexity!
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11/17/2021 - grub94 Likes this wine: 96 Points
WOTN at Murley tasting. Red brick color with amber rim. Tremendous complex nose---starts with barnyard followed by dried black cherry, raspberry and plum, grillade of beef, smoke. Palate adds more dark fruits with sweet merde, old leather, dark cocoa. The tannins and acids have balanced out the fruit. Long finish. Love this wine.
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10/31/2021 - Leto South wrote: 94 Points
Decanted 3 hrs. Cork broke. Brick red, pale edge, rather low density. Large bq w meat, barnyard, dried rose petals, spices, light smokiness, dried cherries, raspberries. Plenty of rounded tannins, also plenty of acidity, still plenty of dark fruit, all very well integrated. Long, elegant aftertaste , where the acidity makes the wine feel younger than it is. Of course fully mature, but can be kept a bit longer. Lovely wine!!
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10/31/2021 - maaike2 wrote: 94 Points
Reliable as always. Fruit, spices, but most of all animal as if you are walking in the stables. Sweet component as well.
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10/9/2021 - Caruso Likes this wine: 97 Points
Lucid garnet with orange tinted rim. Smoky nose with truffles, red fruits and some orange peel. On the palate this is unbelievable complex, balanced and silky with most of its tannins shed. Finishing on its balancing refreshing acidity with smoky fruit notes. So intense but light on its feet and elegant. 5/14/19/9. Since release perfectly stored bottles like this will hold through for some more years and then slowly decline. -2025+
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8/28/2021 - rnellans wrote: 93 Points
Tucson Lunch Bunch En Magnum dinner: Served en magnum at our wine group dinner. Very funky nose with some Brett, red fruit, leather and herbs. The palate is ripe, smooth with sweet fruit. Soft tannins and excellent finish.
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7/31/2021 - King Julien wrote: 94 Points
Decanted about 1 hour.
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7/17/2021 - jsternh Likes this wine: 93 Points
Red with brick around the edges. Obviously aged character. Buttered popcorn on the nose, the fruit os muted at this point, the length is incredible. I anticipate still tasting this tomorrow morning. Cork was very difficult but manageable. What a treat.
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5/28/2021 - mdahar wrote: 93 Points
Still juicy and with a full body. This is fully mature with no edge or tannins to speak of
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5/27/2021 - WoodieBayArea wrote: 93 Points
really nice, despite the full-minus body this did not feel heavy at all, purple fruit (ie in the middle of red and dark), and great umami spice... sweet and savory all at the same time, and awesome mouthfeel at this age... this feels at peak
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4/25/2021 - joshabramson Likes this wine: 94 Points
Juicy and fresh, fully mature — elegant and drinking well. Some funk initially after opening, but that completely blew off after 15 minutes. A fine example of aged CdP.
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4/22/2021 - Howard Gorbach Likes this wine: 95 Points
Shared a well stored bottle with very close friends and once it began to open up the experience was one of a wine that tasted like it was at its peak. So smooth and still so rich with body and fruit. A lovely long finish. Wine color was like the previous review--so typical for older high quality CDP's. Such fine integration. What a pleasure to enjoy.
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4/19/2021 - chrisdgsmith@hotmail.co.uk Likes this wine: 94 Points
A lovely generous offering from DT. I didn't really want to rate this numerically because it feels unfair to rank such a graceful old wine. Clearly fully mature and perhaps in some way in a very early stage of gentle decline but very, very gracefully. The colour was almost orangey red. The nose and palate was just essence of Beaucastel for those who know the wine. The mouthfeel was so rounded, no edge at all, no tannin, nothing out of place, seamless. If you have these they probably need to be consumed in the coming years but this old wine is ageing very gracefully and will continue to give great pleasure.
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4/6/2021 - hargy Likes this wine: 91 Points
delicious and most certainly mature - a lovely gentle wine
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3/13/2021 - mclanew Likes this wine: 92 Points
Slow ox for 30 min. This wine is ready to go without much air. It feels like it is in decline now. There is a nice nose of strawberries, herbs and brambles. The wine is medium bodied, with nice balance, not a lot of structure or tannins, a little bit of funk. Overall this is delicious and fascinating but it lacks a little energy now and I would recommend drinking these soon
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2/28/2021 - Brain Capers Likes this wine:
Wow, amazing wine! The cork crumbled away, opened an hour before dinner. Just a beautiful aged Beaucastel. Glad a few bottles were set aside, had with some long cooked duck legs. Many years ago (probably around 1990) took the tour at Beaucastel, and later that evening had dinner at La Beaugraviere in Mondragon. One of the Perrin brothers was having dinner with an English couple and old unlabeled bottles from the winery were served, along with truffles on every course!
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2/10/2021 - The Vines That Bind wrote: 93 Points
Nose is sweet red cherry. Wonderfully rustic, very farmy although not as far as animalistic. Reminiscent of an '82 Emedio Pepe enjoyed last month. Perfumed and floral. With the exception of Rayas didn't know Chateauneauf could achieve this lightness. Palate is more robust than the nose suggests. Texturally soft and silky. Some darker more raisiny fruit. Still very farmy. Integrated and resolved. Glorious swan song here and imagine this is peak. Drink right now.
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1/9/2021 - dlduchon Likes this wine: 96 Points
A beautiful wine, complex, with a dimension adding touch of rusticity that I love. Amazing pleasure to drink.
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1/5/2021 - PeterFrancis Likes this wine: 94 Points
Another bottle drunk on New Year's Eve. Partnered with braised brisket, for which it was an excellent partner. Similar to previous bottle, plenty of depth, good balance and still going strong.
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12/28/2020 - CurtaVino Likes this wine: 94 Points
Lost my detailed tasting notes on this, had the night after Thanksgiving with aged country ham leftovers.
Perfectly in its drinking window. Needed a slight decant to open up but nothing off about it from first taste to dinner. Light red berry profile with some secondary and tertiary flavors (darn you lost notebook!), good acid and structure, I remember multiple layers of flavors which all melded together. Finish was a little short, but not distractingly so. Overall very solid and enjoyable.
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12/21/2020 - jimcopland wrote: 96 Points
Gorgeous, mature, strawberry. Hard to find a flaw.
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12/3/2020 - Collector1855 wrote: 95 Points
During a Cdp dinner. Expressive tertiary nose with a clear animalic/bretty top note uperpinned with ripe cherry, sweet spices, earthy elements, complex and complete. The palate is medium-full bodied with excellent structure and freshness. A grand CdP. 95+
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10/31/2020 - PeterFrancis wrote: 94 Points
First of three bottles found when reorganizing - I thought I had drink all these and a good lockdown surprise. Colour reflects maturity. On first opening slight firmness in finish which made me wonder if is was on the way down. Then very persistent with a good mix of red fruit and leather armchair notes (slight whiff of farmyard but nothing excessive - if anything this added interest). After a couple of hours in decanter it drank very well with no signs of fading. Though no longer as vigorous as a few years ago the extra depth compensates. Mellifluous and worth the wait.
(bought on release). I don't like competition among wines but it had the edge quite clearly over the '98 drunk the next day and possibly by more than the point I have given.
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10/29/2020 - fclarity wrote: 94 Points
Another very nice bottle that performed exactly like my last bottle. It was definitely best after 3+ hours in a decanter. Very nice!
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10/13/2020 - MC wrote:
White import label on front. Cloudy brick orange red showing age and sediment. Pretty good out of the bottle but great with 30 minutes of air. Such a wonderful nose of mature ripe red fruit, leather, earth, barnyard. Such a wonderful sense of place - Rhône at its best. Feels like at its peak for my bottles. I only hope other vintages of this wine will match the ‘89 and ‘90 - soon! A
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9/26/2020 - Zweder wrote: 93 Points
For old times sake: Horse stable, leather and forest floor in the bouquet. Same on the palate. Very complex and mature. Certainly special and still lovely. May stay on this level for some more years, but will not improve anymore.
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9/4/2020 - joelmark3 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Mature. Hints of leather on the palette. Dark chocolate. Stll has some time left to enjoy.
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9/4/2020 - Kemo Sabe Likes this wine: 94 Points
I stand corrected - found 2 more of these in the cellar so not quite done with the case yet. And thankfully so as this bottle was stupendous. Red and black fruits, spice, underbrush, sauvage, some meat and pepper. Highly nuanced and delicate. These bottles are at peak and in certain bottles starting decline. Drink up and good luck. I have had mixed bag from a case I bought over a decade ago. Some really fantastic bottles and some that were OTH.
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8/9/2020 - Papies wrote: 94 Points
BBQ at The Papies (The Papies, Elizabeth St, London): Every time we open this wine is a bit of a coin toss as we have had many bad bottles along with some great. This time it landed on heads. And it was beautiful. We did not decant just left it to breath.
And it was singing all the way. Soft yet full of life, smoky, light dark fruits, herbs de Provence all the way and exactly what we wanted. A superb example of a well aged CdP from a great vintage. 94
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7/11/2020 - fclarity wrote: 94 Points
From a perfect looking bottle, the this wine had a deep red center and light red/orange rims. The medium intensity nose put forth cassis, cherries, soy, and some roasted meat.
In the mouth, this wine was rich and ripe with notable rounded tannin and solid acidity. It had nice balance and excellent length.
This wine had a slightly alcoholic/astringent element that held back its score. However, this was a nice bottle, better than average. Drink up!
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6/22/2020 - #1 or #2? Likes this wine: 95 Points
superb. the nose is classic beaucastel for the era... saddle leather, sweet herbs, wet leaves, plum. the wine's colour and (lack of) opacity show its age, with increasing, almost burgundian translucence. lovely silky texture. this is still beautiful but on the decline and likely beyond its prime. don't wait!
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6/14/2020 - vinhonotte Likes this wine: 95 Points
Fine Wines SG - Rhone Tasting Set (Delivered to Home): Deep ruby, with browning and fading edges. Aromas of paprika, blackberry, fern, and smoke. Soft tannins, big alcohol heat, blackberry flavours, and a savoury kick of pepper, meats, mushroom and soy. The mushrooms and meats persist, to a very long finish. Excellent wine!
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4/16/2020 - Papies wrote: 94 Points
Ah the Joy fo a great bottle of 1990 CdP! after a few off bottles this beauty came along and reminded us why a few year sao we said this would be the wine to buy if one could only buy just one wine!
The nose was capable to launch a 1000 ships. Soft and elegant, herbs de provence, light smoky meat, earthy, soft sweet undertone of fruit. Beautiful and so expressive from the pop f the cork . We left the wine to relax and did not decant fearing it fragile. The palate is very healthy and alive, soft and elegant and follows the nose on that albeit the nose is supreme. Super slid wine but we fear more of a function f individual bottles of this as so many we had were sub par. Solid still. 94-95 on this.
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4/4/2020 - Brain Capers Likes this wine:
Has aged wonderfully. Cork was pretty much gone. Really enjoyed drinking, can’t imagine it’s going to improve, so drink up.
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2/9/2020 - Jeff Leve wrote: 90 Points
No decanting here. Just a pop and pour was all that was needed to bring the flowers, baked cherry, kirsch, spice box, herb and green olive aromatics. Silky, soft, fresh sweet and tart cherries with a strong note of olive tapenade and cocoa in the finish. This is not as good as it was a few years ago. If you are sitting on any bottles, you should consider drinking this sooner than later.
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1/19/2020 - WoodieBayArea wrote: 94 Points
superb again, had alongside the '89 (another of my past favorites) and the '78... 90 was classic but elegant grenache / Mourvedre blend with super fruit and less secondary stuff -- age has made this elegant but not so much spicy... the '89 was funky when opened, then 45 mins later was just as good but with more character / spice and less purplish fruit, the '78 was understated and while nice, it was a little washed out next to the two greats of '89 and '90... I suspect the '78 was much better ten years ago
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1/3/2020 - walkerjfw wrote: 94 Points
Dinner w/Matt and Katie at Bistro les Amis in NYC, great spot for casual French and corkage friendly. This was one of my contributions for the evening. Cork came out relatively clean, decanted for about 30 minutes, drank over course of the evening.
Consistent with prior notes:"Faded purple/plum color, cloudy. Took the nose about 15 minutes to show. Old raspberry and black cherry on the nose. Palate showing dusted cherry, pomegranate, rhubarb, plums. Classic CdP baking spice in the mid palate..." Adding...Medium weight, nicely perfumed wine. Delicate and elegant wine, baking spice and plum through the mid palate.
Really spectacular showing on this evening. We drank this next to a 2003 Beaucastel CdP - fun to compare the older elegant 1990 with the fruit forward/sexy 03. Nothing to not like at this point, well stored bottles have more time in them but it wont likely improve...
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12/25/2019 - Force5 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Last bottle from a case. Fascinating tertiary aromas. Completely resolved. Proof that I prefer these with 15-20 years of age rather than 30.
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12/24/2019 - fclarity wrote: 93 Points
I opened two bottles for this tasting. Both bottles were in excellent condition but the cork looked essentially brand new on one (both authentic). This wine had a deep red center and tawny rims. The medium+ intensity nose showed black cherries, anise, soil, and plums.
In the mouth, the first bottle was nice but a bit firm. The bottle with the better cork was sweeter and better integrated. Both bottles had a reasonably long finish.
If you have read my other reviews, you know that I favor relatively long decants. This wine seemed to do a bit better with a shorter decant, say maybe and hour or so. There was clearly bottle variation here and, in general, it is time to drink up.
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12/20/2019 - Chainthroer wrote: 94 Points
Still a pretty good wine, but it seemed more concentrated 6+ years ago. JMO.
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12/1/2019 - fclarity wrote: 93 Points
From a magnum, this wine is still lovely and has nice balance and rounded tannin. However, I see a clear trend here where it is losing its red fruit and becoming a touch more rustic.
I love aged wine and this wine has been excellent in the past. However, I now believe this is headed in the wrong direction. Drink up.
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11/12/2019 - havana4 🍾🍇 Likes this wine:
A great specimen. Funk funk and more funk. A meaty almost visceral flavor on the palate and nose. A pleasure at this stage. Good acidity left.
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10/22/2019 - Chainthroer wrote: 94 Points
Cosnistent with my notes of 12-13-15 - "Blackberry, black cherry, roasted meat, saddle leather, tobacco, peppercorn, a little bret, some Provencal herbs, spice, touches of bacon fat and cigar box." The wine was a little better in my earlier tastings, but still a good wine.
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10/12/2019 - Monty Belleau Likes this wine: 96 Points
I bought this wine "en primeur", lost it in a house fire and was able to replace the case. I now have just three bottles left.
Double-decanted and poured it straight away, to allow it to evolve and open in the glass.
Mature, pale brick colour, but no sign of browning.
The intense nose combines deep bouquet of cured meat, cedar, mushroom and gentle spices with some still bright red fruit.
Palate is developed, umami, earthy flavour, sous-bois and gentle cooked cherries, melon (brett). Finishes long and fresh.
I have to say, this is my perfect wine.
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10/9/2019 - Marc wrote: 96 Points
The quintessential Beaucastel. Fully mature, but has the makings of a 50-year wine. Tree bark, tobacco, cigar smoke, leather, raspberry, feral notes, camphor, opulent fruit. Tremendously complex, and quite structured. Not as round or forward as the 1989, this structured wine is on,y starting to show the gorgeous transparency that Beaucastel develops. Generally I occurs around 25, but here we are at 29....96 plus ...
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9/30/2019 - Song103 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Fully matured, the notes by the group described it better than I can, so I won't be adding to it. Over a meal, I thouroughly enjoy this wine, more so than the Guigal la Landonne 1991 (technically I have to score the Guigal much higher 96-97), which was opened at the same dinner.
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9/22/2019 - Strikermax wrote: 92 Points
Past its prime, but still enjoyable nonetheless.
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9/22/2019 - Zweder wrote:
Occasional dinner group: A mixed set of wines. (@ Zarzo, Eindhoven, The Netherlands): Very mature bouquet with earth, mushrooms and in the distance still some dark berries. On the palate earth and autumn impressions. In fact still lovely and complex, but I nevertheless don’t score the wine.
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9/22/2019 - Peter Z. wrote: 91 Points
Needs drinking
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9/8/2019 - Moonie Likes this wine: 96 Points
Having read Papies’ previous note, I decided to open my last 750 from 750s and magnums bought on release. Decanted around two hours ahead of dinner, a small taste convinced me to put this right back in the bottle. It was definitely ready to go. The 90 is at its peak with nothing more to be gained. In fact, holding it longer might be a risk as the previius review noted. That being said, this was just an all out great bottle of CdeP. A thrill to drnk but sad there are no more in the cellar.
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9/3/2019 - Papies wrote: 90 Points
The wine is definitely in the "Drink Now" stage as its startign to tail off. Still a pretty well aged wine with all the hall marks but its lackign the energy and brightness that made this wine exceptional and we rated it 95-96 4-5 yrs ago. We have had this wine now a good 20 times over the last decade and its definitely now in its last legs unless this was cellared immaculately from release. Definitely a wine we have been on a journey on and much like all great journeys at some point come to an end so that other ones can begin.
Soft wine, well evolved, herbs de Provence, soft dark fruits, hints of smoke, soft red fruits. Short on the finish and lacking a vibrant side. 90 and drink now. We have 4 more bottles that we definitely need to accelerate.
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8/30/2019 - mflesh wrote: 93 Points
Tasted blind, I nailed this was a CDP. I was a little bit off on the year. I said 20 years old, but this was closer to 30! Lots of raspberry and blackberry bramble with mint and cola. I would say it had started to fade just a bit from what I know these can be. However, I know that a lot of these Beau's typically go really dark with tobacco and fig and I really was not getting that. Finished with a healthy dose of cedar tannin which was very rounded off. Neat wine.
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8/13/2019 - fclarity wrote: 94 Points
This wine had a deep red center with tawny rims. The medium+ intensity nose showed blackberries, forest floor, cherries, and iron.
In the mouth, this wine showed light rounded tannin, solid acidity, and very good length.
While this wine seems to be a bit more soil oriented and less fruit driven than in the past, it is still an excellent wine. I see no reason to wait. Enjoy!
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8/4/2019 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine: 96 Points
Look at me drinking CdP! Great nose. Amazing sweetness and a bit horsey but not much. Dark fruit. Plummy. Blackberries good acid and crunchy. Savory and meaty and sweet dark fruit on palate. Great Crunch. Savory and meat finish. Just spectacular. This is at peak and will probably stay there for another 10 I think. Nose - 5.5/6, Palate - 5.5/6, Finish - 5.5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1.5/2 = 18/20.
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8/2/2019 - jviz wrote:
Well, expectations were high, but the cork was completely saturated and showed signs of leakage. Still, the fill was solid, so we forged ahead. Slow oxed for an hour which was really needed to blow off some cellar funk. This bottle probably had some poor storage along the way, but was certainly drinkable. Probably not the best example of the wine, so I won’t leave a score. The Grenache was showing loudest at this point. I was surprised by the amount of bright bing cherry fruit still hanging around. A little stewy but overall good quality. A well stored bottle probably has life left
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7/28/2019 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 92 Points
Gentle and soft, fully mature, silky-smooth, cedary-sweet, completely mature flavours, lovely length.
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6/22/2019 - ChrisR Likes this wine: 93 Points
Murky purple color. Anise and mint initially, which opened into sweet cherries as the wine received air. Broad and expansive, particularly with air. Utterly relaxed and easy-going, but lively and not at all dull. A really lovely older wine.
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6/21/2019 - depdoc Likes this wine: 93 Points
Smooth as can be. Paired with a 2007which had more fruit, but the 1990 was sublime. Still has more life left for sure.
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6/1/2019 - Kemo Sabe wrote: 89 Points
Last bottle of a case I bought in 2010. Overall the case was disappointing. Most bottles - like this one - displayed lots of band aid, plastic, some rubber. TCA/Brett laden. Shame as a few bottles were amazing but most tainted with too much wet cardboard and funk. Not what this wine should be.
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5/18/2019 - Chainthroer wrote: 94 Points
This wine has rebounded from when last tasted 4-12-18. More in harmony with my notes od 2-13-15!
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5/11/2019 - Papies wrote:
We made the mistake here and decanted it for a long time. The wine was solid on open, smoky, with nice dark fruit edge and a bright palate. The decant killed it though as this (not sure if its the wine or the specific bottle which was very solid in level and cork) wine was fragile . Shame on us but at least we have more of these to rectify the error. No point in rating this time
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4/11/2019 - walkerjfw wrote: 95 Points
With Tom at Octavia in San Francisco, a bottle left in his custody. A good opportunity to open this, followed a Dom. Laroche Chablis. Somm decanted for us, taking out most of the sediment. Cork broke but in good shape.
Faded purple/plum color, cloudy. Took the nose about 15 minutes to show. Old raspberry and black cherry on the nose. Palate showing dusted cherry, pomegranate, rhubarb, plums. Classic CdP baking spice in the mid palate. Medium body, nuanced finish. Drank with good flavor and nose for the full hour.
This is beautifully aged at this point, classic old world wine in a great spot. Well stored bottles should hold a while at this level, no reason not to try it through...not sure it gets better...
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4/4/2019 - beatles wrote: 97 Points
Oh, dear me, what a treat; I was guessing '81 Beau, not because it was agingm but because of the cool, mineral, almost Northern Rhône look of this wine. Intense, vibrant, vertical - this is Mourvèdre speaking more so than Grenache. From IB.
#ChaveBlancXtravaganza
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3/29/2019 - srh Likes this wine:
Friday Tasting Group: "Killer Bar" (#02 for me) (Vintage Wines Ltd., San Diego, CA): "Château de Beaucastel red is a 70-ha vyd with one single plot at the N of the appellation. The terroir is archetypal of the best terroirs in Châteauneuf: rolled pebbles on the surface, sand, clay, & limestone deeper down. Each variety is harvested manually & separately. Vinification is completed in truncated oak barrels for the reductive grapes (Mourvèdre & Syrah) & in traditional tiled cement tanks for the oxidative grapes (such as Grenache). After the malolactic fermentations, the Perrin family blends the different varieties, & then the wine ages in oak Foudres for a yr before being bottled." 30% ea Grenache & Mourvèdre, 10% ea Counoise & Syrah, 5% Cinsault, and 15% Vaccarèse, Terret Noir, Muscardin, Clairette, Picpoul, Picardan, Bourboulenc, & Roussanne;
N: Smoke, some cherries
P: LM body; NICE frt met by firming acidity which fairly seamlessly evolves into a very LONG, BALANCED finish with a tangy/swtness to the firming dusty tannins. A wine that basically flummoxed this group's *very* EXPERIENCED tasters, the guesses I overheard being either Burgundy or Barolo. A *very* IMPRESSIVE wine for NOW & poss 5 yrs more? 13.5% ABV; My Exceptional-. 95 pts Decanter (Jefford, 2/25/16), 17, 17.5, & 18/20 (4x!) Jancis Robinson, + more on the "Pro Reviews" section of this pg, and the "Critic Reviews" section of wine-searcher!
Note: From the same bottle as bankermd this same date
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3/29/2019 - bobbubbabs wrote: 95 Points
Beautiful bouquet upon opening-knew the wine was in excellent form. Color mature but neither browning nor watery. Elegant, not powerful. A tremendous treat and very pleasant surprise on its condition. So different to New World syrah blends...
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3/29/2019 - bankermd wrote: 96 Points
Brought to our wine group's quarterly killer bar. This wine was absolutely singing. In a perfect place, fully resolved but beautifully balanced. Flavors of Grenache which reminded me of Rayas (at several times the price), and which even the Grenache hater in the group thought was fantastic.
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3/10/2019 - Mr T wrote:
Saturated cork that came out solid. Wine was clean but a bit tired and fading this time as she caught up to this bottle. Pleasant but lacked the charm of orior bottlrs
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2/22/2019 - SonnyChiba wrote:
Color was sort of cloudy and feel it may have been shaken up when the guest transported it. Never really came around, and didn’t enjoy. Hopefully bottle variation.
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2/6/2019 - G SQUARED wrote: 94 Points
Always a great wine with incredible secondary characteristics working their way into the sweetness of the vintage.
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1/19/2019 - Marsman wrote: flawed
Bought a few bottles at auction hoping to enjoy a nice aged CDP. Unfortunately the first bottle exuded a noticeable aroma of brett and the first sip confirmed this. Overpowering brett on the palate rendered the bottle completely undrinkable - a total write off. The second bottle also had a pronounced brett presence, perhaps not as dense but unpleasant nonetheless. I assumed poor provenance was the culprit, but see other reviewers observed the same flaw. Very disappointed.
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12/31/2018 - AndersAnd Likes this wine: 90 Points
Lukter gammelt og godt. Tynn vin. Enkel. Rimelig god.
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12/25/2018 - Fiorano wrote: 95 Points
Some funk, but on the whole a lovely raspberry/ black cherry/herbal/smokey melange, deep in color and in beautiful balance. It is hard to define maturity in a wine, at least for me, but this wine is in a very good place right now, and will likely remain at this level for at least several more years. Improved and deepened in the glass.
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12/17/2018 - Quiet Lion Likes this wine: 94 Points
Decided not to decant this because I didn't want the brett to bloom. I could smell a little on the nose but it never hit the palate. This was delicious, lighter body, integrated flavors. It vanished quickly.
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12/1/2018 - Sonoma Duck wrote: flawed
This wine has been very consistent for me. I purchased a case at release but did not open the first for about five years. I have now opened 10 bottles and every single one has been flawed. Serious Brett and an awful nose makes this undrinkable for me.
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11/24/2018 - mxpbuy Likes this wine: 96 Points
Great fill. Cork half soaked. Half teaspoon of sediment. Quick decant. Silky smooth. Sweet red fruits, touches of cedar, truffles, and some black fruits at the back end. 30 second finish. Bliss.
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10/21/2018 - Kemo Sabe wrote: 90 Points
Heavy brett on the open. Did get better over a couple hours. But never went away. Nice spices and red fruits. Very delicate at this stage. Nuanced and moderate complexity. Drink now - no further upside.
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10/20/2018 - Lype Likes this wine: 92 Points
Still holding well but starting to gracefully descent downhill but stylishly with royal dignity, seductive nose, ripe dark berries, spices, liquorice, smoke, tertiary aromas and wide mouthfeel, alcohol does not come through as might for younger vintages, brett is never far away from Beaucastel and it is present here as well but at the back, convincing long and lingering aftertaste.
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10/12/2018 - peterdenh wrote: 95 Points
Fantastic. Aged coloring. Beautiful nose. Surprisingly fresh, spicy, some smoke, kirsch, ripe fruit, earth. Med long. Best CdP I have had in my limited classic-wine drinking life. Can't see how this is getting better.
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6/1/2018 - rieslinghoarder Likes this wine: 94 Points
Great balance of black cherry and raspberry flavors with sous bois and savory notes, including roasted herbs, tobacco, and pepper. Tannins were silky smooth and the acidity definitely present and vibrant. Though I imagine the fruit may have been more prominent if it were opened earlier, it still held up very well.
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5/26/2018 - fcxj wrote: 94 Points
Settling in, makes an impression.
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4/12/2018 - Chainthroer wrote: 93 Points
Have consumed 4 bottles in the last two months. Many of the thoughts in my notes of12/13/2015 still apply: the intensity of the fruit has diminished somewhat. Although there is bottle variation, the noses were sort of consistent to past tastings: blackberry, black cherry, roasted meat, saddle leather, tobacco, peppercorn, a little bret, some Provencal herbs, spice, touches of bacon fat and cigar box.The fruit intensity in the mouth has slightly waned . The zenith of its apogee seems to be now in more of a downswing now. It's still an decent wine, but the fruit intensity seems to have diminished. If can find the rest of my bottles, I'm drinking them up. Scores 91-93.
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4/7/2018 - Amerique wrote: 93 Points
Golden red rim color, faint nose, delicious dark red fruit with smoke and black pepper flavors, elegant, very smooth, softened tannins, excellent structure, ample finish
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3/4/2018 - Musigny1955 Likes this wine: 91 Points
{Bought on release, Vineyard Brands importer, house storage until 2004, professional storage since, a bit less than 1 cm ullage, perhaps 6 left now} lighter brownish edge to rim, beautiful mature nose, very Burgundian at this stage, lovely mid-palate, alas somewhat clipped on the finish compared to prior bottles. Completely clean wine, none of the brett of the '81 and '83. Drunk with the 2006 Pegau and 2006 Marcoux Vielles Vignes, which are heroically sized wines and a bit unfair to this Beaucastel. Drink up before 2020 as I think now entering a gentle decline. Others at the table would have probably given this bottle a 92-93 score just on the nose and palate.
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2/17/2018 - FreddieMoose Likes this wine: 95 Points
En magnum. The corked was almost 90% soaked through, but totally intact. Decanted for approximately 30 minutes. Medium-red color with noticeable amber on the edge. Tremendous nose of leather, earth and spice around a dark berry core. Everything perfectly in alignment -
fruit, tannin and acidity. Not overly sweet, but felt like biting into a dark berry tart with a finish that really stains the palate. Maybe a little fresher than my last 0.750 bottle, but not a huge difference.
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2/4/2018 - Frank Schneider wrote: 93 Points
Mature wine. Smooth and round. Lacking a bit of power and length. On the burgundy side. Enjoyable. Wont improve so drink up
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1/16/2018 - Papies wrote: 95 Points
Decanted for a good 30 minutes before served.
The joy of hitting a singing bottle of 1990 Beaucastel ( we have had a lot of poor bottles too) !
Such an elegant and beautiful wine. Herbs de Provence, soft fruit, lightest touch of bret (almost adds to the wine:) ), soft yet alive on the tannin front. Almost Burgundian at this stage. lovely earthy side and just excellent. 94-95 once again and adjusted for the price this is one of the best value for money we have come across.
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1/13/2018 - beatles wrote: 96 Points
Dinner with Beaucastel (Chez moi): Very round and harmonious, very 1990, performing effortlessly. Complete wine in complete balance, generous, without showing off. My WOTN. #Auction wine.
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1/2/2018 - MC wrote:
Vineyard Brands label. Pretty good out of the bottle and great with 30 minutes. This proved the last bottle was just flawed, and kept enthusiasm alive for the rest, as this is fully mature but seems will hold for some time. Great wine. A
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12/27/2017 - hargy Likes this wine: 92 Points
delicious but may now be starting its slow, gentle decline
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12/24/2017 - Robert Pavlovich Likes this wine:
Gives an intoxicating fragrance, though the palate is more memorable for me. Great fruit with a bit of sweetness, and still with excellent acidic freshness. Medium in body with good complexity to the fruit. Finishes clean and pure, on fresh red fruit, short to medium in length. This was really in the zone, such a great drinking wine, and unsurprisingly excellent with steak. Served cool so any earth and funk were held pretty well in check. Tannins fully integrated. From magnum.
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12/10/2017 - Double-A Likes this wine: 90 Points
Pale garnet colour. Highly aromatic, mature nose of dried berry, leather and earth with a balsamic note. Some volatile acids present, acetic and acetates, but not off-putting if you enjoy old wine characteristics. Elegant, complex and integrated palate; harmonious finish.
4/5
*sampled from 375mL bottle as a vertical tasting: 1990, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2012
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12/8/2017 - brianakrin wrote: 96 Points
Great barnyard nose, elegant, sweet, well balanced,tertiary with appropriate grip. Long and ready to drink. Lovely old world wine!
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11/14/2017 - Dury wrote: 97 Points
Wine of the year; maybe the decade. The wine was so on-point and universally loved by our table of 8 comprising oenophiles to largely non-drinkers. Acid, tannin, dark fruit / leather, a delightful whiff of mustiness--intoxicating, balanced, harmonious. Insanely delicious. Highest score I've ever given to a wine--may deserve higher (finish was ONLY a minute long!).
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11/7/2017 - Brent25 Likes this wine: 91 Points
Ruby with clear center; nose of wood, leather and barnyard; pfn with addition of fennel and cinnamon; thin, drawn mouthfeel; long finish; balanced; still drinking well, but nearing the end of its life
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9/21/2017 - MC wrote:
Vineyard Brands label. PNP. Even with an hour of air this never showed well, or near my previous notes. Not corked, but an off bottle. '89 blew it away. B+?
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9/7/2017 - Lype Likes this wine:
Attractive open nose, good depth and tertiary aromas, strawberries, liquorice, smoke, I liked this quite a bit.
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9/5/2017 - Papies wrote: 94 Points
Decanted and served. This followed a poor bottle that we opened before and helped to put a smile on our face. Very consistent with our previous good bottle note.
" So well aged, still quite bright, light earthy, herbs de Provence, light red cherry feel. Elegant and pure on the palate with a nice balance and although its fully mature still has a lot to give. A wine to drink sooner that later but still with a good decade in it. 94-95 once again"
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9/5/2017 - Papies wrote: flawed
Not totally gone but did not feel healthy at all. Unfortunately we have had our share of good and bad of this wine.
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9/2/2017 - fclarity wrote: 94 Points
From a very nice looking bottle with a 2 cm fill, this wine had a deep red center with oranging rims. The medium intensity nose offered up cherries, oranges, rhubarb, and brown spices.
This wine was interesting but subtle and subdued for the first few hours. Afterward, it slowly firmed up and filled out. It had light tannin and firm acidity. There were moments where there was a touch of excess alcohol and moments where it seemed to be well balanced. It was borderline 93 points.
While this seemed to be entering the drinking zone, it needed 5+ hours in a decanter before it reached its potential. It will certainly last for 10 years. Will it get better? It seems to me there has been substantial bottle variation with this wine.
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8/21/2017 - Krlinv Likes this wine: 92 Points
Decanted for an hour. Terrific fruit, nose clean and refreshing. Peaking now so drink soon.
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7/12/2017 - Papies wrote: 94 Points
Decanted for a good hour. Not a bad idea to decant this wine.
The joy of coming across a good bottle of this wine is a fine pleasure. So well aged, still quite bright, light earthy, herbs de Provence, light red cherry feel. Elegant and pur eon the palate with a nice balance and although its fully mature still has a lot to give. A wine to drink sooner that later but still with a good decade in it. 94-95 once again
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6/29/2017 - snowman94114 wrote:
Incredible bottle. Hard to believe it is a 1990. Plenty of life left but singing now. Really terrific. 98 pts.
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5/27/2017 - Doc90 Likes this wine: 98 Points
Beautiful nose of sage, winter chimney smoke, strawberries, and old boathouse. Soft and fully unfurled. The tannins, fruit, and acidity are totally in sync. Light bodied and saturating with exotic spices. Long finish. There are many aspects of this wine that are similar to great mature wines in general-mature Bordeaux, etc. But there is also another level to it that surfaces nostalgic feelings and happiness. For me, wines like 1990 Beaucastel capture the magic of wine.
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5/5/2017 - ricknat1 wrote: 95 Points
best bottle ever.
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4/4/2017 - rocknroller wrote: 94 Points
Dinner and a Great Mix of Wines at Lonny's (Lonny's Place, Mpls): While the '89 Beaucastel got accolades tonight, the '90 was also drinking very well. A bigger wine overall, it did have a lot of brett which may have put some off. I loved the garrigue on this with intense spice and pepper. The fruit is darker, black cherry and blackberry, more full bodied, very nice, silky tannins. Thanks for sharing this pair of honeys Jason and Tracy.
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3/25/2017 - joekroe Likes this wine: 97 Points
Excellent wine. Probably at the end of it's peak, though. Gamey, tobacco, gravel road, with fruit still hanging on. Great with an elk and venison dinner.
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3/25/2017 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:
Beautiful aged Chateauneuf. The nose is filled with savory notes, slightly dried red berry fruits, dried violet, saddle leather, dried herbs. The palate is rich and fabulous, great fruit, slightly dried, but delicious, savory, earthy, aged, excellent. Definitely no upside from here, so don't wait too long, but this is excellent.
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3/5/2017 - ekenneth Likes this wine: 99 Points
I noticed that this bottle - I've had it for a while - had some seepage and a little lower fill than some of the other Beaucastels from the same time-period.
Absolutely beautiful. This is one of the best wine's I've ever had; smooooooth, still-young, dark, stinky, with great balance and flavor; blackberries, mushrooms, cola, and Turkish spice.
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2/25/2017 - rmalloy Likes this wine: 94 Points
This wine is not only holding up well; it seems to be right around its peak. Typical Beaucastel notes of lavender and herbs de Provence. Full of "serious wine" aromas like smoked meat, dark-roasted coffee, leather, and black truffle. Full of umami. A backdrop of ripe cherry and blackberry. Altogether huge--including the tannins. A little too muddy and tannic for my tastes; reminds me of Barolo in that regard. That's just a quibble, but it's the main reason why I couldn't put this wine in the 95-100 range.
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1/30/2017 - FamilyLarsson wrote: 92 Points
Underbart mogen doft med svampskog och stall. Skulle jag fått det blint så skulle jag på doften trott att det var en mogen Bordeaux. I smaken är det däremot helt uppenbart södra Rhone med mogen sött frukt och silkiga rena tanniner. Fint långt slut. En aning för sötfruktigt för ett par till.
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1/2/2017 - Papies wrote: flawed
Oxidised and gone. One of many misses..
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1/2/2017 - Moonie Likes this wine: 98 Points
From a magnum. Perfection and the essence of what a great CDP should be in all respects. Decanted just 1 hour and really no need as it was drinking beautifully right from the start. I've never understood the need for luxury CDP cuvees, especially when a wine performs as this one did at lunch today.
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12/16/2016 - ricknat1 wrote: 92 Points
exceptionally good bottle of a banner year for this wine
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12/10/2016 - Zweder wrote: 95 Points
UWS 2016 End of year dinner (@ CdW and KvdK): Beautiful and mature bouquet with a lot of stable/barnyard and earthy impressions, but so lovely and complex. I love it! On the palate the same (pleasant) bretty flavors. Firm acidity, but in beautiful balance with the sweetness. Soft tannin. Great wine imho.
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12/5/2016 - winemaker Likes this wine: 90 Points
This bottle was a bit heavy on the brett, but it was still tasty. I am sure other bottles of this are much better than this one. Plenty of earthy, leathery stuff going on.
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11/26/2016 - WoodieBayArea wrote: 94 Points
this wine bested (by a nose) the 1989 version on the same Thxgiving night, this wine - like the '89 - was med red fruited with lots of holiday spices that went down like silk, great balance with acidity and brightness, this wine was full-minus bodied and oh so luxurious, but all the while elegant and silky... oh boy, what a performance, one of the best wines I've opened in the last twelve months, at peak for sure but feels like it has a decade (or more?) left of life
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10/26/2016 - theeagle03 wrote: 93 Points
Sweet red cherry and cranberry. Forest floor, some smoky bacon and leather coming through. A little short on the finish
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9/12/2016 - tooch wrote: 96 Points
Monday at Domaine (Domaine Wine Storage - Chicago, IL): It's been almost 6 years since I last had this wine and it's still a showstopper. Beautifully aromas of spicy red fruit, silky floral notes, and damp earth. The wine seemed to be made from silk. Wonderful composition that blended the exotic fruits of the vintage with the rustic notes that Beaucastel is so well known for. The complete package in CdP.
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9/10/2016 - MAOC wrote:
Decanted just before serving. Garnet colour with lighter rim, material sediment in later glasses despite careful decanting so filtered those. Initially seemed a bit faded but the fruit quickly ripened up in the glass. Mellow kirsch and red fruit with attractive leather, a nice element of saddle (in balance) and a hint of herbs on the finish. I expected this to be a touch more vibrant and multi-faceted and despite the fill level I think it was an average bottle. One to revisit as this was a nice and decent aged Beaucastel but not a good 1990 Beaucastel for sure. ***1/2+
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9/6/2016 - TWSA wrote: 87 Points
Food: French @ Darcy & Liz Hong Kong
Duration: 4 hours
Condition: Perfect
Aroma: Floral, candy, cherry
Notes: I've always found old Beaucastel to be somewhat similar to the Chambolle/Bonnes Mares aroma. But unlike other vintages like 1988 or 1989 I found the 1990 a little weaker while the wine is not expressive enough. I didn't enjoy this bottle very much. I think we can probably keep this wine for another 5-10 years but I don't see how it can develop any further from here onwards.
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8/29/2016 - jonanator wrote: 94 Points
Amazing wine. The cleanest 1990 I have had. Plenty of fruit left in this beauty. This particular bottle could probably easily last another 5-10 years. So much elegance in this wine, plenty of strawberries, herbs. Just a lovely treat. Not much can provide the enjoyment like a pristine bottle of mature Beaucastel.
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8/23/2016 - Papies wrote: 94 Points
A very fine wine indeed but a bottle not at the level of old ones. We are starting to worry if this wine is taken the tail off road.
Did not decant just opened and left to rest. We feared fragility but not really there in the end.
Very elegant , well secondary nose, balanced, light spice, good fruit still but a soft undertone rather than a bold punch. Very solid 94 but far from the 97 we came across a few years ago.
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8/6/2016 - aRobles Likes this wine: 93 Points
Solid Beaucastel, drink them up as they are fully mature. One person, a Beaucastel aficionado, said that this bottle didn't bring quite the accustomed "funk" to the table. Overall while the group enjoyed this wine they were not blown away (some had expected to be)
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8/2/2016 - Mr T wrote:
Excellent bottle with still perfect cork....aged strawberries and herbs and very modest barnyard...this is very elegant and still full flavored...very pretty bottle of wine
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7/31/2016 - The Vines That Bind wrote: 93 Points
Wines of Good Hope: Summer 2016; 7/9/2016-8/31/2016 (River's Inlet, British Columbia): Best bottle of this opened yet - really impressive showing. Highly expressive aromatics of game meats, drying leathery berry fruit, and rustic soil. Plenty of power left on the palate with tannins fully resolved and providing great balance. Texturally silky. Very elegant. Terrific bottle. Very happy.
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7/16/2016 - Dancing with bottles Likes this wine: 93 Points
Quite pale and lucent. Cooked strawberries in the nose, just a hint of barnyard in the beginning. 1st day: On the palate now tender, medium bodied, again cooked red fruits, leather and meat, very complex. Good, refreshing acid. like an old Burgundy.
2nd day: The second half of the bottle was more fullbodied because of the sediment on the bottom.
Rating: 92 for structure and power, 94 for elegance and sophistication.
Decanting is necessary to air and to even the structure. Drink soon.
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7/11/2016 - salil wrote: 88 Points
As Mike notes, this was a big step below other bottles of the '90 Beau he's opened from the same stash. It feels more mature and less powerful than I recall, with the red fruited flavours coming across a bit simple, and a faint black tea-like note on the nose amidst the leather and earthy notes that suggests this bottle is a bit tired. The palate feels a bit awkward, not showing the depth and power of past bottles, but rather coming across a little disjointed with the acids sticking out on the finish. Still quite enjoyable, but not what this should have been.
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7/11/2016 - indiscriminate palate wrote: 87 Points
An atypical Monday (Dale's): What a disappointment from a case that has delivered such highs, but this was (by far) the worst bottle from the case. Rather advanced on the nose, with savory/soy notes along with leather. The bit of soy on the palate as well distracted from the funky, leathery, earthy character. Nice texture and structure, but it just tasted like a wine well past its prime (which it clearly is not, judging by other bottles). What amazing bottle variation.
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7/9/2016 - europat55 wrote: flawed
Bummer!!
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6/11/2016 - andrewstevenson.com wrote: flawed
Initially a bit of an interesting nose. Sweaty. But there's also a hint of TCA.
Massive TCA on the palate.
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5/1/2016 - TheGreenFrog Likes this wine: 98 Points
This continues to be a fabulous wine. Delicate yet intense flavour with wonderful freshness.
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4/19/2016 - ricknat1 wrote: 92 Points
Overall great CdP but this bottle seemed a little to ripe compared to others
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4/16/2016 - BenBlu Likes this wine: 92 Points
This bottle was not perfect. The cork smelled of tca, however the wine was not corked. I tried this last year and it was a better wine then. But then again with older bottles some are better some less so. This also had stiff competition as a Bollinger Grand Annee 2002 Hudelot Noellat Clos du Vougeot 2009 preceded it - both showed really well. This was still a treat with a rack of lamb but I was missing some depth and length in the finish. Let's hope the next bottle will be in full stride. 92 on basis of this bottle, previously rated 96.
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3/27/2016 - nortonnose wrote: 94 Points
Happy Easter! The '90 Beau is such a privilege :) Very grateful to own a few of these, and I am even more grateful when they show well.
Stood this 750ml last night, decanted for a little over an hour, then served with rack of lamb. This bottle showed fine/well, but fell short of the amazingness that usually embodies 1990 Beaucastel. Really fading color-wise: wide meniscus, plenty of bricking - all of that looks gorgeous to my eyes! All of the fascinating funk on the nose is present: savory spice, 'shrooms, earthiness. Herbaceous, olive/tapenade, dark fruit and pepper notes on the palate. Long finish.
Highly enjoyable, as expected. But usually the '90 has all of this in spades - this bottle was a bit muted relative to the usual laser show :) Having had this a few times, I believe it's 100% bottle variation and nothing at all to suggest being near the end of its reign!
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3/26/2016 - KoalaHK wrote:
Drank at Giando's Restaurant Hong Kong - This bottle was clearly in great condition and as is often the case it was the clarity that gave it away. This wine is at its peak now although I suspect it will remain there for sometime. It has resolved the alcohol and fruit extremely well and is now impeccably balanced. I'm not convinced that the recent trend towards high alcohol in Chateauneuf-du-Pape will produce wines like this anymore.
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3/23/2016 - TheFrog Likes this wine: 95 Points
Un nez fantastique, une éruption de fleures orientales.
En bouche c'est précis, soyeux, et les fruits sont encore présent juste ce qu'il faut. La longueur est impressionnante...
Une grande bouteille.
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3/13/2016 - pilot360 wrote:
When this was poured , I think everyone at the table felt it was time get get down to business!
This bottle of Beaucastel 90 was youthful, open, classic, aged and mature, and what I would consider a perfect bottle of this wine.
Best bottle of the 4/6.
I loved everything about this wine. It why I drink wine.
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3/6/2016 - blanquito wrote: 93 Points
Served double blind. Immediately says southern Rhone to the table, with waves of lavender and herbs de Provence. Just a whiff of funk for my mileage (others got more). Lovely core of fruit, a bit meaty, nice mouthfeel, I guessed 2001 Beaucastel or Pegau. Was shocked on the reveal, such a youthful bottle. I've had this wine once before and it was wild and complex and a little feral, but this bottle must have been cryogenically frozen. Still, excellent.
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2/25/2016 - EhrlichDY wrote: flawed
Dinner with Ravenau, Leflaive, Muller, Fourrier, Pichler, Montrose, Fourrier, de Fargues and more (Black Salt, Washington DC): There was some spritz in the wine and this just wan't quite right.
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2/20/2016 - JM_MadTown Likes this wine: 92 Points
Some mustiness, (or is it Brett?) remained while we enjoyed it. Obviously, soft tannins, with silky red fruit, garrigue, maybe a little sour cherry, and very complex.
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2/11/2016 - Per-Harald Likes this wine: 96 Points
This wine is 25 years old but is still on top and tastes absolutely wonderful, extremely complex, intense, dark berries, spices and provence herbs. Rich, still good acidity and tannin structure, long long finish. Viva la France!
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1/25/2016 - Benji La Malice Likes this wine: 95 Points
explosion of fruit with incredible length , best bottle of Beaucastel I could taste from now
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1/24/2016 - Vini Ciclismo Likes this wine: 95 Points
Very clean fragrance. Spices, black and red fruits, licorice, plums, a hint of earth. Rich and intense, but silky. So drinkable.
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1/24/2016 - rlove wrote: 96 Points
Garnet. This nose. Just wow: Black cherry, blackberry, game, menthol, and garrigue are some of the savory, dark, and animale notes that leap from the glass. On the palate, juicy dark fruit, earth, and some brett-driven barnyards notes that fortunately do not influence the bouquet. Medium bodied with soft, largely integrated tannins, this wine is almost weightless in the mouth, yet packs an incredible punch of both fruit and earth. Sexy and erotic. This is a world class Châteauneuf-du-Pape, exemplar of the form, particularly as an example of what Mourvèdre is capable. Drink through 2025. (Poor cork with extensive seepage, but this wine showed no oxidation.)
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1/23/2016 - beatles wrote: 97 Points
cp 50 (Gentofte): Everyone (me included, alas!) was guessing pinot noir and Burgundy here, goes to show the elegance of the ’90 – and also the importance of psychology; everyone is looking at the host, thinking of his cellar, rather than tasting the wine. But this was great! Creamy, elegant, smooth, quite light, but yet will a full base of Grenache. In the Top 5 of the night for me – but hey, that’s me.
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1/15/2016 - Papies wrote: 95 Points
Another great bottle, after a sting of a few off. Needs decanting for sure, a good hour.
To Nicol who tried it blind this was so youthful and fresh she said late 90s. And indeed once again (Papies rated this wine 95-97) it performed. Elegant, bright, light earthy, good fruit and has presence without being heavy. Another great experience here and no need to repeat old TNs. 95
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1/6/2016 - Ary wrote: 97 Points
Fresh as a daisy, we seem to have found some excellent (extra) bottles of Beaucastel 1990! Very well delineated layers of leather, cassis, smoked bacon in the nose. This bottle seems significant younger than bottles I had 3-4 years ago. Full bodied and well-balanced on the palate with lots of red fruit but also leather and bacon. Smooth and long finish with silky tannins.
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12/29/2015 - Chainthroer wrote: 94 Points
8th time I've tasted this wine. Identical to my notes of 12/13/2015. Note: I re-tasted this wine 24 hours later - still good intensity of fruit.
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12/25/2015 - engelwein Likes this wine: 92 Points
Zum Weihnachtsessen 2015: Farbe schon etwas hell. Nase fein, zart. Geschmack: Delikat, typisch Rhone, keine Tannine, rund. Reif, aber sehr schön! Noch bis 2020?
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12/25/2015 - Tony Ling Likes this wine: 94 Points
To the eyes a surprisingly pale ruby wine with garnet hues. Aromas (before swirling) of fresh kirsch, plums that are sweet and almost like jammed fruits alongside scent of damp forest and dried flowers.
Bouquet of pungent ripe red cherries and wild berries with a beguiling selection of wood/herb-based perfume – sandalwood, cedar and tobacco leaves mostly. This is accompanied by an overlay of bacon, mushroom, leather and hints of Macadamia Nut. This wine has a huge spice box under its sleeves although it is not in any way overpowering. Overall, a superbly expressive, mature nose!
Each mouthful of wine is full of intense, lusciously sweet fruits (mostly cherries and plums) consistent with the nose with racy acidity and silky tannins followed by a warming white peppery finish.
It is indeed an elegant wine although elegant might not be the most usual word to describe the rouges from Châteauneuf-du-Pape. It grows on you as you take each sip as the wine envelops your palate with its complex set of flavours that stay for a good 20-30 seconds. It is a poised and generous nanny that not only serves you comfort food and takes care of all your everyday needs but also gives you a wink when you want to go out and play when you find yourself too bored in life.
Well, that is simply a difficult way of saying that this might just be the perfect wine for this festive season!
I thoroughly enjoyed this wine with family at home with Wagyu steaks and homemade Spaghetti Bolognese under intermittent, small pours in 10 hours without prior decanting.
I reckon this might just be the peak for this wine but I am confident that it will continue to stay this way for another 2-3 years if stored well.
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12/25/2015 - kevin h wrote: 91 Points
A good bottle but not a great one, nothing like the sensational bottle I had in 2006. Youthful bottle CNDP Earth, kirsh and garrigue. Ripe dark fruit, very good but never sang.
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12/13/2015 - Chainthroer wrote: 94 Points
Last tasted from my stash about 28 months ago. Last night I tasted this at a friends' get-together. It seemed then that the intensity of the fruit had diminished slightly. Therefore, I opened this bottle today at home to confirm. The nose was consistent to past tastings: blackberry, black cherry, roasted meat, saddle leather, tobacco, peppercorn, a little bret, some Provencal herbs, spice, touches of bacon fat and cigar box. A fabulous nose, however, the fruit intensity in the mouth has slightly waned . The zenith of its apogee seems to be now on a very slight downswing . It's still an excellent wine, but the fruit intensity seems to have very gradually diminished. Excellent balance. I have about nine bottles left and am aiming to consume them within the next three years.
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11/21/2015 - Winetex Likes this wine:
Alles Gute Zum 40 for Steffen P. (Fabi & Rosi): I had a crunchy last taste of this bottle passed from friends. What a great wine!
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11/14/2015 - Marc wrote: 95 Points
Great showing for a bottle in perfect shape. Stinky Mouvedre nose with leather, animal, tree bark and a touch of sweaty saddle. In the mouth, close to fully resolved with spice, tannic tree bark and sweet raspberry fruit, along with a spicy intensity that has huge length and presence but still feels light on its feet. Is this at its peak (for taster who appreciate aged Beaucastel). The wine is in a more structured, "masculine" style than the 1989 or the 1985 - this is more about structure and clarity of expression in a rustic and gamey style. Exceptional.
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11/13/2015 - baroloboy55 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Perhaps my last bottle and inspired by CCT's recent note. The wine has shedded a bit of its mourvedre driven power of a decade ago for a burgundian complexity. Yes there is brett, but an essential component of the wine. Just the right amount. Round, complex, spicy. At full maturity. A beautiful bottle and reminds me of many other excellent bottles before. I associate Beaucastel with lots of great experiences over a mutli decade affair with this passion, and this one was true to form.
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11/7/2015 - cct wrote: 95 Points
A beautiful nose with a mix of meat, olives, raspberry and mushroomy savory background with just enough brett to add interest. This is a wine at peak and very comfortable in its skin. Still fresh and with beautiful fruit, it's ripe, but perfectly so without any sense of heat or cooked fruits. Texturally fantastic with a beautiful sappiness and elegance that seem tailor fitted to the broad structure and give it a Burgundian finesse. Power and grace, and very long. My last bottle of this and drinking fantastically. This has really turned into a beautiful wine.
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10/24/2015 - essconsults Does not like this wine: 88 Points
My first really disappointing bottle of this ever. Overwhelmingly Bretty, and doubly a shame, since this bottle had great color and was in better shape otherwise than most I've had recently. Oh well, you never now, but the batting average has still been amazingly high.
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10/8/2015 - KenK Likes this wine: 91 Points
Controversial wine and in my experience there are good bottles and overly bretted bottles. This was suspected to be corked initially by some, but it was brett and seemed to disapate, which is unusual for bret. Earthy dark black aromas with animal and horse saddle. Dark briary fruit and somewhat rustic, but dark fruit and nice acid lift sacs the day here. Lots going on here, some will love, some will hate. I liked this bottle, but would not be a crowd pleaser unless they are all wine geeks.
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9/12/2015 - indiscriminate palate wrote: 97 Points
What a great wine for my 2000th CT tasting note.
As Salil noted, this showed amazing evolution with air. On open, showed very pure fruit, excellent structure, and a very good but not earth-shattering wine. The earth-shattering part happened two to three hours later. My note read simply "Holy Shit" and indeed, this was the best bottle yet from this case. Herbal, funky, earthy, fruity, everything-y. Amazingly light on its feet, with incredible complexity and a very long finish. Wish the bottle lasted longer.
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9/11/2015 - salil wrote: 95 Points
A sip of this soon after opening was good but not impressive, with a lot of red fruit but not a whole lot else. A few hours later (slow-oxygenated), this is a completely different beast, with a spectrum of savoury earthy, truffled, leathery and Provencal herb flavours framing a core of bright red fruit that's still very fresh and youthful. The fragrance is absolutely compelling, and this just keeps getting better with air. Spectacular wine. Thanks Mike.
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8/19/2015 - BenBlu Likes this wine: 96 Points
Small taster from the Sampler store. Absolutely beautiful fully mature CdP, great showing, very impressed.
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8/10/2015 - Javachip wrote: 91 Points
Opened at 3 PM, allowed to breathe in bottle until 6 PM, then decanted, re-bottled and brought to the restaurant. Tasting began at 8 PM. Five hours of aeration were not enough. Funky notes of poopy barnyard and Band-Aid dominated the bouquet until 9 PM. Hiding underneath were more pleasing notes of garrigue, grilled herbs, red plums, hints of mincemeat and soy. After another hour, the bouquet finally freshened up to reveal lovely notes of kirsch, framboise, minerals, and garrigue, though still not living up to the hype for this vintage. My #3 tonight.
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8/8/2015 - PT insurgent wrote:
Mostly tertiary at this point, notes of earth, mushroom, leather, prune, fig. Quite musky on the palate with licorice notes.
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7/19/2015 - isaacjamesbaker wrote: 96 Points
Rhone Tasting: What a beautifully intricate wine. The nose is sublime: silky red fruit, beef broth, complex spice, pepper, bacon, roses. So pure on the palate, bold but fresh, elegant, full of tangy life. Red berry fruit, dried roses, rhubarb, charcoal, fire pit, beef broth. Complex, long, clean, pure. A gorgeous treat.
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7/11/2015 - la turque wrote: 93 Points
A little tired, but a lovely bottle of wine. Complex, smoky, pruny, balanced. not getting any better. Drink up.
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7/3/2015 - ricknat1 wrote: 95 Points
absolutely terrific CDP drinking at the top of its game
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6/27/2015 - Kemo Sabe Likes this wine: 94 Points
Finally. This really showed well tonight. This needs a good couple hours in the decanter to blow off the funk and get to a special place. Tonight it had nuanced flavors of spice, cherry, some pepper. Soft and elegant. Good color - still a deep purple. And a solid finish. Glad this has finally come around for me. Also, this wine needs to be served with food. Really brings out the better side of the nuances.
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6/10/2015 - Chuck Miller wrote: flawed
Unfortunately, this bottle was cooked and oxidized.
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4/28/2015 - hjerman Likes this wine: 91 Points
Quite nice still, but decidedly lighter overall in color and flavor than what I recall from bottles drunk some years ago. I would call this fully mature, and, I think at 25 years, one should think more about drinking rather than storing. Lighter red color but little browning from this bottle, stored well since young. Somewhat closed at first, opening up over 1+ hrs over dinner.
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4/12/2015 - Gfaerie wrote:
Still a memorable wine, majestic and mindblowing !
Sadly one bottle was flawed
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3/21/2015 - FreddieMoose Likes this wine: 95 Points
Signs of slight seepage, but still into the neck. Corked soaked thru, yet totally intact. Muted on the nose at first even with with Vinturi aerator. Took about 1 1/2 hours to show its stuff. Medium red color, somewhat translucent and clear to the edge. Classic Beaucastel nose of saddle leather, earth and a touch of spice. Perfectly balanced with soft tannins in the background. Black and red fruits dominate with a tremendous finish. Still trying to decide whether this surpasses the '81 Beaucastel.
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3/5/2015 - andrewdodd86 wrote: 85 Points
Deader than a door knob for my taste
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2/21/2015 - essconsults wrote: 91 Points
Not flawed, but somewhat dilute and muted, compared to my previous bottles. The last glass was the best, from some of the sediment, which imparted a richer more vibrant character. I've been drinking this fairly consistently since 2002, and this bottle was the least exciting or interesting. I'll need to try one more bottle, but this great wine may finally be going over the hill.
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1/5/2015 - NoTrollingerPlease Likes this wine: 93 Points
Beaucastel vertical (@home): Drunk together with Pegau 90. Both were great wines, but i preferred the Beaucastel a bit more.
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12/31/2014 - JM_MadTown Likes this wine: 94 Points
Lovely nose of provençal herbs including a little of that barnyard aroma, but only slightly that way. The wine has a medium body with silky red fruits, garrigue, saddle leather, forest floor and a long finish on the back of the palate. A very elegant wine.
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12/28/2014 - dlduchon Likes this wine: 96 Points
Great wine and all I am looking for in a Rhone wine. A bit of rusticity, that adds another dimension to the wine. This wine can last many more years.
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12/6/2014 - mdefreitas wrote: 93 Points
Wines @ Mike's (Coventry, CT): This has that rare oxymoronic trait of "clean funkiness". Forest floor and barnyard scents, but so fresh and clean... mixed with lovely herbs and bright red fruits. Complex, balanced and lively. Excellent example of Beaucastel.
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12/6/2014 - salil wrote: 94 Points
Another great bottle of this. This never fails to deliver a wow experience. Layers of bright red fruits, leather, earth, and other savoury sous bois and truffle-like notes all coming together very seamlessly on a polished, medium weight frame that conveys power with a sense of elegance and restraint. The tannins are incredibly refined, mostly integrated, and this is drinking beautifully right now.
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12/6/2014 - indiscriminate palate wrote: 93 Points
December birthdays (Coventry): Absolutely beautiful, with a captivating nose that builds with time. L sensed bramble on the nose. Leather, earth, some cherry, mushroom. Very clean, with a good deal of structure--the tannins are medium but quite integrated, the acid is medium-high. Medium finish, driven by cherry, earth, and acid. Very pretty wine.
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12/4/2014 - jlgnml Likes this wine: 98 Points
Les Degustateurs (Acadia Chicago IL): The real deal, awesome nose, woo, great sweetness, full on the palate, long on the finish!
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11/29/2014 - Jeff Leve wrote: 96 Points
1990 Beaucastel is a consistent beauty that always seems to deliver. The wine is complex, with a garrigue, thyme and kirsch filled nose. The texture is luscious, silky and sauvage, ending with a blast of fresh, sweet, spicy cherries. This is probably at peak, but there is probably no hurry to finish your stash.
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11/22/2014 - ATBridge wrote:
Two bottles. I was a bit underwhelmed with this tonight. Quite translucent. The expected "Rhone funk" was present of the nose, and a bit of fruit, but the wine seemed quite thin relative to a bottle drunk last year. Not much going on for me in the mouth either. Both bottles were the same, and not seemingly flawed, jut not to my taste tonight.
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11/15/2014 - rufuswashere wrote: 94 Points
Outstanding CNP, at peak age right now, with tannins and fruit in perfect balance. Sensational wine, went great with beef roast and mashed potatoes, purple cabbage.
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11/3/2014 - Thoughtful Likes this wine: 95 Points
Stored in a cold cellar since release. Neck fill. Perfect cork. Lovely complex medium bodied wine. Still lively with superb balance.Only 13.5%.
A true masterpiece which proves 14.5% is not always necessary. Is this fair maybe the grapes had arrived a optimun ripeness?
At peak but will last depending on stoage. To 2020 at least but hard to judge after then.
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11/1/2014 - bon vivant wrote:
SbS with the 95 and 98 however this was a pop and pour. The most earthy aromatics initially with some older bottle funk notes which receded within 10 minutes to reveal plush dark red and blue fruit. Probably hit peak within 1/2 hr. It showed silky and mouth coating goodness with a seamless start to finish balance. We were blessed with a clean bottle which was drinking at peak. A classic which was enjoyed by all with a grilled leg of lamb and white truffle mashed potatoes. Excellent. If you got them drink them!
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10/31/2014 - Paul S wrote: 93 Points
Welcome Home Peter! (Park Palace, Grand Park Hotel): I don't quite know how to place this bottle. While still clearly very good indeed, it was so marked by Brett that I could not quite enjoy it completely. Served blind, some on the table adored it, voting it wine of the night, others were less thrilled. Personally, I thought it was perhaps the poorest of the few smashing bottles of the 1990 I have had over the years. The Brett just hit you on first pour - with lots of funky smells, reminiscent of barnyard and gym sock, floating over more pleasant tones of dark plums and black cherries laced with a lovely fragrant spice - cumin and menthol and cloves - and then a nice interplay of savoury mushrooms and sweet violet florals. The palate was clearly Brett influenced as well, but was thankfully less funky than on the nose. While there were savoury, meaty notes and a little sauvage edge, these were in the background rather than dominating the palate. Beyond that, the wine was actually very fine indeed, with the brilliant balance and fine, silky tannins that have always given this vintage an almost Burgundian feel. There were lovely flavours in there too, with a pure expression of sweet dark fruit - black cherries again, and blackberries - mid-bodied at first, then opening up and taking on depth and a subtle power. Lovely stuff. Very strong, very complete, and while the Brett came out rather distractingly again after time, very long on the finish too, with black fruit was kissed by savoury meat and earth and a long trial of white peppery spice. I should have decanted this rather than popping and pouring, and I wish there wasn't that much Brett, but it is a testament to how good the wine is that it still showed this well even with all that going on.
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10/11/2014 - Papies wrote: 95 Points
Good bottle, solid cork. Decanted served after 2 hours. Decanting is advisable albeit 2 hours maybe a bit long. As with previous numerous notes ( papies 95-97) this is a wine that does not fail us given a healthy bottle. Excellent once again. 95
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9/20/2014 - canan wrote: 94 Points
Chateauneuf Du Pape 1990 Horisontal (@Terkel): Impressive mature red currant and strawberry fruit with hints of sewage water.
It has a lovely balance!
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9/14/2014 - johnh1001 wrote: 93 Points
OJH Party (Racquet Club Chicago): Another nice bottle from the same source. Lovely charcuterie and herbs on the nose. Round and fresh in the mouth. Great ripeness and balance.
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8/11/2014 - Outplaying wrote:
This is drinking very nicely. Elegant and complex with earthy leather notes, some light black pepper, iodine and spice. Slightly tart and dry. A CdP that is only 13.5%! We thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing Bob H.
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8/5/2014 - Burgundy Al wrote: 92 Points
Birthday Celebration (Paris Club - Chicago IL): This is another wine that has performed inconsistently through the years. Good combination of earthy, mushroomy character with plenty of black fruit and background spice. Good depth and moderate power.
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6/10/2014 - indiscriminate palate wrote: 92 Points
Belated celebrations: This was all about the texture. The body is absolutely amazing, like liquid silk. The aroma was less exciting and not on par with some of the previous bottles. It is also more clean and less funky than previous bottles. Began to develop a little sweetness after about 2 hours of air. This is certainly drinking well with fully-integrated tannin and there doesn't seem to be any reason to hold. Very yummy.
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6/10/2014 - salil wrote: 96 Points
Another outstanding bottle. So fragrant and complex with layers of bright red fruit, earth, leather, truffles and herbs coming together into a scent that's hard to move away from, and a remarkably graceful, polished texture. This is all about finesse and elegance with a palate presence that I'd normally expect in a top Burgundy. Seamless, drinking beautifully right now, and really compelling.
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5/31/2014 - Jeff Leve wrote: 96 Points
Can you say Rockstar! Wow! Packed with supple textured, ripe, sweet, spicy, fleshy red berries, plum, herb, earth and kirsch aromas, every sniff and sip got better and better. While there is no urgent need to finish your bottles, I do not think there is much to gain by holding them any longer.
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5/21/2014 - vivt wrote: 75 Points
low shoulder. purple color but dead. oxidized. I have another 1990 will taste again.
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5/18/2014 - nortonnose wrote: 94 Points
This remains such a wonderfully funky (!) treat. Stood bottle for weeks, double decanted, served at restaurant two hours after opening. Very consistent with my previous TN: "Beguiling, rich herbs on the nose. In the mouth, it had everything: sweetness; pepper (more kirsch this time); full, curvy, sexy body, but also with a ton of nuance. Very long finish." No rush at all on these!
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4/19/2014 - MC wrote:
From a bottle without the white import label. Decanted 30 minutes. This was great. Fully mature, elegant fruit. Nose has a bit of brett but overall a very nice mix of mature fruit, leather, barnyard and a nice finish. Outclassed the '90 Pegau tonight. A
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4/17/2014 - Paul S wrote: 94 Points
Birthday in the Firm (TKQP Boardroom): The 1990 Beaucastel has been a rather slipping experience for me in recent years - the first bottle was absolutely mindblowing; the second less so, but still superlative. This one was clearly very, very good indeed, but it was yet another step down. I am not sure how to put my finger on it. It could be the much more overt funk and bretty barnyard notes on the nose; but then again, these were mixed in with lovely accents of rose petals, sweet dark cherries and blackberries, spice, garrigue, and then tons of stony mineral, lots of spice, garrigue, all undercut by a savoury, meaty twang. A really complex, engaging nose, a lot to like here - if you do not mind some funk that is. The palate was less lushly fruited than the previous bottles as well. It still had a really nice blush of dark cherries and blackberries at the forefront though, all this laced with lovely acidity and fine, velvety tannins. There was a lot of strength here, but also wonderful elegance - something that I enjoyed in the past. However, what really came out most strongly for me was the great minerality on wine. Past the midpalate the fruit was reduced to a wonderfully stony, pebbly, stream of mineral that flowed into a long finish amidst fragrant notes of warm spice and sweet herbs and a final little glow of sweet cherries. It was a lovely warm finish, full of generosity and charm. All in all, this just lacked some of the breathtaking quality of earlier bottles, but it was still smashing bottle. Perhaps time to start drinking up though - I suspect that the wine may have settled into a long, slow decline.
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4/13/2014 - johnh1001 wrote: 93 Points
1990 ANYTHING Dinner (Our house): Very similar to the last bottle. Red fruit, meat, a bit of iodine and iron on the nose and palate. Great balance, texture and integration. Medium finish. Nice right now.
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4/10/2014 - Papies wrote: 95 Points
Rhone North & South 1990, with Richard Brazier (Handford Wines, London): This is a wine that we always sing praises for and it did not let us down. Elegant and full of complexity and depth, good fruit firm tannin and full of life. Took a bit of swirling for the nose to develop but this is a gem of a wine. Just be careful of badly sourced bottles. Had a bit less fruit this time than last but a solid 95
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4/10/2014 - rossi.wine wrote: 96 Points
Quite evolved nose, barnyard notes, plummy fruit, ripe, meaty, spices - very complex and intriguing. On the palate powerful and complex, superbly balanced, fresh, multi-layered with superb length. Fantastic. Probably still at its peak. 95-96
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4/7/2014 - jonanator wrote: 92 Points
This was very nice. I am a little disappointed though, this was my first bottle of the 1990 and I am quite honestly, underwhelmed. I had high expectations for this wine, but maybe it was bottle variation. The nose had a beautiful smoked meat tone that was great, but the palate just didnt live up to the hype. The fruit didnt really come through at all and just felt a little "bland". It was a good wine but nothing jumped out at me like some of the comments. It didn't wow me. This wine have plenty of finesse but the complexity wasn't as good as I had hoped. Hopefully the next few bottles will be better.
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3/28/2014 - indiscriminate palate wrote:
TTTG; 3/27/2014-3/28/2014 (Coventry, CT): Perfect cork and great fill. This wine just does not disappoint. Plenty of Mourvedre funk, great red and black fruit, earth, smoke. Very perfumed, complex nose. Beautiful. (group's 1st of 10 by consumption volume)
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3/27/2014 - salil wrote: 94 Points
Very different from the last two experiences I've had with the '90 Beaucastel, but still fantastic. This bottle came across a lot older than I would expect with the fruit rather understated and gentle, and savoury truffled, earthy, tarry and smoky flavours dominating in the foreground. There's great purity of flavour here with no sign of brett or any of the meaty/leathery notes I've found in this before, a very graceful and polished palate presence, and this was my favorite of the night.
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3/8/2014 - Alex H wrote: 91 Points
Poopy, musky and funky barnyard. Dusty cupboard with some spices. Horse manure and horse sweat. This is not a wine for the faint hearted.
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3/7/2014 - Paul S wrote: 95 Points
A "Blended" Birthday Dinner (Garibaldi, Purvis Street, Singapore): Wow. Every now and then I come across a wine that captures my imagination, and the taste of it lingers in the memory for years after. Coming back to another bottle of a wine like that always runs the risk of real disappointment - of bottles not stored as well, with food pairings being not quite right, of taste not quite living up to the memory. With this bottle though, it was as if the cobwebs of prevailing time swept aside and I was brought back almost to the place where I was when I first tasted it. It was perhaps not quite the perfect CdP the last bottle was, but boy this was a gobsmackingly good. Opened a couple of hours before service, it still had lots of Beaucastel funk on the nose when poured, with leather and game meat and hints of barnyard swirling around a beautiful core of dark cherries and berry aromas, and then bits of spice and garrigue and drifts of gun-smoke trailing behind. Quite wonderful stuff. It was on the palate where the wine really hit the ball out of the park though. This was crazy good, with wonderful complexity unfolding across the mouth in layers of earth and spice and meat and dark-fruited plums and blackberries, seasoned of spice and garrigue, menthol and wild flowers - all this couched in fine-boned tannins and laced with a beautifully fresh, lively acidity. Wow. Open, elegant, soaring - this almost had the silken structure of a Burgundy, but wed at the same time to the moreish depth of a great CdP. When paired with a gamey duck ragout, fireworks just went off in the mouth. Great finish too, with funky meat and smoke and a hint of garrigue filling the backpalate with effortless length. Amazing, It may not have been quite as ethereal as the ex-Chateau bottle that the Beaucastel folks brought down to Singapore a couple of years back, but this still ranks amongst the best CdPs I have ever tried. I always hate to vote my own bottle as WOTN, but this bottle really stood out for me amidst some sterling reds on the night. Wow. I have one last bottle of this squirreled away - while this was singing on the night, I would be interested to see where that goes in a couple of years' time.
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2/22/2014 - rnellans wrote: 93 Points
Served alongside the 89. Not quite as good imo. Similar nose, but the palate not as good.
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2/17/2014 - BradE wrote:
89 and 90 side by side. The 89 was the clear winner tonight, it was very good from bouquet to finish. The 90 didn't seem flawed at all, but was lacking the pleasure that it typically provides.
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2/7/2014 - europat55 wrote: 97 Points
Platinum Tasting - Rhones (Andre and Sabine's House, Mountain View, CA): Lighter red than the other wines in this flight. Fabulous nose, Great balance. The type of wine that I would spend hours smelling in the glass (A). Sublime palate with just the right amount of brett, spices, earthyness and herbs (A+).
My #1, Group's #2 (27 pts). Tasted blind.
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1/21/2014 - Jeff Leve wrote: 96 Points
It's obvious I caught this wine in the sweet spot with all its sweet, ripe and over ripe dark red berries, cherries, kirsch, pepper, sweaty horse and garrigue aromatics. The wine is soft, elegant, concentrated and deep, ending with a least 40 seconds of black and red spicy fruits. There are times I prefer the 1989 and other days when I think the 1990 is the wine to have. Today, it's the 1990!
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1/11/2014 - pbaek wrote:
My first experience ever with the 1990 Beaucastel and my goodness, this is a phenomenal wine. Classic Beaucastel with a bit of funk and farmyard on the nose but still plenty of red fruit. From the days when finesse was preferred over power, this is so easy to drink. The nose is perfumed and captivating. Wow. Nicos and I had a difficult time to keep our hands off this bottle whereas Asher found a bit of band aid there (brett). This bottle was finished very quickly. Easily the best Beaucastel I have ever had. Too bad they've cleaned up their act so much that their wines have lost their soul chez Beaucastel. At home in Notting Hill with Asher and Nicos.
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1/1/2014 - theonlylittledog wrote: 91 Points
Funky Brett aroma. Juicy and tasty.
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12/28/2013 - lestergibo Likes this wine: 95 Points
This wine was singing! A beautiful CdP, fully mature.
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12/21/2013 - jswine15 Likes this wine: 92 Points
I probably didn't let this sit long enough after decanting, only about 1 hour. A very fine bouquet, not at all like earlier drinkings, but great texture and balance, a great example of an older CNDP
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12/8/2013 - SteelerFan wrote: 98 Points
Fantastic tonight, and one of the best CdP's I have ever had. The cork crumbled open opening, so I was very concerned, but the bit of funk blew off during an hour decant and the wine was drinking beautifully. Light to medium body, with great aromatics and exotic cherry, cigar and cedar notes. Like a cross between a typical rhone and a burgundy. Some browning, so it may be entering the latter part of its life, but still tremendously enjoyable.
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12/7/2013 - jinks Likes this wine: 94 Points
KW Epic tasting/ mens best bottle (KW): tasted blind among 6 other wines in flight 2
Blind notes:
Thin in the glass, bricking
Nose was complete funk. barnyard
Beautiful on the palate - smooth, integrated tannins, mixture of dried fruit and herbs
I guessed it was 1980s Burgundy
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11/22/2013 - thomaskeil wrote: 93 Points
Belated Birthday Dinner (Table 6 (Denver, CO)): 6 years since last note. Decanted 20 minutes and swirled. Reddish violet with only a little brick. Nose was very clean from the get go. Bright cherry fruit, compote, tobacco, garrique, asian spice. Palate blasts off with medium plus weighted expressive red fruit and tannins that, while softening, felt quite rustic compared to the elegant CSJ served just before. Amazigly balanced acidity with touch of mineral for a CNP. Plenty of flavor complexity and even a little textural as well. Perfect pairing for the lamb and shaved pork. Lots of life ahead.
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11/4/2013 - andtheodor wrote: 96 Points
Opens with a weird, antiseptic, animalic nose that really just reeks. After a few minutes in the glass the stink starts to recede and the bouquet is kaleidoscopic; beefy, sanguine, anise, black tea, clove, cinnamon, olive, and potpourri. Substantial tannin remains but the texture is soft, satiny, & full without any edges. The acidity swells and resonates beneath a sweet currant fruit. Dried roses, licorice, pepper palate add to the palate. The mouthfeel is more like a dessert wine in its density and weight, but it simultaneously floats on the palate. The wings are spread. One of the greatest wines I've ever tasted, a well-deserved legend.
The original $29.99 price tag was still on the back of the bottle. If only...
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10/11/2013 - Papies wrote: 97 Points
Another excellent performance here. This is a magnificent wine. Requires just a touch of decanting.
This is a burgundian in style wine, with a nose that u keep going back and back and back. Earthy, mushrooms, black truffle side to it. Super complex nose just kept on developing as the evening went on. The palate is still very much alive , with good fruit weight and length. To be honest if this had a touch more fruit on the palate (no dryness here to be clear) this for us would have been a perfect scoring wine. still a well deserved 97 and worthy of its 150£ price tag. Drinks very nicely now and must buy more..
As with most oldie wines (esp from hot areas) bottle variation is a big issue. Some ex-chateau bottles would be the way to go if the source is not trusted. We have had our fair share of bad bottles.
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9/21/2013 - ldorf wrote: 96 Points
Still extraordinary... still needs an hour or more in a decanter.
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8/24/2013 - Chainthroer wrote: 96 Points
Browning at the rim. Reddish-ruby color, with bricking. Initially, I got some barnyard or bret on the nose, but this soon blew off. Then, wonderful and highly complex aromas of blackberry, black cherry, roasted meat, saddle leather, tobacco, peppercorn, some Provencal herbs, spice, touches of bacon fat and cigar box. Just about everything you’d want in a Chateauneuf du Pape. The flavors encompassed much of the same. Big, rich and powerful in the mouth. Tannins are fully integrated. Intense fruit. Great balance and structure. A long and profound finish that lingered with intensity. As I’ve previously indicated this wine is quite appreciable by itself. This time, though, was the best pairing so far with rib-eye steak. Mesmerizing wine! When it was imported, I bought this wine for $25.76! Times have sure changed.
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8/23/2013 - Eubulos wrote: 95 Points
Great aged Beaucastel.
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8/22/2013 - Kemo Sabe wrote: 92 Points
While I like this wine, I have to score it lower due to the preponderance of glue on the nose. As I have stated in previous notes the wine is good (esp after a couple hours of air) but the nose is horrific. Certainly part of the enjoyment of any bottle of wine comes from the smell and how it enlightens the senses. This wine is a turn off on the nose but the juice is good. Not sure what to make of it but will continue to see how this evolves.
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8/16/2013 - canan wrote: 97 Points
BYO - Erik (Frederiksberg): Impressive nose with farts, chemicals, cream, caramel and raspberries.
A lovely raspberry flavor dominate the palate with some sweet vanilla. Also some manure and sewer.
Impressive structure and balance!
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8/15/2013 - wvcellars wrote: 98 Points
Opened with a funky barnyard nose exhibiting flavors of damp leather, earth, merde. As I swirled I got a nose of bloody meat with some white pepper and amazing minerality. On the palate, the dry red cherry was intense. There was a hint of spiciness. As it opened, the minerality exhibited itself with flavors of crushed wet rock. Overall, a great showing for this wine. Wish I had more!
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8/14/2013 - chablis28 wrote: 99 Points
PnP - Wow, Wow.... Wow! This is a perfect CDP but, I deducted a point just to be a jerk. Beautiful expansive nose with remarkable freshness for its age! Super silky and layered palate. Weightless but yet powefully grabs your attention. Burgundian CDP! Way fun to drink this wine! I'd pay $150 for this all day long. Drinks like a $500 plus rock star I can no longer afford.
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8/1/2013 - Mr T wrote:
This was a very nice bottle....cork crumbly and plenty of smelly socks on the nose, but the palate was soft and round and plenty of sweet red fruit left and this time opened pretty quickly....perfect bottle of wine
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7/24/2013 - bhouk Likes this wine:
Purchased on release and well-stored since; decanted about an hour before the start of the consumption period which continued for another 3 hours. The nose is a little gamey and sweetly smoky. Fairly evolved and rounded but with good, grippy mid-palate presence. Ends long with more game and sweet/sour cherry. Fantastic right now (this is why cellaring wine makes any sense at all), but I personally do not see any reason to be in a hurry. I'd be very surprised if this is not still drinking just beautifully in another decade.
Second day: The additional glass and a half did nothing to dissuade my day one analysis. Baking spices, notably cinnamon, became more prominent. The Right Stuff. The lofty reputation is well deserved.
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6/1/2013 - rnellans wrote: 93 Points
A fair amount of bretty, horsey barnyard notes in the nose that was not off putting to me. Leather notes and still some good fruit. Palate was silky and long. Still drinking well but I would start drinking bottles in the cellar, as I think this is not as good as times I've tasted in the past.
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5/29/2013 - pilot360 wrote:
Brought to a tasting of CdP ranging from 1978-2006. Stood out to me as classy, elegant, refined and one of the better wines presented. Flavor profile rings true to my previous tasting note. Classic
On a side note -
a bottle of 1978 and 1985 Coudoulet - BEFORE Beaucastel had official ownership of the vineyards - were opened. I was told that both these wines were harvested and then brought to Beaucastel for vinification.
These both really showed well after all those years, and being a CDR bottling. What a treat to have these wines side by side.
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5/14/2013 - markellen.foodies@gmail.com wrote: 94 Points
DOUBLE BLIND 95+ DINNER @ DEERING BAY YACHT & COUNTRY CLUB (WINE CELLAR @ DEERING BAY YACH & COUNTRY CLUB, MIAMI, FL): Sweet pronounced Brett. Hickory, meat, Asian spices, black cherries and blackberries. Bob M's wine.
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5/7/2013 - indiscriminate palate wrote: 95 Points
Brief Notes from Grand Sichuan: See Salil's note. My third bottle, all showing very well. Capsule showed a bit of corrosion, but wine was in great shape. Probably at its peak, but no hurry to drink.
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5/7/2013 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine: 96 Points
Mike's bottle. Very Mourvedre. Dark and sauvage - animal fur, brambles, deep plummy fruit, smoke. Really chunky on the palate with similar flavors. Good acid. Some tomato and spice. Great verve with a driven finish with excellent acid. Really singing tonight - dead on. Nose - 6/6, Palate - 5.5/6, Finish - 5/6, Je Ne Sais Quoi - 1.5/2 = 18/20.
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5/7/2013 - salil wrote: 96 Points
Absolutely stunning. This is drinking so well now, amazingly complex, fragrant, layered and totally seamless. There's an incredible fragrance combining mature red fruits, leather, smoke and meaty elements, and such depth and complexity on the palate. The tannins seem fully integrated and there's a sense of real polish and finesse to the texture, with amazing length. A real wow wine, thanks Mike.
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4/26/2013 - pjaines Likes this wine:
Quite a mature bottle - lots of bricking and then waves and waves of old leather, cherries, red fruits and smokey herbs. Cut through with that slightly sweet horsepoop sweaty Beaucastel palate. Awesome stuff. A wine to be slowly contemplated over several hours.
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4/21/2013 - William Kelley Likes this wine: 95 Points
I have tasted this wine pretty frequently since 2008, and it is my perception that (from a relatively warm cellar and from 750 ml bottles) it is beginning to decline. From magnum, however, it was terrific, with lots of vibrant griotte cherry and dark, sweet, plum sauce flavours complemented by charcoal, wet earth, and the signature animal / leather characteristics that one expects from this estate and its cépage. Fresh but showing some attractive sur maturité from this warm vintage, this supple-textured wine, with fully resolved tannins, would be very interesting to try from a cold cellar, but anyone who owns it is advised to check in soon, as it would be a pity to miss its mature charms.
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4/19/2013 - Yme wrote:
Intense nose of cherries, smoke and oak. Full bodied, intense though integrated tannins with cherries, tobacco, oak and woody herbs. Some heat from the alcohol. Very long length.
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3/26/2013 - BradKNYC wrote:
Terrific wines with outrageously good cassoulet as the supper club reconvenes. (Christine & Marty's.): A terrific bottle and with a more masculine and serious profile than the '89 as it shows blacker fruit, a less perfumed nose and more muscle to the tannins. There's a strong blood character on the nose and palate, slightly more pepper to the spice blend and more garrigue showing. While the black fruit is ripe and has good depth, it's a bit more subdued than the flamboyant red fruit of the '89. It bears mentioning that both this bottle and the '89 were amongst the cleanest I've ever experienced. No one at the table detected any brett, which is a frequent companion to both wines. A.
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3/7/2013 - ldorf Likes this wine: 96 Points
In the .375 this has oxidized a bit, but still off the chain. My second favorite wine ever... the 1989 is my favorite.
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2/3/2013 - Kbrumback wrote: 92 Points
Drank with duck confit watching the Super Bowl. Cellared since purchase.
Poured direct, no Brett, limited funk, great body and glyceriny legs, but not at all heavy or unbalanced. classic Beau nose, mature and delicious. Very good, but slightly (emphasis slight) one dimensional w/o the lift and nuance to call it great.
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1/29/2013 - BradKNYC wrote:
The supper club meets at Sarah's. Champagne, Burgundy, Loire Chenin and CDP are served. (Sarah's.): Quite a bretty bottle, but with a sufficient amount of air it eventually subsided enough so the raspberry, earth, garrigue, olive, game and spice flavors and aromas could shine through. That said, the brett never left, but I'm not brett averse. This is drinking beautifully now and is probably at peak, though has a long life yet. There's richness, but balance and depth. Nice sweetness to the raspberry fruit, but it's not roasted. Always one of my favorites. A.
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1/25/2013 - DnAWine wrote: 94 Points
Decanted for at least 4 hours. Dark brick color. Still had some fruit but mostly earthy and tobacco finish. Very long finish. Shared with family on Christmas day!!
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1/9/2013 - cellardrinker wrote: 98 Points
Magnum. Double decanted four hours before dinner by sommelier at Tocqueville. Substantial sediment. Gorgeous garnet color, nice legs. Not a tinge of brown edge. Deep smell of woods, mushrooms, wild game, leather, tar, a little barnyard. Fully resolved tannins on the palate, alcohol present but not overwhelming, Hitting its prime with incredible smoothness and length. Compared to regular bottle I had a few months ago the magnum definitely mad ethe wine feel younger and more vibrant. Amazaingly still opened up further during the evening. Just supreme.
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1/3/2013 - costamalfitana wrote: 94 Points
Mature brick red color; double decanted for 2 hours. Lost of sediment. Absolutely terrific nose of classic CNdP, mourvedre, grenache and Syrah fighting it out, with the mourvedre gaining the upperhand after about 2 hours. Leather thyme Provencal herbs, game, smooth as silk on the palate, medium weight only, alcohol hardly noticeable. Delicious to enjoy over dinner. All in all a great beaucastel , the nose of which is beginning to develop complexities like the , all time great , 1967 Beaucastel had developed in the past (although this is from memory).
Is there something to comment? hmm, the palate is very smooth but doesn't match the gorgeous nose. Anyhow , a real treat!
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12/8/2012 - Papies wrote: 96 Points
Beyond a Birthday dinner! (The Papies, Elizabeth St, London): Decanted for 2 hours, definitely needs some decanting.
A touch cloudy in colour, but still on the dark side in colour. The nose sings. Open and long full of fruit, elegant and never let go. On the palate the same tune continues, well structured wine, silky tannins but full of life, complex and with lots of depth. This is the 5th time we have tried this wine and although a couple of times we had bottle quality issues every time we have a singing bottle we end up with the same conclusion. MUST BUY MORE! 96+
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12/3/2012 - nortonnose Likes this wine: 94 Points
PnP fr 375. Love Beau, and loved this particular one, but sadly this bottle didn't fare as magically as the one two weeks prior (see below). Tough love, that! Those same notes mostly apply, just with far less precision and purity therein. Rich herbs on the nose. Sweet with pepper on the palate, with some lovely nuance, just far less than previous. Very long finish. Sadly, my last 375ml bottle......
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11/30/2012 - Zweder wrote: flawed
Corked unfortunately
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11/23/2012 - MLipton wrote:
Classic Beaucastel character with the blueberry notes that I associate with the high Mourvedre cepage. A tad jammy at first, that faded to be replaced with a growing sense of horse blanket. By no means as Bretty as some people's experieces, it nonetheless was too Bretty for a few of our friends.
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11/19/2012 - nortonnose Likes this wine: 98 Points
Mon Dieu! PnP fr 375. I have rarely tried old half bottles, so I really didn't know how this would show. It was literally nearly perfect. More remarkable to me is that it was 99% ready to rumble upon PnP! As in, this needed less than 10 seconds to do 22 yrs of leg stretching. Beguiling, rich herbs on the nose. In the mouth, it had everything: sweetness; pepper; full, curvy, sexy body, but also with a ton of nuance. Very long finish. I wanted this to last for the rest of my wine drinking life. Arguably one of the best single bottles - in any size! - I have ever tasted. 98+ pts (note, a couple weeks later, my last 375ml bottle was very good but not nearly this good - hence, that old adage.......)
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11/7/2012 - KenK wrote: 88 Points
Overwhelming aromas of heavy brett - stinky barnyard, wet horse, merde, and animal qualities. Some big black fruits as well
Palate did not seem as heavily impacted as the bouquet, but clearly present. Big bold rich dark black cherry, graphite with impresive balance. I could not get past the nose, which others did not mind nearly as much.
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10/29/2012 - jmottern wrote: 78 Points
Decanted the bottle and waited for about 30 minutes. There was almost no nose. The wine was OK but not as good as I had hoped. This might have been because of the age, cork or past storage.
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10/6/2012 - Chainthroer wrote: 97 Points
Browning at the rim. A reddish-ruby color; bricking characteristics of a matured wine. A profound and expressive nose with aromas, similar to my last tasting, of blackberry, black cherry, saddle leather, some cigar box, black pepper, spices, licorice, sweet herbs, roasted meat and some bacon fat. The whole ball of wax for expressiveness. Like last time, I initially got some bret that blew off after a while, as the wine warmed from cellar temperature. Similar flavors that are full throttle, rich and intense in the mouth. Great balance and acid. Again, an elegant, lingering and silky finish. As I did last time, I used a #1 Impitoybles to evaluate and fully appreciate the wine. Pairs nicely with a pork-rib roast, appropriately spiced. But, as I’ve mentioned before, the wine is more appreciable by itself.
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10/2/2012 - redders wrote: 94 Points
A brooding wine drunk alongside the 1990 close des paper. Both great examples but different. The Beaucastel more animal and wild, no significant brett, but swirls of garrigue herbs and meaty animal flavours. Developed as we drank it and secondary characteristics came through. A delight
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9/21/2012 - Chuck Miller wrote:
I have bought and consumed many bottles of this wine over the years, and they have ranged from excellent to perfect. Unfortunately, there is a slight cooked note on the nose, and the palate is a little lean. Consumed in memory of a good friend, 5 years gone, who generously opened many of the finest wines I have ever had. This was not a perfect bottle, but he was not a perfect man.
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9/17/2012 - DarinC wrote: 94 Points
From memory. Some seepage into the damp cork. Decanted for sediment and consumed the following 3hrs. Garnet red with serious bricking. I agree with the other tasters about the iodine under the fruit, herbs, iron and leather. Great complexity and a real joy to drink.
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9/15/2012 - Kemo Sabe wrote:
The nose at the open was horrific - glue, rubber, funk, farmyard. I almost dumped it out. But, having had this happen before I decanted the wine for about 2 hours and came back. Nose was better but not really what I would call good. The wine had some decent notes - some pepper, spices and other CdP traits. However, would say this thing prob needs 3-4 hours of air to blow off the funk and get to some place reasonable. By the end of dinner the wine was good and there still wasnt much a nose. Would say drink these now.
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8/17/2012 - essconsults wrote: 94 Points
Still a beautiful drink, but while this bottle was in excellent condition, it seemed to lack some intensity of flavors, though still complex, that made this monumental in the past. Admittedly, I haven't had the '90 in several years. Everyone else thought it was superb, so my score, while high, is not in the 96-98 range I would have given to previous bottles. Yet happy to drink this anytime, and still one of the absolute great QPRs in the wine world.
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8/14/2012 - Papies wrote:
A Chateauneuf Papies-Odyssey (The Papies, Elizabeth St, London): Another bottle from what looks to be a bad batch. Not flawed and drinking well but much like the previous one nowhere close to the level this wine can achieve out of a proper bottle. Shame really. Our earlier notes are more representative of this great wine (Papies rated this 97).
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8/11/2012 - Vini Ciclismo Likes this wine: 93 Points
Rich and warm, lighter colour but still deeply flavoured. Classic flavours, in harmony as usual, softening very gracefully. Nothing bretty at all. Delicious.
[JN]
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8/8/2012 - johnh1001 wrote: 94 Points
Impressive. Dark fruits, spice, ferrous, wood notes on the nose. Deep and full on the palate. Iodine taste on the medium finish. Smoother than I expected.
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7/19/2012 - vindictive wrote:
Tasted alongside the 1989 (comparisons can spoil the experience of drinking a good wine. This is a fine wine, but not as good as the '89. This wine is a little heavier and has a little less drive, seeming like a hotter vintage wine. Still a good wine that would probably have seemed better in weaker company or on its own.
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7/13/2012 - taipeileviathan wrote: 96 Points
I was nervous cuz the bottle I'd won at auction was showing a little seepage, but it was fine: she drank absolutely beautifully. This was the oldest CdP I've ever had and was an absolute revelation for me. Beautiful fruit that was at once mature and fresh, some leather, some earth, baking spices, garrique, solid acidic and mineral backbone, looong finish, nuanced yet intense, delicate yet powerful, a slightly piquant note that I had a hard time putting my finger on but which served well to enliven things and keep me guessing, etc etc etc. I haven't kept any empty bottles since my college days: this bottle I'm holding on to for sure. I don't know if I'll ever be able to drink a young CdP again without lusting over the memory of this guy.
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7/9/2012 - BVal wrote: 93 Points
Lovely wine. Fully mature but in no danger of heading downhill anytime soon. Enticing nose of tobacco, herbs, saddle leather, a little mint and some barnyard. On the palate a beautiful integration of all the elements of the bouquet with minerals and garrigue. Just a seamless CDP that is drinking beautifully now.
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7/8/2012 - ricknat1 Likes this wine: 93 Points
A perfect Chateneufde Pape. Fully mature, smooth, well balanced, long and perfect with the tagine
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6/20/2012 - Billigan wrote: 96 Points
Absolutely brilliant. Lovely mature nose with a mind-boggling array of scents: damp earth, worn leather, fresh herbs, dried flowers, cinnamon, and iron. So complex and beguiling it's almost hard to take a sip, but the reward is a sweet, silky, impeccably balanced beverage with only a bit of a drying finish holding it back from perfection. An absolute benchmark CdP and one for the personal pantheon.
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6/11/2012 - Chuck Miller wrote:
Another great bottle, some funk (in a good way). This is in a very good place.
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6/3/2012 - Ary wrote: 95 Points
One of my all-time favorites this Beaucastel 1990. Very complex nose with both fruits as well as autumn tones. Garrigue, Iodine, wood, leather, medicine chest, dried plums, "speculaas" (dutch spice cake), iron and strong 'game' meat tones - flesh and blood. Chocolate, wood, leather and so many other secundary notes on the palate, long lingering on. Bit drying, but still incredibly pleasant. (Next day nothing less, still standing.) Highly agree with Eric saying 'this always brings a smile to my face'.
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5/26/2012 - Chainthroer wrote: 97 Points
A dark reddish-ruby color; some browning at the rim; looks mature. This time I was able to give undivided attention to the wine, as no one else was tasting with me; also, I used a #1 Impitoybles tasting glass. I get more a little more complexity in the nose and flavors - blackberry, black cherry, saddle leather, a touch of tobacco, peppercorn, spices, licorice, sweet herbs, roasted meat. Initially there was some bret, but this seemed to blow off. A lot of depth, richness and intensity in the mouth. Great balance. An exceptionally long finish; velvety and no heat. Sompteux! Note: the wine has been stored at 56 degrees. Pairs nicely with Prime NY Steak, but as I've previously indicated, this wine is more appreciable by itself. A very bargain priced wine, compared to the cost today.
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5/15/2012 - psrv wrote: 92 Points
Blind Chateauneuf and Gigondas 1988 - 1995 (Berkeley): Group's #1; my #2; 4 first; 3 second; 1 third; 1 last. Aromas and flavors of cherries, cassis, mushrooms, chicken stock, spice, stone, and minerals. Full bodied, complex with balancing acidity and a long finish.
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4/5/2012 - Matt Neel wrote:
Dinner at Colicchio & Sons (NYC): Black blood, with a touch of brick. Crazy complex on nose -- sweet cherry, cream, raspberry, mango (?); chalk. Earlier, the nose was all leathery horse, but that all blew off leaving a very pure nose. Palate silky, round, well balanced, plenty of fruit. Medium body, medium length. Quite Burgundian, with a really kaleidoscopic nose. Ready to go, but no hurry, as this will keep for many years. An excellent bottle of '90 Beau!
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4/1/2012 - Billigan wrote: 95 Points
Simply outstanding stuff. I didn't get as much barnyard as others; just a wonderful blend of herbs and fragrant prunes and forest floor on the nose and an incredible sense of poise and balance on the fresh, youthful palate that had a sweet and spicy finish that seemed to dance in my mouth for minutes on end.
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3/17/2012 - Winevestor wrote: 98 Points
Wonderful, wonderful juice. Barnyard, leather and prunes on the nose. Smooth and almost velvety in the mouth, with a sweetness in the fruit. A gamey meatiness comes through, with fully integrated tannins, and still good tannins. Medium weight and it layers on in the mouth. This wine is drinking beautifully at the tail end of its drinking plateau. You still have a few years yet. Again a beautiful benchmark, mature CdP - it couldn't be anything else.
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2/25/2012 - Sleepy Dave wrote: 93 Points
This fully matured Beaucastel offers highly perfume and complex bouquet that is dominated by sweet dried fig paste accompany with secondary note of truffle, earth, dried herbs with just little touch of wild gaminess, barnyard all lifted with perfume red and blue floral scents. Fresh! This has incredible drive and energy, fully integrated and at its peak now. Almost Burgundy like elegance, silky smooth texture with good inner perfume of sweet dark fruirts, wild gaminess and floral. It was soft, subtle but deeply layer and full of nuances at the lingering finished, with a touch of spiciness and roasted herbs aftertaste. The scale and depth is smaller than the Hommage but delicious all the same. This should continue to drink at its peak for another 5yrs.
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2/23/2012 - Paul S wrote: 96 Points
Chateau de Beaucastel Dinner (Tippling Club, Singapore): Incredibly beautiful. This was as close to a perfect CdP as I have had for a long time. As good as the wonderful 2001 Hommage de Jacques Perrin that preceded it was, this bottle had the advantage of 11 more years of age, and it was far more ready to drink. After more than 5 hours in the decanter, it was at just about a perfect place, leading off with a beautiful nose that was pure Provence, with lifted scents of black cherries and dark berries dancing alongside a leathery, meaty base with a lovely touch of garrigue and stony minerality at the edges. Complex, compelling, but almost playful in its liveliness, this was a bouquet that just drew you in - it was about the perfect introduction to the wine's stunning palate. Here, above all, it was brilliantly fresh, focused and refined, lacking some of the warm voluptuousness of the 1989 Beaucastel maybe, but this was more than made up for by the wine's wonderful sense of poise and graceful balance as it almost soared through the mouth in pure, bright flavours of dark cherries and blackberries weighted down by a lovely touch of meat and spice. Make no mistake though, there was tons of power in the wine, yet it wore its depth and weight so well, given the wonderful balance and its robe of silky tannins, that you barely noticed this. A perfect pairing with roasted Canette (duckling) breast in a foie gras and clove reduction, every mouthful of wine wrapped the tasty morsels of meat in a super long, yet freshly detailed finish of sweet black and red cherries - always high-toned and lifted, it was delight all the way into a lingering tail, where the fruit was kissed by a hint of smoke and some lovely garrigue notes. Amazing. This is a wine I wish I could drink on a regular basis. It is hard to decide whether this or the 1989 is better, but both wines are a tremendous credit to Beaucastel. While this should go on in the bottle for many years yet, I see no reason why this should not be consumed now with a nice lengthy decant and some appropriate food.
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2/21/2012 - UpfromtheCellar wrote: 91 Points
Older mature warm sweetish acids wood smoke leather. In a word, nice! Fruit still lingers in the background without ANY raisins or stewed flavors. Acids lively but not overpowering. I doubt this will continue to get any better but very drinkable still.
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2/19/2012 - Mingmong wrote: 95 Points
Musky, barnyard, chicken poop, white peppers on the nose. Rich ripe red fruit, rich acidity, peppery, red capsicums, earth and bittery raspberries on the long long finish.
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2/18/2012 - Alex H wrote: 91 Points
Wow! Superb nose of chicken fowl , barnyard , horse sweat and calf leather. Benchmark cdp. Smoky chicken poop and horse manure but I like it! Terroir driven
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2/14/2012 - EGunderson wrote: 97 Points
Fantastic! A great wine, very complex on the nose and palate. Awesome long finish.
Earth, dirt, and meat throughout.
Best wine I've had in a long time.
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2/4/2012 - NY Wino wrote: 96 Points
Brickish color, nose had that beautiful earthy, smoky flavor. The wine still has delicious fruit with mellow tannins, good acidity and an amazing and long finish. Drinking beautifully.
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2/3/2012 - Papies wrote:
An avg bottle as there was low level. Beautiful but i think our earlier notes are more acurate.
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1/11/2012 - Lombardi wrote: 92 Points
We tasted this wine together with the '00 vintage of Beaucastel CdP. Amazing strength and character. Muscular structure with lots of black fruit content. Complex on the nose and palate. Structure was really well balanced- ripe and firm tannins. Nice acidity and minerality. Almost too young. Nice medium+ finish. This can hold for another decade or more.
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12/27/2011 - Burgundy Al wrote: 89 Points
Rhones 20+ Years Old (Western Chicago IL Suburbs): Tasted blind. I had lots of trouble getting past all the Brett on the nose. Very good red and black fruit aromas and flavors come through if I pay close attention. The Brett gives this both a dirty and forest floor character. Acidity quite prominent on finish.
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12/26/2011 - mojotojo wrote: flawed
This bottle may have suffered some heat and/or other damage. Not corked, but not quite what it should be. Musty, earthy funky nose (even for a Beaucastel), the wine was austere, acidic and still tannic, with little fruit left for balance. Drinkable, but not particularly enjoyable. A disappointment.
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12/10/2011 - Tony Molester wrote:
N: barnyard, brett, some garrigue, more leather.
P: Beautiful, full palate; herbs, leather, some fruit (cherry, blackberry). Fine tannins, structured to keep for some time IMHO (8-12 years). The tannins Beaucastel produces are filligreed and fine.
Drinking well. I enjoyed this one the most.
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12/10/2011 - Chainthroer wrote: 98 Points
Dinner party with friends. No aerator this time. Waited a while for the wine to warm a bit from cellar temp to about 65 degrees. Same fantastic aromas and flavors as when tasted 12-3-10. Blackberry, black cherry, tobacco, spice, pepper, leather, and no bret. Seemed to be in perfect balance this time. Concentrated, rich, elegant. A very long pleasant finish. Everyone really like the wine.
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12/8/2011 - salil wrote: 95 Points
A complete package. Layers of savoury red fruits, Provencal herbs, mushrooms, forestal earthy notes and just a touch of leathery funk in a package that simultaneously conveys remarkable power, finesse and elegance. There's amazing depth here, great balance and a long, resonant finish. Phenomenal wine.
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11/21/2011 - rnellans wrote: 95 Points
Tasted at domaine. Mushroom, truffles, leather with some barnyard on the nose. Silk, depth, balance...Long, long, long finish. Wonderful wine drinking beautifully.
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11/19/2011 - grafstrb wrote:
Hotel Terravina (Southampton, UK): -- popped and poured --
-- tasted non-blind over 60 – 75 minutes --
Whoa!!! Yes! … and THIS is why it pays to sit on these Beau’s for a considerable amount of time.
Beguiling, complex, expressive and broodingly dark Nose of goodness --- perfect mixture of ripe blackberry, plum/prune compote, leather, and subtle hints of funk and garrigue. Color was dark purple, and of great depth --- certainly did not look like a wine with 21 yeas on it. On the palate, this was pretty much everything I could hope for in an aged CdP. Show-stopping purity, balance, and intensity of all that is good about CdP. This wine is currently striking what I consider to be the perfect balance between primary and tertiary elements: lots of fruit still hanging around, a hint of soy, strong underlying leather note, and a hint of funk with just a little bit a tannin still hanging around to help pin these flavors to your palate for a long pleasurable finish. Alcohol was not noticeable, and the acidity provides the perfect amount of lift to the intense S. Rhone flavors in this wine.
Drinking *very* well now, but will continue to sail for another 10 years, easy-peasy. Nearly a perfect wine, in my estimation. Bottle kindly provided by gpowell1978.
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11/17/2011 - RussK wrote: 91 Points
RUSSK WW at Il Mulino in Surfside. GSM no BB. mature bx nose. a bit rustic. a touch bitter.91+
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11/10/2011 - Jeff Leve wrote: 95 Points
On the nose, barnyard aromatics meshed with rose, leather, black pepper, roasted strawberry, BBQ spice and grilled steak. On the palate, silky, rich, concentrated flavors of ripe black cherry and wild strawberry fill your mouth with pleasure. The finish ends with a 40 second blast of black and red fruit. Everything is in balance. This wine seems fully developed and while there is no hurry to drink it, based on this bottle I am not sure it's going to improve.
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10/31/2011 - Rupert wrote: 93 Points
Beaucastel v Vieux Télégraphe 1978-1990 (The Square, Mayfair, London): Another explosively funky herby nose, not so sweet and arguably finer than the 89, but really they are clearly twins
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10/29/2011 - cellardrinker wrote: 96 Points
beautiful color with no hint of oxydation. Unbelievable intense nose of flowers, mushrooms, spices and cherries. Delicious palate combining dark and red fruits, soft tannins and long finish. Small amount of sediment. Just perfect!
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10/20/2011 - cardsandwine Likes this wine:
Wow what a bottle of wine. This was spectacular. Completely round, elegant and delicious. Soared from the glass. Decanted for one hour. Drinking beautifully now.
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10/12/2011 - d'Artagnan wrote: 94 Points
Souper Beaucastel avec Thomas Perrin
J’avais l’impression de retrouver, avec émotion, un vieil ami.
Un petit coté animal au nez, mais rien en comparaison des HJP. Il a des aromes plus classiques de garrigue et de viande grillée. La bouche est élégante, presque bourguignonne. Un vin abouti, épicé, qui n’a pas la densité ds HJP bien sûr, mais qui s’exprime avec grâce dans un registre plus aérien. Un magnifique vin, jeune adulte, qui a sans doute quelques décennies devant lui. Superbe! 94 pts
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10/12/2011 - pilot360 wrote:
Bottle with fill above the vintage, cork had some advancement of the wine about 1/4 of the way. Upon opening, very musty and sour smelling. Reading some of the notes here, knew that it would take a while to get to its place, and it did. After 2.5 hours, really came together - leather, tobacco, raspberries, brown sugar, and a tail end if great provencal herbs, light earthiness and just a slight whiff of barnyard. Palate has extremely tart cherries and a slight herbal bitterness. Tannins are still present and provide some astringency. Medium light bodied wine. This wine is refined, classy, and extremely enjoyable.
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10/3/2011 - fclarity wrote: 94 Points
Tasted blind, this wine had a deep red center with light red rims. The high- intensity nose featured black cherry, raspberry, brown spice, and soil.
Ripe and rich in the mouth, this came across as a heavier style Burgundy due to its great balance and length. Contrary to some prior bottles, this wine seemed likely to continue to improve over the next 5 to 10 years (1-2 points).
A shockingly impressive performance for a wine that was quite reasonably priced upon release.
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9/30/2011 - Double D's Cellar wrote: 94 Points
Amazing.
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9/3/2011 - zinfidel wrote: 95 Points
Fantastic. Fom a perfectly stored bottle. Nose of cigar box, leather, cherry tobacco. On the palate, tart cherry, medium tannins, and a long finish. At it's peak now. Doesn't get much better.
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8/14/2011 - tgkswine wrote: flawed
This should still be drinking well but sadly was corked. Disappointing when I get the chance to enjoy an older vintage only to have the bottle flawed.
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7/31/2011 - Kemo Sabe wrote: 92 Points
Very similar to the bottle I had on 2/17. Really disappointing nose on the open. Just funk and barnyard. Again, the glue aroma came out. However, as many have stated on this wine - give it some time in a decanter and you will be rewarded. Classic old school CdP after an hour or so. The nose never really got a lot better (only less bad) but the wine was good. Good color and well balanced - a small amount of sediment in the bottle but not bad. I would say drink now - hard to see this getting a ton better. 92+
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6/18/2011 - fclarity wrote: 92 Points
Tasted blind, this wine had a medium deep red center and red/orange rims. The medium intensity nose of ripe cherries, raspberries, and soil was attractive.
In the mouth it was ripe and rich with lovely balance and very good length. It certainly needed 3+ hours of air to show its best. I would say this bottle was just the tiniest bit hot and I would argue that, while it will last for many years, it is at its peak (assuming extended aeration).
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5/23/2011 - Marc wrote: 96 Points
Stunning wine. Refined pure and concentrated raspberry and cranberry fruit allied with warm leather, smoke, lanolin, farmyard and mercaptins. Medium bodied with perfect balance and bright acids, this wine has a stern iron ore aspect to its flavour. Spectacular spice aspect to the fruit. The wine is not as opulent as the 1989 but it is equivalent in quality - a more masculine wine to the feminine 89. This wine opens up beautifully. Not a baby, but certainly a candidate for a couple more decades of aging. Exquisite wine in a barnyardy old school manner. This will improve.
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5/14/2011 - profiler54 wrote: 95 Points
Popped and poured at Parkway Grill Restaurant. Temp 64 F Appearance was a clear medium to deep garnet with a slightly transparent rim. Nose was medium to pronounced fruit, floral, and organic truffles and damp garden compost. Palate was dry with medium-high acidity, firm but silky round tannins. This wine was medium bodied with very intense flavors.. Finish was exceptionally long and very complex. Elements I got in this wine were, cranberries, lingonberry jam, violets, tobacco, cedar, black pepper, barnyard animal, mushroom, black olive, chocolate, wet leaves, leather, and earth... This wine great structure and finesse..
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5/13/2011 - profiler54 wrote: flawed
Sadly this bottle was corked.
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5/4/2011 - Anonymous Likes this wine: 94 Points
very clean bottle... delicious.
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4/29/2011 - Chainthroer wrote: 95 Points
I brought the wine to a NFL Draft party. We poured the wine into a decanter, through an aerator. I personally thought the aeration slightly took away from the complexity, which I had tasted from the same wine on 12/3/10. The wine today had the same prior descriptives (tobacco, pepper, spice, saddle leather), but did not seem to have the same depth or intensity. Still a wonderful wine though. Next time I’ll do a normal decant, Normally, I use an aerator only on young or undeveloped wine.
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4/24/2011 - Serge Birbrair wrote:
The wine was tremendously good. Audouzed for 5 hours. The pleasure this wine delivers is just unreal.
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4/12/2011 - Eric wrote:
As always, so stellar. This was a more mature and lighter bottle but screaming with garrigue, ripe and roasted, just textbook CDP. It always brings a smile to my face.
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4/10/2011 - AllRed wrote: 93 Points
Dusty ruby/crimson color. Notes of clay and red berries with a meaty streak. Also a bit of wet hay - bretty. Flavors of red fruit, pepper and iron. Balanced, wit a very long finish.
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4/3/2011 - cfe wrote:
Very enjoyable bottle, full on what I expect from an aged Beaucastel. Still has a ton of fruit, and is quite silky in the mouth. I'm wondering if this will develop further, given it seemingly soft acidity.
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2/22/2011 - Papies wrote: 97 Points
Chateau de Beaucastel Tasting with Marc Perrin (The Sampler, London): One of our favorite wines and great to see it tasting so beautifull once again
In its 3rd phase now and accoarding to MP in its peak and will last another 5yrs +. Lots red fruit ,cherry still!. Garrigue. Lots of depth and very layerd. We simply cannot praise this wine enough. 97 easily. Drink now but will last many more years.
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2/17/2011 - Kemo Sabe wrote: 92 Points
Some definite funk on the open. Glue-like aroma. An hour in much better. Cherry, maple syrup, plum and other red fruits. Good color - deep dark red. In spite of the good color a good amount of sediment in this bottle and in the glass. This bottle never really got to that sweet spot. Was a fine bottle but was expecting a little more. Have plenty left so hopefully better bottle await. 92+
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2/12/2011 - pkatz wrote: 95 Points
Mellow, delicious, mature, but with plenty of vitality.
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1/25/2011 - Mr T wrote:
This wine still needs air which amazes me....I did not decant and popped not long before dinner....color a medium to light red and plenty of funk on the nose....I was a bit under the weather that night so not sure I trust my palate and the foods were a bit spicier than I would have preferred...nice and round with some cherry and plum...I drank the rest the following night in one decent sized glass as the Steelers pummeled the Jets on their way to the AFC championship....much more exciting than the night before and really lovely
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1/24/2011 - pekingunther wrote: 94 Points
Stunning example of CNP from a generally good year. Still reqires over 2 hours of decanting to reach it's best, but once it does the wait is more than worth it. Almost etheral in it's length on the palette, it has an earthy undertone that is quite different to the post 95 Beaucastels which have more fruit but seemingly a little less structure - maybe it is just the age. It is a wine to be drunk with friends and good food, not a romantic twosome wine, leave that for the silkier Pomeral's or opulent Pinot's.
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1/11/2011 - reichken wrote: 92 Points
Lunch @ 28-50 - a murky bottle, not sure why as it had been standing for a while. lovely earthy spicy CDP. long finish , medium weight. not best bottle of this i have ever had but still a pleasure to drink and shows much potential
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1/11/2011 - Eric wrote:
Glorious Rhône lunch at 28-50 (London): This was a murky, cloudy bottle of the 1990 which seemed to bother some people, and I have clearly had better examples of the 1990. Nonetheless, this wine is always a pleasure, and this was its usual garrulous self. Loaded with garrigue and bramble, it has a lovely, exotic ripe and roasted character to it yet finishes with a pleasing dry and herbal edge. This is always such a wine of pleasure.
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12/31/2010 - Hodby wrote: 95 Points
Medium dark red. Rich, warm nose of leather, red peppercorn, plum, licorice, allspice. Light and persistent tannin, low acid; seemed fully mature and holding well. Full in the mouth, good plum fruit and mourvedre spice. Round, full finish. A classic Beaucastel, drinking really well, a model of the house style.Bottle #2 of four.
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12/16/2010 - hjleeny Likes this wine: 95 Points
I had one bottle left in the cellar of the 1990, and I had high expectations for this wine. We had it at the Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. We decanted it at home and brought it to this BYO restaurant, so about 2 hours prior to actually drinking it.The wine was definitely mature and had developed a level of complexity that we wine lovers all wait for. The color was fading, but the nose was fruity with a lot of (good) earthiness. The thing I remember the most is how elegant and harmonious the wine was! Oh if all bottles of wine could be like this...
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12/14/2010 - Papies wrote: 97 Points
Tuesday at the Papies (The Papies, London): Another great showing of this beautiful wine. Decanted for 1 hour.
So elegant with lots of finesse. Open on the nose yet so delicate . We can go on and on here but no need to. Just like 10months ago when we tried it for the first time, this continues on the path of greatness. Drink now but can last another 10yrs . ( 96-97)
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12/10/2010 - Flavito wrote: flawed
Unfortunately past its best, but must have been wonderful in its prime...
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12/3/2010 - Chainthroer wrote: 98 Points
Gigantic nose - tobacco, pepper, spice, saddle leather. Just sit and smell the wonderful aromas and enjoy. In the mouth, the same, but just slightly not as profound as the nose - still wonderful. Clean - no bret. Has a long finish that tells you it’s a great wine.
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11/30/2010 - Faryan wrote: 95 Points
Harry Karris and co at Againn (Againn, Washington DC): Please see my note below. This bottle was perhaps a hair less complete that the prior bottle consumed two weeks ago but still quite a profound showing.
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11/30/2010 - tooch wrote: 97 Points
Chateauneuf-du-Pape Dinner with Harry Karis (Againn, Washington DC): Where to start....
The nose is absurd. So deep, rich, and complex. Tones of underbrush, grange, olives, dried rose petals mix effortlessly with tertiary flavors of coffee, blood and aged saddle leather. Palate exploded with earth flavors, mushrooms, cassis, black cherry, and roses. So elegant, so refinded, so lithe. Just an effortless wine. Despite it's relatively light mouthfeel, I think this is one of the most profound wines I've ever tasted. Harmoniously paired with a beautiful lamb shoulder - I could not have asked for a better way to enjoy this wine. Simply sublime.
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11/18/2010 - Jeff Leve wrote: 94 Points
Once you got past the horse scents, (which some people didn’t) spices, earth, wild cherries, jammy black fruit and more were a pleasure to discern in this Chateauneuf du Pape! This is no shy wine and your palate knows it as it becomes coated in lush, sweet, jammy fruit. This was a good bottle of 90 Beaucastel, but I've tasted better examples
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11/15/2010 - Faryan wrote: 96 Points
Grenache with Dan P (Estadio, Washington DC): The virtues of patience with Beaucastel become quite pronounced when you have the distinct pleasure of drinking varying vintages of this seminal producer. The wine always adheres to its familial roots of a beautiful pitched nose of cherry tapenade, garrigue, grange and sweet pitched cassis with a delicately balance between refined lush tannin driven mouthfeel and lithe acidity that dances with varying cuisine. The mourverdre sings with its two decades of age. Drank alongside an 04 Pegau, a wine of considerable substance but of infantile youth, it shows the pleasures of aging ageworthy wines. These wines develop a pitch and idiosyncratic expression of terroir that is irreplaceable. To me, wines like Beaucastel, in such an age, reinforce the sadomasochistic ritual of buying wines on release only to leave them to mature for decades. In these wonderful instances, it is indeed worth the wait. A perfect expression of wine. Simply superb.
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11/13/2010 - reichken wrote: 91 Points
Koffmans- sweet spicy red fruit nose. light in the mouth but not clipped or short, in mouth a very pleasant mix of red fruits, some spice and a bit of pepper/coffee. med weight , med length
nice wine
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11/12/2010 - indiscriminate palate wrote:
Berserkerfest very brief retrospective notes (PDH NYC): Had alongside the 1995, which is similar, but less complex and in a cleaner style. The 1990 shows some funk, incredible complexity, and a very long finish. Yum.
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11/8/2010 - beachbum wrote:
no notes, sandras b day, too cold
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11/7/2010 - ldorf wrote: 99 Points
It is close to perfect a wine as I have ever had. Still has amazing fruit, a beautiful color, the nose is amazing and the palate is incomparable. Almost drank another... but restrained myself for another day of perfection.
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10/24/2010 - wineismylife Likes this wine: 93 Points
ArieS and pyang do Dallas: Tasted non blind at a wine dinner. Opened and served immediately. Garnet color in the glass, fairly clear looking. Nose of leather, barnyard, a hint of flowers and a mix of berries. Flavors of berries, cherries and a hint of plums. Bright acidity, medium tannins, medium body. Drink or hold. Others didn't care for it but I thought it was good aged Rhone myself. 93+.
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10/24/2010 - vinpre wrote: 97 Points
Bottle came from a full case purchased pre-arrival from a San Francisco wine merchant when first offered and stored in a temperature and humidity controlled cellar since taking delivery. We stood the bottle upright for 24 hours for the sediment to settle and to allow the wine to slowly warm up to about 65 degrees Fahrenheit, before opening. After removing the top of the capsule, I was surprised that the top of the cork was completely clean with no mold. The bottom tip of the cork was about 25 mm above the wine inside the bottle. The cork came out in one piece, but I had to be careful not to break off the bottom tip. All of the corks from the 1989 and 1990 Beaucastels that I have seen are damp with saturation for most, if not all, of their lengths; this particular cork was no different. The sides of the cork were damp to the touch with light red staining that ran almost the entire the length of the cork. This bottle was imported by Robert Hass Selections/Vineyard Brands and appears to have been shipped in a refrigerated container from France. After opening, I decided to decant, since that is what I always do with older Beaucastels, because of their high Mourvedre and Syrah content relative to other Chateauneuf du Papes and to get the wine off the usually heavy sediment. However, a small pour directly from the bottle showed really well right away. The sediment in the bottom punt was quite heavy, but unlike other bottles of the 1989, 1990 and 1993 there was none adhered to the insides of the shoulder area.
After letting the wine sit for 60+ minutes in a decanter, we poured our first glassfulls into Impitoyable No. 3 stems. The color was ruby with a slightly paler garnet meniscus. The wine is full bodied with a multitude of thick, slow running legs that coat the interior of the glass after a quick swirl. Following the long decant, the wine had a beautiful, soaring bouquet of cooked black cherries, raspberries, ripe black plums, overripe strawberries, black licorice, cinnamon, sandalwood, hickory smoke and fresh espresso. The saddle leather and smoked meat notes in the first glass poured directly from the bottle had completely blown off with the decant. My experience with older Beaucastels is that if you decant them for 60 minutes before serving, the leather, meat, and animal/barnyard notes completely blow off. My advice is that if you do not like these leather, meat and animal notes, then you must decant the wine and try a small sample before serving. If the animal scents are too strong, then let the wine sit in a decanter for 60 minutes before serving: the evolution in the decanter is quite dramatic and well worth the wait.
On the palate, the initial impression is one of candied sweetness as if the wine were a red Banyuls wine, despite being fermented completely dry. The flavors consist of canned Bing cherries, stewed raspberries, ripe black plums and bruised strawberries, followed by black licorice, cinnamon and mocha with some noticeable ripe tannins emerging on the long finish timed at 90 seconds. Despite being a warm year, the acidity is good and provides focus for the intense fruit flavors. As the cork dried, a fine dusting of tiny tartaric acid crystals appeared on the stained sides and bottom tip where it had become saturated. Based on this bottle, the 1990 Beaucastel regular Chateauneuf du Pape is now mature but might even improve in a cool, humid cellar in 750 ml bottles due to the still-present ripe tannins. Magnums and larger formats should be getting close to maturity where well stored, but there is certainly no rush if the fills are good and the corks remain sound. Rating: 97
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10/18/2010 - Eric wrote:
Dinner at Le Pichet with Dan Kravitz (Seattle, WA, USA): This is my "goto" wine on the entire planet, and this was a great albeit very gamey bottle. Warm, and easy, roasted and ripe, screaming of leather and and saddle and tilled manure, if you can tolerate the farmyard I don't know how you can not swoon over this wine. No one was apparently going crazy over this one, but somehow the bottle was completely drained in a matter of mere minutes. I would have loved another pour, as I thought this was just screamingly good.
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9/29/2010 - SimonG wrote:
Ledbury with B&A and R&Y (The Ledbury, London): Seemingly a denser, darker red than the 89. A touch cooler and more composed. Still a youngster; the slightly formal, more restrained younger brother of the expressive feminine 89. A little less joie de vivre. Probably best in another five years or so, this was another lovely and impressive wine. Really top drawer. The 89 for now, this one for the cellar. *****
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9/29/2010 - rayq wrote:
Lovely cherry colour. Good clean nose. Very good weight and texture in the mouth. I felt this had more life left in it. Last bottle from the case bought on release. A truly great wine.
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9/1/2010 - Villon wrote: 91 Points
Le nez m’indique immédiatement un vin évolué, assez animal et feuilles mortes, proche d’un vieux porto. Fruits sec et épices: j'identifie un vieux CNP. Belle matière, avec des tannins encore bien présents. Néanmoins, je ne vois pas l’intérêt de conserver ce vin plus longtemps encore, le fruit s’étant passablement affadit. 90-91.
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8/11/2010 - HenryW wrote: 95 Points
Powerful nose of cherries, dried leaves, cedar and graphite. Palate is still youthful with tannins still in evidence. Long finish.
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8/4/2010 - beachbum wrote: 97 Points
no formal notes, but what a wine, still very strong and powerful, lovely control on the brett it is cool blue fruit, saddle leather, concentration and elegance in a glass.
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7/30/2010 - canan wrote: 97 Points
A real funky nose but in many senses true to what it is :-)
The nose has wet hay and a lot of horse shit (to be very frank). There is also wet dirt, sewer, a lot of resin/pine and leaves. Quite a complex experience!
The palate is equally impressive!! Dirt and red currant flavors mixes nicely with a hint of coffee. Really fresh and slightly floral. The fruit is just so nicely fresh red currants, mixed with sewer notes and loads of acidity.
Great intensity and balance... I loved it!
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7/18/2010 - ekenneth wrote: 98 Points
One of the comments below said, "second only to the '89." I'd agree with that. It's also very different from the '89.
The nose is somewhat muted, with only a hint of beaucastel funk. There's a soft, elegant texture with strong, subtle fruit and a fair amount of spice and garrique (although restrained for a beaucastel). The beef broth characteristic I often get from aged Mourvedre comes across as black tea; a description I often read, but rarely taste. I don't think this will fall off for a while, but I'm not sure it will continue to improve.
We tried to imagine how the '01 could be like the '89 or '07 could someday, turn into this, but it seems a long way off. In a lot of ways, this reminded me more of an elegant old Daumas Gassac, left-bank Bordeaux or Musar than Chateauneuf, and less of the dense, funky beast that the '89 is, but that's not a complaint.
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6/26/2010 - Zweder wrote: 93 Points
Beautiful and mature bouquet. Rustic. Good fruits and spices. Firm amount of good acidity. Ready now, but it will stay on this level for many years. See also my previous notes.
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5/29/2010 - Johann Von Mastiff wrote: 90 Points
From a split. Pretty much ready to drink. Not a ton happening. Popped and drunk. Flyers are beating the Blackhawks 3-2 in the 1st and Halliday has a not hitter gainst the Fish going into the 9th. All is good.
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5/19/2010 - WildeMeeuw wrote: 94 Points
1990 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape (Frankrijk, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape) Kleur: Robijnrood met oranje rand, opvallend licht Aroma / bouquet: Krachtig kruidig, donker fruit, rozenbottel, zeer boers, zoethout en salmiak, maggikruiden Smaak / Afdronk: Heel licht zoetige indruk, krachtige maar ronde tannines, veel sap, zoethout / zacht zoete drop, veel lengte. Algemeen / potentieel: 50 + Kleur: 5 + Aroma / bouquet: 13 + Smaak / Afdronk: 18 + Algemeen / potentieel: 8 = 94/100
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5/18/2010 - Milhous wrote:
Pink garnet color with sweet raspberry and lavender on the nose, kirsch extract, herbs, and raspberry with a long, crystalline finish. Deep finish has a hint of mouvedre, but that’s the only hint of any weight. Has the beautiful old wine sweetness. I could easily mistake this for mature chave. Just spectacular. Not heavy in the least. No sign of brett or funk
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5/7/2010 - rdfech01 wrote: 90 Points
Showing age with a hint of garnet at the edges. Leathery dark berry and still a hint of spice. But opened with an imperial of Hommage '90, an unfair pairing.
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5/5/2010 - reichken wrote: 93 Points
1990 Dinner @ The Ledbury- clean porty color with lightening around the edges. touch of smokey bacon on the nose as well as some rasberry . medium weight in the mouth , soft lush tail end of fruit still. beginnining to show secondary flavors. medium long, lovely finish
good bottle
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4/25/2010 - dre wrote:
3 Decades of Chateau Beaucastel with Tomas Perrin. (Ambrosia Event Center. Victoria, BC.): The 90 has a great brick colour to it with a ton of browning around the edges.
Lots of earthy notes with truffle and worn leather. The fruit is a bit muted.
The palate is beautifully elegant. Soft and pretty. Lots of violets, bacon, black tea and worn wood. There is a lot going on here and it's ever evolving.
Stunning. Second only to the 89.
Drink now will last another 5-10 years.
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3/31/2010 - Jossik wrote: 88 Points
Puzza un po' troppo, sia appena aperto che dopo un po'. Naso per il resto bello pieno e fruttato, bocca molto presente, fresca e quasi 'frizzante'. Davvero peccato per la puzzetta che lo penalizza non poco, perchè é ancora molto vivo e fresco.
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3/30/2010 - mwanasheria wrote: 98 Points
A virtually perfect wine. Exotic nose, raspberries and chocolate on the palate.
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3/23/2010 - ed-d wrote: 87 Points
Tasted blind. A slight earthiness that fades on the nose. Good bing cherry flavors with a nice herbal spiciness & a bit of mushroom in the finish. OK.
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3/18/2010 - JDB wrote: 92 Points
POOPY - on the nose the barnyard was in full bloom. Served blind w/ many other wines , some thought this was a bad bottle. It wasn't and if you ventured past the nose there was a ton of wine there. Leather , black olive & tobacco , I like it but it is definitely a conversation piece. Decanted for about an hour w/ A TON of sediment, it plugged up the strainer.
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3/14/2010 - Dave Canada wrote: 85 Points
This was really disappointing.....ash, ash and more ash. THis was not corked or oxidized....just not good
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3/2/2010 - jpijg wrote: 96 Points
Nose : slightly gamy, autumn forests, smoke and leather with hints of confit cherries. In the mouth, the wine is velvety, tanins have evolved and are perfectly rounded, although the wine remain well structured. Fragrance are complex and balanced, tertiary aromas of leather, tobacco and autumn forest are balanced by confit fruits and hints of black olive.
The finale is very long. The wine drinks perfectly now.
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2/24/2010 - JJL wrote: flawed
The bad news is it was maderized. The good news is we got the '90 La Chapelle to replace it - see TN.
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2/13/2010 - JeffGMorris wrote: 92 Points
Rednecks & Rhones at Greg Ellis' house. Very light ruby in color, this wine showed all the classic characteristics of Beaucastel. Medium bodied with a great richness and a very long finish. 50+13+12+8.5+8.5 = 92
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2/10/2010 - Papies wrote: 97 Points
Chateau Beaucastel vs Vieux Telegraph with Steven Spurrier (Handford Wines, London): Handford Wines, Beaucastel & Vieux Telegraph with Steven Spurriier, London10-Feb-10
Structured, elegant, mature yet it wil last another 10yr easily ( SS view as well). Spot on drinking window. A very impressive wine. really spot on
(Suggested decanting of 1hr)
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2/10/2010 - WinoRick wrote: 94 Points
Hey, I'm right there in agreement with the average CT rating. This wine is very ready to drink. Mid-light garnet color with a beautiful nose of sweet dark fruits (whatever they are), and some of the good old Beaucastel barnyard funk mixed in. Sweet and balanced in the mouth. Yum.
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2/3/2010 - Dancing with bottles Likes this wine: 94 Points
From memory:
loads of leather and fruit. Very very complex, full bodied and very long
But to much brettanomyces (a real barnyard stinker).
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1/31/2010 - ldorf wrote: 98 Points
I first drank Beaucastel CDP in Paris in about 1995 or 1996. It was the 1989. We fell in love... nothing has changed. This bottle was a split, the second we have enjoyed in three days and both were right there at the top of anything I have ever had. I've always felt the '89 was a tad better... still do, but who cares when measuring at this level? I have several left and think another year or two will really bring this wine to the top. It still has huge fruit and I believe the "velvet" characteristic that happens with as these wines age more will be very apparent in a year or two. Holding.
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1/18/2010 - JJL wrote: 96 Points
Monday Night Dinner at Harry's/Vintry: Another great bottle from Keith's stash. This one also drank more bordeaux like, but that is fine with me.
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1/16/2010 - pian0_player wrote: 97 Points
Spectacular wine. Barnyard, chocolate and strong coffee notes. Balanced and mature. Smoke, anise, and black cherry. Almost Bordeaux like. Not the best Cdp I have ever had, but close. A privilege and a real treat to drink. Fully resolved tannins, drink over the next few years.
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1/12/2010 - winefool wrote: 93 Points
IWFSC 751st Dinner (Les Nomades): Soft round red color. Full nose of black fruit with slight prune notes. Black fruit and some spice on the palate.
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1/12/2010 - jlgnml wrote: 95 Points
IWFSC 751st Dinner (Les Nomades): Gigantic fruit nose, great depth in the color, opulent, coffee aromas and a blockbuster palate of spicy, intense fruit.
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1/5/2010 - ssouth wrote: 98 Points
1990 Chateau du Beaucastel, Chateauneuf du Pape, alc 13.5%.... popped and poured… a little clearing at the edges but still ruby in color….nose of horse leather, hot rocks and sweetness….in the mouth.. .clean sweet and savory combine in an amazing palate attack…the fruit is rich and vibrant and the finish still shows some tannins…at an excellent point in it’s evolution but not tired in any way…great with the lamb and the spices…
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12/31/2009 - JeffGMorris wrote: 94 Points
New Year's Eve dinner extravaganza at Steve & Barb's house, Greensboro, NC. Ruby with a little bricking. Very Beaucastel with horse leather and hot rocks. Clean sweet fruit on the palate that continues on to the finish. A pointe and while this doesn't see like it will fall off a cliff it is probably giving it's maximum enjoyment today. Very nicely paired with the spices in the lamb we ate with this wine. 50+13+13+9+9 = 94
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12/31/2009 - Winevestor wrote: 100 Points
My first 100 and I've done a fair few TNs! This is what CdP should be all about. The stank on the nose was wonderful and deep. I personally don't care whether it was bret or the classic barnyard - it was ethereal and beautiful. The wine was medium bodied with an open good structure, great fruit still and acidity still holding up. We were eating a wonderful tasting menu at Bibou in Philly, with great company, which no doubt helped the experience but this wine was mind blowing. I now have a benchmark for future CdP, sadly one that is probably insurmountable.
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12/27/2009 - Jeff Leve wrote: 95 Points
Expressive aromatics starting with barnyard scents meshed with rose petals, leather, black pepper, strawberry, BBQ and grilled steak. On the palate, silky, rich, concentrated flavors of ripe black cherry and wild strawberries fill your mouth. The finish ends with a 40 second blast of spicy, black and red fruits in this Chateauneuf du Pape wine.
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12/24/2009 - Chuck Miller wrote: 100 Points
OMG, the best bottle of 1990 Beau I think I've ever had (tasted well over a dozen times). Absolutely killer, with a modest amount of brett framing an exotic nose, with the palate reminding me more of a 1982 Bordeaux first growth than a CdPape. Much better than a bottle a couple months ago. 9 left, hope they can come close to this experience.
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12/22/2009 - Edclr wrote: 96 Points
First note on this wine I have posted on this website. But #23 of the 24 bottles I have owned. I tasted this alongside the 89 maybe 8 times in the past 15 years, and this wine always won out. When we visited the winery, the Perrin's said this is the finest CDP they have ever produced. I agree. The 89 has been long dead, and this wine still lives. But, alas, only one bottle left, but it's prime drinking time. It drinks like an old burgundy, whichi is the ultimate compliment a wine can get from me. Had it alongside a 98 Gros Clos vougeot, and this wine blew the Gros away. You can drink this with almost any food. Wonderful wine.
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12/11/2009 - Eric wrote: 96 Points
Another amazing bottle of 1990 Beau. I utterly love this wine. Enormously complex nose, leather, animal, hint of smoke, roast beast. Gorgeous palate, quite vibrant given the richness of the sweet core, herbs and hot wind across a dry Provencale field, really everything I look for in a great CNDP.
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12/6/2009 - ken-yyz wrote: 95 Points
One of the best '90s Beaucastel that I've had yet (numerous bottles over the last 6-7 years). Everything you'd like in a great CNdP.
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11/30/2009 - pjaines wrote:
A lot of complexity, charm and elegance here but also a undercurrent of brooding fruit that seems ready to tip over into the next stage of its evolution. Very wonderful resolved colour - quite sweet fruit but then cut through with very very fine tannins and that lovely earthy Beaucastel flavour. Touch of dark cherry - long finish. This wine has a long way to go and will mature into a real funky, animalistic wine in a few years. Excellent
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11/28/2009 - Eric wrote: 95 Points
Stellar bottle. I have had this wine about 20 times, and this was a great example. An amazing mix of leather, spice, iced tea, Provencale herb, and white pepper. Supple, spicy, energetic, textbook Châteauneuf-du-Pape from a ripe vintage.
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11/8/2009 - reichken wrote: 95 Points
Long Sunday Lunch @ The Oak- purple color, fantastic nose of brett and dark purple fruits and smoke. delicious mouth of spicy dark fruits and meaty gamey leather but still full and lush. laughed when ale said "there are no great wines just great bottles" as tonight we had great leflaive and beau
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10/28/2009 - tomandlu wrote: 94 Points
Wayne's 70th Birthday Dinner (Paley's Place, Portland, OR): Opened about 4 hours before drinking but not decanted. Beautiful, clear pink-red color, like a 5-year-old Oregon pinot noir. Complex nose of truffles, leather, tea and tobacco. Much richer on the palate than the color would lead one to expect. Richly grenache tasting with outstanding fruit, fully-resolved tannins and moderate acidity to support the plush, elegant palate impression. Moderate, rich finish. This was everything we hoped for in a mature CdP. Paired beautifully with the cheese course.
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10/23/2009 - Zweder wrote: 92 Points
Completely mature. Barnyard and a bit dusty. Pleasant herbs. Very soft tannin. Still a great wine, but compared to the bottle I had 2 years ago, this one was less impressive and much more developed. I guess at this age there can be big differences between bottles. Nevertheless, a wine for which you can wake me up.
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10/5/2009 - keelegl wrote: 97 Points
This is the 3rd time I have had this wine in the last year but this was the best showing by far. Lovely nose of crushed berries along with meaty and spice aromas that just jump out of the glass. Really elegant and balanced on the palate with black cherry and more of those meat/animal notes that I love in a great CDP. Finish was long and layered with fine tannins. Would love to compare this side by side with the 89, which I have yet to try.
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10/4/2009 - decaturwinedude wrote: 94 Points
It was late in the night, after a dozen bottles amongst the 6 of us, but this still KICKED ASS. What a killer wine. Little bit of barnyard, little autumn yard feel. Beautiful mouthfeel at the age of 19, vibrant and smooth with just a touch of acid hanging in. Dark fruit, licorice, pepper, olive, cedar, leather. A stellar showing. What aged CdP should be. Loved it.
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10/2/2009 - MC wrote:
Import label on the front. Fill was just a bit on the low side, but this wine showed very well. It had all you want, and was drinking very well - just outdone a bit by the '90 Pegau, which came from a bottle with a full fill - so maybe not a fair fight. But drinking well, showing fruit, complexity, and fully resolved tannins - the elegant style of Chat du Pape at its best. A-/A
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9/24/2009 - Biggsy wrote: 98 Points
Light garnet, a little bricking at the rim. This has an amazingly complex and aromatic nose. Definite notes of smoked meat, coffee, chinese five spice, tomato ketchup and polished wood accompany sweet underlying blackberry fruit. Medium bodied with good acidity and smooth integrated tannins. Beautiful balance in the mouth. Rich, defined flavours of leather, blackcurrant, coffee, dark chocolate and bacon fat. Evolves on the palate and lingers in the throat for minutes. Fabulous.
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9/24/2009 - Milhous wrote:
Continues to be a beautiful expression of Beaucastel, but this bottle, for the first time, showed early signs of an emerging sweetness and silkiness that I haven't seen before in 90 Beau. always special.
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9/15/2009 - Mr T wrote:
Very nice wine and very little of the barnyard. This faded a bit with time and became somewhat cloudy. Initally, quite a bit of the sweet kirsch of Grenache.
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9/12/2009 - KimberlyDo wrote: 94 Points
Tobacco and earth aromas jump out of the glass and explode on the palate with long lingering flavors. No signs of aging.
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9/8/2009 - David J Cooper wrote:
Light red. Nice bit of fruit left in the nose but lots of other things like mushroom black pepper, blackberry and earth. Absolutely beautiful balance. My favorite of the great back to back years. I have preferred the 90 to the 89 both times I've had them together.
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9/7/2009 - Dave Canada wrote: 94 Points
Nose - cedar, leather, earth, wet leaf, tobacco, cherry, black raspberry, currant and floral.
Palate - lovely integration of fruit and earthy characteristics....seemless. An almost subtle blue cheese note is really nice, cedar, leather, tart cherries, meaty and savoury. So elegant....wow. Aerate it and it explodes.
Finish is long....complex and layered and come at u at different angles....the earth, wet leaf, chery, cedar, leather, herbs and a myriad of other things. This really makes u think! I love it.
Almost classic...a bit flater on the palate then the last 90 but none the less unreal and an experience
94+points
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9/5/2009 - presterjohn wrote:
sweet, round fruit, vg, spicy, horse sweat.
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9/2/2009 - JDB wrote: 89 Points
I was hoping for more , leather & tobacco with dark fruit lurking on the perimeter , the 89 blew my socks off several years ago so I was hoping
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8/26/2009 - Terkel wrote: flawed
Dinner with friends (My place): Dark red color with a browning hue. Cabbage, animal dung, orange peel and banana on the nose. Cooked and oxidized taste - clearly an off bottle.
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8/18/2009 - 60ouvrees wrote:
Typical Beaucastel barnyard aromas that mostly blew off after a few minutes. This was a very good bottle at the peak of maturity.
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8/11/2009 - JJL wrote: 94 Points
4 Star Syrah Dinner at 11 Madison Park (NYC): Keith's bottle and paired with '00 la Nerthe and the gnocchi. This drank like a CdP tonight, horsey nose, sour cherry, pepper, blackberry, long coffee finish.
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7/24/2009 - SimonG wrote:
Keith's Blind Challenge (The Square, London): Keith's Blind Challenge. Lovely old rhone nose. Sweet fruit. Something a little ferral. Lithe, elegant. Really very lovely. *****
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6/21/2009 - JohnB wrote:
Greeted visually with deep purple in the glass working its way out to a clear rim, not yet portraying a wine of 17 years in the bottle. Upon pouring a big wave of ripe red fruit, leather, tobacco and subtle forest floor greet you on the nose. Strikingly fresh, this wine is still a great pleasure to spend some time with. In the mouth it possesses very nice balance, some red and dark fruit retaining a subtle sweetness. The tannin a distant memory but, the wine has just the right grip to let you know that it is no where near deaths door.
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6/9/2009 - MC wrote:
French label, very good fill and cork. Beautiful wine. Singing right out of the bottle. Needs a decant only for sediment. Ripe, fully mature, smooth finish. A
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5/20/2009 - Henman wrote: 93 Points
The cork was completely stained but intact.Deep garnet red core with clearly browning towards the rim.Medium nose with lots of barnyard and good fruit.Great medium+ to full palate with bright concentrated red fruit/berries and plenty of barnyard and leather.Resolving tannins.Nice long finish.Striking how much fruit there is left and how well it is integrated with the developed aromas.This has of course many years left,but I think it is drinking just perfectly now.
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5/18/2009 - JJL wrote: 92 Points
Commanderie des Costes du Rhone dinner at Cafe des Artistes: Tasted at Commanderie des Costes du Rhone dinner at Cafe des Artistes - Neil's bottle. Bordeaux nose on first pour just like the one I had last week. However, this mellowed quickly and the barnyard, cherry, peppery spice that I associate with this wine soon emerged.
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5/13/2009 - JJL wrote: 95 Points
Keith brought this to Zachy's auction at Daniel - This was the sleeper of the night. Drank next to the '86 Mouton and it held its own. Just a tad lighter than the Mouton and it actually tasted more bordeaux-like than the last time I had this a few months ago. More dark fruit than red fruit with less of the spicy, white pepper that I usually sense.
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4/12/2009 - loverboy wrote: 92 Points
Frankly speaking, I was a little disappointed with this wine, I was expecting more out of this legendary Beaucastel. The wine is a little cloudy with a little jammy nose. It opens up pretty well later in the night with dry leave, tobacco, herbal with mixed fruits. It gets more and more spicy and juicy with times. Good long finish
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3/27/2009 - reichken wrote: 92 Points
Rhone night at the Perche House- opened several hours before dinner-served with the '98 Beau (which most preferred) the '90 had a strong brett nose, leatherey and smokey. smelled exactly how i remember the last bottle of this. youthful looking, strong animal flavors in the mouth but still some zippy fruit. i liked it but it is more old style bloody meaty smokey rhone
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3/21/2009 - KeithAkers wrote: 95 Points
Beaucastel Vertical 81-01 (Gurnee IL, Jordan's house): nose: rich, sleek, elegant and very deep with wonderful layered tones of red fruits, red cherries, loads of herbs, spice tones, rawhide leather, and garrigue with a touch of funk. An intoxicating nose that beguiles the senses and is just so beautiful
taste: extremely layered and pure with rich tones of red fruits, red cherries, spice tones, garrigue and a bit of barnyard funk. Beautiful feel that seems to go on forever on the palate and really brings on the class
overall: a beautiful beaucastel. One of the classiest beaus that I've had and it just really turns it on. A hair better then bottle no2 of the 89 as this just has that extra edge of class that does it for me and makes me ponder
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3/21/2009 - KPB wrote: 97 Points
Dark burgundy / mahagony, tawny rim. Powerful nose is incredibly spicy, with ripe cherry, licorice, tobacco, leather aromas. Intensely flavorful, maybe a hint of black-olive tapenade... waves and waves of fruit here, framed by soft tannins. An impressive Beaucastel at its peak.
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3/20/2009 - Marc wrote: 93 Points
Tasted with Tori before in Dunedin (out of magnum). The wine is certainly in its plateau of maturity. Smooth, leathery and gamey with excellent concentration. A real vin de garde in an old world style.
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2/20/2009 - tacman wrote: 94 Points
(served w/ steak frites and bernaise) An incredible wine ... the color is starting to fade just a bit, but the flavour remains. There is a slight (appropriate) funk on the nose, slightly dirty (in a good, terroir way). The flavour shows dark friuts, leather and a hint of raisins. I'm excited now to pop a magnum of this great wine!
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2/3/2009 - jordanj wrote: 91 Points
Casual dinner at Michael (WINNETKA IL): Not the best 90 Beaucastel by a long shot..... I can see why the range of scores in this wine is varied. The nose had some type of dog biscuit or dry dog food smell that never really blew off. Eventually it gained a heavy soy note that made the wine singular and uninteresting.
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2/3/2009 - KeithAkers wrote: 93 Points
a night at michael (michael, winnetka IL): nose: classic beaucastel filled with leather, black licorice, Iron, animal blood, animal hides, black cherries, and some asian spices creeping in with even some dog biscuit notes emerging later. That said, this bottle just didn't seem to get into that next gear even with air. In fact, it hit a good plateau, and then faded later on in the evening. This wasn't that massively deep nose that I had become accustomed to from the 90 Beau
taste: really nice medium feel with leather, black licorice, animal tones, Iron, black cherries, and some barnyardish tones. This just doesn't seem to want to really get going and is lacking that extra level of depth and layering that the previous two bottles brought
overall: a really good 90 Beaucastel, but its hard when the past two bottles have been so good. This just seemed stuck in 2nd gear the entire time, and when I revisited it towards the end of the evening, it started to decline as opposed to get better. This wasn't the best representation that I've had, but still good
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2/1/2009 - Chuck Miller wrote: 96 Points
Perfectly mature, some funk, just as it should be.
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2/1/2009 - costamalfitana wrote: 96 Points
fine mature brick red color, clear and shining to the rim; beautiful nose dominated by the mourvedre-grape (i guess). delicious and becoming more complex with 2 hours in the decanter, impressions of leather and thyme, secondary aromas; medium bodied on the palate, fully mature but will last a long time; gorgeous, particularly on the nose; one could continue to enjoy the smell for hours. (wit rack of lamb and oven baked potatoes carrots, tea spoon of very old aceto balsamico; a simple dish gives a great wine a better chance to be fully enjoyed)
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1/9/2009 - BFG wrote:
Lovely nose of fruit and spice. Palate was balanced, and starting to show some age. Very nice.
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1/3/2009 - psmith wrote:
Great as always - streamlined red fruits and leather. Warm but elegant styling, with great balance all the way through.
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12/26/2008 - peebal wrote: flawed
If anything is more depressing than having a corked bottle of something you have been saving for 15 years it is when that bottle is a magnum. Argh.
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12/19/2008 - ken-yyz wrote: 95 Points
Another stunning bottle and still very young. Very complex nose of leather, black and red fruits and some of that good ole Beaucastel funk (mostly from Mouvedre if you ask me). Big in the mouth with a smooth sailing finish of everything you expect in Beaucastel (red and black fruits, spice, leather and some gaminess). Glad to have more of this and there's no rush to open.
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12/13/2008 - peteng wrote: 95 Points
Good attack and still very lively. Brett, autumn leaves, raspberry that lingers on.
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11/29/2008 - shudave wrote:
mildly corked, but still drinkable. kind of a disappointment on thanksgiving day!
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11/5/2008 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 94 Points
Château de Beaucastel Dinner with Marc Perrin (Christie's Amsterdam): Deep, powerful and meaty, surprisingly little garrigue, seems a bit closed, big-boned, long. A great classic.
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11/1/2008 - mappleton wrote:
The color showed its age but the nose and palate were still very primary. Not nearly the barnyard flavor/nose that I recall from the 89. Not bad, but certainly not the wine I was hoping. In a dumb phase?
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10/19/2008 - cct wrote: 95 Points
This and the '88 had the most brett on opening the previous night, and where the '88 held onto some of it, this completely blew off by showtime. Dark and more akin to the previous weekend's wines. A beautiful nose of roses, black raspberry ganache, blood and dark cherries. So much more primal than any of the wines this night. On the palate, this was full of savage, meaty notes, rich blackberries, tns of minerality and a dense tannic structure held this wine in a separate class of maturity than the others this night. This is impressive stuff. Everything was turned up to eleven on this, but still kept in great balance. This has a ton of time in hand and for my palate will be better in a few years (although I doubt that if i had any it would survive that long untouched). 95+ pts.
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10/11/2008 - SimonG wrote:
Blind. Still a full, deep colour. Nose and palate quite thin and again I thought Tempranillo, although after 30 minutes this started to fill out and seemed more likely to be a Chateauneuf. Seemed to start off very muted, and even when revealed after an hour or so was only just starting to show what it had. By the end though it was a revelation - I've only had the 95 and 96 before, and it was far more complex and compelling than those. My mental preconception about 90 Beaucastel was something bigger and showier and brettier but this was subtlety and complexity, and it evolved into displaying the most lovely, sweet-fruited nose. Really lovely. Understand this was opened about 4 hours before serving, but it really benefited from air and opened up and evolved dramatically, and beneficially, over a couple of hours in the glass. A wine best consumed when one can drink and consider a whole bottle over an evening, undisturbed! *****
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9/21/2008 - tomred wrote: 93 Points
Good firm cork, decanted for an hour, before roast lamb dinner at home. Even deep red colour with slight browning at the rin, warm soft black fruits on the nose, leather, vegital, violets, dark chocolate. Deep rich flavours, wild black bramble fruits, hedgrows, warm chocolate, damp -earthy, light acid and tannins in the finish just enough to hold everything together. exceptional length, with a number of distinct layers
Super mature wine for drinking now
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9/20/2008 - hargy wrote: 93 Points
Still a deep red with only the slightest browning at the edges - quite a gentle bouquet but very clean - wonderful deep and full flavours of brambles, black fruits and pepper with extraordinary length - very impressive - drink now or keep
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9/5/2008 - cgrimes wrote: 95 Points
Tasted at Eric's, CT Weekend. My first Beaucastel. Color was deep garnet with some bricking. Nose of dark berries, plums, cassis, leather. Palate of same with some earth and tar. Tannins largely resolved. WOW! This was spectacular. Easily my WOTN. Thanks, Eric, for sharing with us all.
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8/29/2008 - KeithAkers wrote: 95 Points
casual dinner with friends (Le Titi Paris, Arlington Heights IL): nose: this was like a barely tamed animal when it opened up. A big wild streak to this nose(and this would be a theme with this bottle) with beauty at the same time providing tones of exotic red fruits, leather, animal hides, perfumes, along with bits of herbs and spice tones
taste: very exotic with a serious wild streak that is hard to tame with loads of red fruits, leather, animal hides, and herbal tones. This makes me say, ooohhhh what a rush ala 80s era Road Warriors
overall: This bottle had a serious wild streak to it that was hard to tame. Lots of exotics that existed in this bottle that is hard to fully explain in either written words or in spoken words. This was a very interesting bottle that lead you on an adventure, but didn't take me to that next intellectual level that the last 90 I had did. The exotic red fruit attack presented so many interesting flavors, and the animalistic finish was gripping, but it was almost that this bottle fully needed to be tamed to really get to those heady heights
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8/29/2008 - jordanj wrote: 95 Points
Casual Dinner at Le titi (Le Titi De Paris): Less silky and more animal than the last bottle. It had more of a raw savage beastly character than other bottles. Still a great wine but not on the same leve of other 90 beaucastels.
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8/23/2008 - Winevestor wrote: 97 Points
Wonderful wine. Barnyard galore on the nose, color starting to brown, dark fruit. On the palate, big mouth feel, and licourice coming in. Long fiinish with leather and balsamic taste coming at the end. Wonderfully integrated and is thie right time to drink. A little tannin and acidity left, enough to hold up the still very present fruit. Amazing, benchmark CnP.
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8/21/2008 - cfe wrote: 93 Points
dark red. Great leathery, barnyard, garrigue, and dark red fruit nose. Palate is very rich, with flavors true to the aromatics. Literally oozes concentrated aged fkavirs, more leather, etc. than fruity. Acidity seems pretty low, but not sure if the extract is just covering the acids ornot. I am somewhat concerned about the acidity however. On this evening, incredibly enjoyable and a pleasure to drink.
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8/11/2008 - cona wrote: 96 Points
Absolutely outstanding. Strong aromas of meat and tardtill with pinpoint fruit intensity
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7/27/2008 - jordanj wrote: 97 Points
Mish Mash of wines (My house): WOW! Background is barnyard but in front of it is a wave of something indescribable but very sexy and hedonistic. Chocolate? Yes. Flowers? Yes. Grilled steak, dirt, forest floor, pine, and as my wife described morning dew- all there in the nose but swirling around. What the wine lacked in focus and detail (unlike its 1989 counterpart) it makes up in intellectual stimulation. The wine was so smooth in the mouth with a silky feel with a finish that went on and on. This wine was a revelation for me as it was more interesting and likeable than any other great 89s I have had.
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7/27/2008 - KeithAkers wrote: 97 Points
an easy sunday afternoon in the great white north (gurnee IL, jordan's house): nose: amazingly balanced and beautiful boquet with barnyard tones, black cherries, cassis, smoke, anise, and loads of perfumes. A soaring and utterly beautiful nose that just lifts you and makes you want to keep on smelling in delight
taste: sublime and balanced with distinct flavors just melding together in harmony of black fruits, creme de cassis, anise, valhrona chocolate, and roasted meat tones. This is pure delight and insanely silky on the palate
overall: This is a stunning wine that is really at the apex. An absolute delight, this wine reminded me of that girl that you always had a crush on throughout junior high and high school. The more the wine reveals to you, the more alluring it becomes and makes you want to have it so that it doesn't stop. For me, the scary thought was, if the regular beaucastel is this good, how good is the hommage? It doesn't matter though as this was just singing and a fun way to use my 1K Tasting Note here
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7/26/2008 - CamWheeler wrote: 92 Points
A lot of complexity on the nose with smoke and smoked meats, cherry, spice, cedar and a fair bit of funky brett. Good intensity to the palate, but the brett affects the length of the finish. I would have rated this 2-3 points higher if the brett hadn't affected the palate so much.
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7/12/2008 - BradE wrote:
Great bottle. Bit of horse, somewhat riper and lusher.
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7/11/2008 - Siggy wrote: 96 Points
Jeb Does Minneapolis, Round 2: CDP (Heidi's, Minneapolis): The best example of this wine that I've tasted. Great nose. Rich, layered flavors of dark fruit, fresh chopped herbs, and lilacs. Silky, lacy, incredible texture. Impeccable balance and length. This was less "slutty" and even more enjoyable than previous bottles. Thanks to Brad for sharing this.
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6/30/2008 - Milhous wrote:
perfect expression of Beaucastel. Game, red and black fruits, leather, and earth. Mouvedre signature is present as mushroom and tree bark, rather than Bretty poop. On the palate, the wine is getting more silky as it matures. Will last many more years and get even more complex.
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6/10/2008 - shudave wrote: 92 Points
This is only my second experience with any Beaucastel... First time was the 1996. This wine is stunning! It started of a bit soft and flabby, but picked up acid VERY quickly over the course of a two hour meal with Eric. Wonderful red fruits, anise, tar, and olives. Of course, this being Beaucastel, it was a little "funky". Bravo!
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5/28/2008 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 89 Points
Eight Rhones tasted sixth place. Dull beet red color in the glass, pleasant thick taste on the palate, showing its age, long finish. A disappointment to me.
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5/24/2008 - BradE wrote:
A bit more funk than typical (at least from these cases, which have been low on the bret), and while good, a less pleasing bottle than normal. Still a fun wine though.
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5/15/2008 - Kevin_C wrote:
Cork removed in tack but stained nearly end to end. Aroma of sweet blueberries seemed to emerge even before the cork was completely removed. It got me all excited but this is nowhere to be found in the glass or palate. Giving up nothing on the nose -- concerned this is tainted. Shows exceptional balance and structure though. Got a little cedar on the nose eventually. Not sure what to make of this.
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4/25/2008 - Philippe_C wrote: 95 Points
Nose of earth and "fraises des bois", animal, meaty... in the mounth, very silky and pure ripe cherries, very refreshing acidity
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4/23/2008 - BradE wrote:
Excellent.
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3/29/2008 - BradE wrote:
Great bottle, great shape. Not much bret at all, which was fine on this night, and less "sweet", which also was fine.
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3/22/2008 - Eric wrote:
Dinner at UNION (Seattle, WA): A beautiful 1990 Beau. Very little Brett, gorgeous waves of dried herbs and Provencale flavors, chewy, powerful. I love this wine, and this was a pristine, young, ripe, fresh bottle.
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2/23/2008 - jerhardt wrote: 94 Points
Single blind at 89/ 90 Rhone dinner. Most of us thought this was an excellent bottle of the '89, and were shocked to see it revealed as the '90. Absolutely classic, and absolutely fantastic example.
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2/18/2008 - MC wrote:
This was the English label. My favorite in the 99/98/95/90/89/83 vertical we did last week. Seems like all you want in a Beaucastel and plenty of time left. A
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2/9/2008 - HenryW wrote: 93 Points
Nose had a lot of depth, with a fair amount of funk. Mainly dark fruit. Palate was somewhat less impressive. Tannins still quite prominent.
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2/6/2008 - d'Artagnan wrote: 94 Points
Février 2008: dégustation verticale du Château Beaucastel (Steaf Frites Saint Paul (avenue Laurier)): Nez un peu bretté. La bouche a une texture incroyable,b les saveurs sont un peu animales, mais la richesse est doublée d'une finesse de grand vin. Très belle fraicheur, concentré, la finale est magnifique, vaporeuse. Il a encore de bons tanins. Wow. Avec un beau nez, il serait complet. 94-95 pts.
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1/18/2008 - tacman wrote: 94 Points
(Chez Nous/French lunch club): WoTD by everyone's impression. Classic nose of Mouvedre still present, but has developed a rich and flavorful softness. Some leather and tobacco on the finish, but complements rather than overwhelms the still present fruit. Wonderful out of a 750 ... thinking the mags will be magnificent!
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1/13/2008 - redders wrote: 94 Points
A while since I drank a bottle. Still quite a plummy colour, gorgeous nose, waves of spicy plummy fruit. exotic but within a framework, bit of warm horse, rich on palate but still quite firm beneath, warm, long controlled power. Terrific bottle.
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11/17/2007 - thomaskeil wrote: 95 Points
Decanted 60+ minutes. Very similar to the previous experience in Paris. Ruby red. Nose was completely closed on opening but the palate was dancing with fruit and beautiful structure so I knew it was 'okay'. In just 15 minutes the aromas were exploding and this wine was strutting big time. Everything was there. Tasted over the next 3 hours with constant improvement (i.e., new nuances kept being revealed).
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11/5/2007 - reichken wrote: 94 Points
Suckling Pig Dinner @ St John (London)
Still purple color with a little lightening around the edges. sweet cherry smell on the nocse which was a bit of a surprise.in the mouth thiis was a really good bottle of beaucastel, one of the best from the case yer. smokey black cherries with a little spice and brown sugar. great balance and med long. this bottle was still on upswing and the wine got better towards end
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9/14/2007 - psmith wrote:
Mint, spice, and meat. Youthful with a solid core of fruit and tannins. Improves, adds an exotic spice profile with time. Really good as always.
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9/11/2007 - Eric wrote: 95 Points
Gorgeous cork. Just perfect. Alas, this was a strong but not mind-blowing bottle of this wine. At first this soared with loads of garrigue and a nice, chunky, sturdy personality. Pine, roast meat, sweet herbs, soy, dynamic, vibrant, a beautiful Châteauneuf-du-Pape that is broaching maturity. I have had chunkier bottles and more expressive bottles. While outstanding, this one was right in the middle.
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9/2/2007 - nob8dnkr wrote: flawed
so sad. This sat in my cellar since its release and was undrinkable.
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8/31/2007 - Zweder wrote: 97 Points
Superb complex bouquet with little good oak, spices and some strawberry. Everything comes back in the taste in perfect harmony. And there is also a lot of refinement and still strong beautiful tannin. Heaven in a glass!
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6/14/2007 - Not Levine wrote:
June 14th Rhone Celebration with Jonathon Dinh (Waterfront Seafood Grilll): deep ruby with maroon rim, clean with a big sour cherry nose, nice peppery finish – great showing for this wine, wine of the flight
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6/3/2007 - Siggy wrote: 94 Points
Tasting Group Dinner w/ Paul Jaouen (Brad's House, Minneapolis): Slightly roasted, smoky black fruit, coffee, and licorice. Ripe crushed blackberries and Asian spices. Good minerality. The fruit profile is much darker than the 1989, tasted side-by-side. Delicious.
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6/3/2007 - BradE wrote:
Side by side with the 89. Interestingly, we all commented that we likely couldn't pick out which was which if we mixed up our glasses, which isn't typical. I preferred the 89 tonight, as the 90 seemed less complex and somewhat unidimensional.
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6/3/2007 - Dave Dalluge wrote: 94 Points
Paul Jaouen Does Minneapolis (Mugnier, Leroy, Papet, La Las, Pavillon, Celestins, Cheval, Latour, Palmer): The color is a deep rust red. The nose is very similar to the 1989 with dark fruit, mineral, smoke, and pepper. The taste is of ripe dark fruit with some earth/leather. Maybe a touch lighter than the 1989 but still palate coating. Great length and a long satisfying finish. Tasted blind I doubt I would been able to tell these two apart. Great showing.
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5/28/2007 - CAS wrote: 95 Points
Opened it up and tasted it over a few hours. Medium garnet at the core and ochre at the rim. This bottle was in mint condition. Lovely nose - hint of barnyard was very evident ( my mum actually mentioned baby's nappies and she has never heard of this wine before). This led on to eucalyptus, red berries, mocha, herbs and spices. Very complex nose that developed new scents during the evening.
On the palate it was very well balanced - hardly any tannins, good acid and very smooth with lots of ripe fruits, more herbs, gaminess, leather and now onto black fruits. The flavours were amazing and the finish was lingering like an old friend who would not go away.
Wow - a top 5 wine for me - possibly the best after L'Evangile 90.
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5/19/2007 - jakej wrote:
Drinking really well 5/07
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5/15/2007 - beachnic wrote: 93 Points
Better showing than the last bottle which was a dissapointment. alot of barnyard on the nose but this time nice depth of fruit to balance out the high acidity.. I wouldn't call this a blockbuster either, but much better showing than last time. After about 2+ hours it really settles down and gets much much better.
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5/4/2007 - VDLT Wine Likes this wine:
Triomphe Offline with Jay Selman: A beautiful wine that transformed many times throughout the evening. The first taste remained vividly on my palate for minutes. Not overly bretty and really quite elegant. At one point it seemed more Bordeaux-like.
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4/18/2007 - winefool wrote: 92 Points
Older Rhone Dinner (Custom House): Full red/black color. Bright black fruit with nice spice and a hint of brett on the nose. Nice round red fruit with a slightly canned note on the spicy finish. I've had better examples of this one too.
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4/8/2007 - thomaskeil wrote: 95 Points
At La Tour D'Argent with Nancy. Not decanted, but opened and poured about 30 minutes ahead. Color was ruby red with almost no browning on the rim -- seemed like a well cared for bottle. Initially, very closed and tight but within 15 minutes was really starting to open up. Hugely complex nose of red fruits/berries, spices, earth, mushrooms, smoke, garrique, licorice, tar, meat and other stuff. No discernable brett, horses or barnyard. Full fruit on the palate that leaned ever so slightly toward leaness. Finished with nice structure of light, grainy tannins and lifting acidity. Grew in complexity throughout the evening. Every bit as good as the last bottle at home.
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3/18/2007 - aof wrote: 92 Points
Tasted in a flight of wines. Open for 2hours; Brown rim, initial barnyardy/horse manure nose blew off to show hints of dark fruits, spices and earth. Not a very expressive bouquet (compared to say, the 1999). Medium body, smooth, balanced ripe fruits with nice tannins. Some finish, but a little hot. Overall, nice easy drinking mature Beau. Not a blockbuster.
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2/25/2007 - baroloboy55 wrote: 94 Points
Beautiful last night. Opened bottle for several hours in cellar and then decanted about and hour or two before meal. Changed and evolved in the glass after this. Reddish, some brickis-brown on the edge, spicy, earthy gamy, slight brett. Rich middle, reddish, plummy, complex on the palate. Moderate long on the finish. Not a monumental 78 but very example of how good Beaucastel can be.
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2/19/2007 - Eric wrote:
Rocking out with Rhônes at Chez Leve (Los Angeles, CA): Guessed correctly blind. Lovely stuff. I preferred this to the 1989.
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2/6/2007 - 60ouvrees wrote:
Not the greatest looking bottle to begin with, this was a yet another disappointent(after the corked 93 Bachelet). Incredibly bretty to the point of being amost undrinkable, this wine has nowhere to go but down. Have drunk great examples of this wine in the past so this was definitely just a lousy bottle.
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1/26/2007 - BradKNYC wrote: flawed
Promise unfulfilled- Beaucastel & Chave verticals with Jonathan Dinh. (Park Avenue Cafe.): Cooked. NR.
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1/13/2007 - DougLee wrote: 94 Points
From a 375. Garnet in color. After 90 minutes in the glass, the nose exhibited charcoal, garrigue, pepper, and red fruits. The palate was complex, velvety, and warm, with lots of plum, cinnamon, char, and mineral. Tannins added just enough structure, with nice grip at the end of the long finish. Thoroughly enjoyable.
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1/8/2007 - Mr T wrote: 93 Points
My first Beau, and certainly first old one. Cork nearly saturated and provenance here probably dodgy, but I think the wine was fine. Audouzed early afternoon and then poured off a glass to help breathing an hour before going to dinner. The wine really came on w/ time and I never got a ton on the nose, but very ripe and wonderful fruit. Great with the cheese. Too much wine that night to give this the full attention it deserved.
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12/24/2006 - Eric wrote:
A terrific bottle of the 1990. Garrigue wafts out of the glass. The palate is spicy, not as ripe as some examples, not even the faintest whiff of brett. Just clean, pure, amazingly delicious CNDP approaching early maturity.
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12/19/2006 - kevin h wrote: 97 Points
A magnificent wine, decanted and drunk over 3 hours. At first a complex nose of grilled meat, lavender, herbs, earth, sweet fruit and goat. As it opened out pungent scents of blackcurrant, liquorice and menthol became dominant and were supreme after 2 hours. The flavour evolved in a similar way becoming more and more blackcurranty as time went by. Not a typical Chateauneuf but a truly splendid, complex and concentrated wine. This goes into my all time top 10 at number 3, making this the best wine I have had in 10 years. Given some air this is wonderful to drink now but I suspect it has another decade of evolution ahead of it.
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12/12/2006 - markellen.foodies@gmail.com wrote: 95 Points
Chateauneuf du Pape BYO Dinner (DUO, Miami): CdP BYO Dinner at DUO, Miami. David & Roberta Ehrenreich's contribution along w the 94 Beaucastel. Served in first flight, without food it was outclassed by its 94 sibling, but was exemplary with Veal Sweetbreads, fig Tatin and crispy shallots. These two Beaucatels have restored my faith that eventually my 98's will come around.
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11/25/2006 - mnh wrote:
A beauty now
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11/18/2006 - Winetex wrote: 96 Points
Steffen P's Birthday Dinner - Old World Gems (34th Street Bistro, Austin, Texas): This wine was just phenomenal. I've had this several times in the past and there has been wild bottle variation. This bottle was superb - all of the kirsch, smoke, horsey anyone could want with a silky texture. WOW! and WOTN.
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10/16/2006 - Gregory Dal Piaz wrote: 89 Points
pretty pale with a hint of bronze- bretty nose with a good hit of sweaty socka, kirsch, leather, intense roasted herbal notes – bright acidity in the mouth, still very structured, red berried up front, wild strawberry and strawberry seeds across the palate, a little jammy and a touch hot, very long and succulent anise seed/ green coffee bean tinged finish, just a bit dried out, this lacks the explosive fruit of better bottles, bit of heat damage here.
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10/14/2006 - Eric wrote:
Rocking as always. Big notes of horse, leather, and garrigue. Classic Beaucastel. Very ripe. Extremely delicious. Lots of sediment and a bit advanced but an extremely enjoyable bottle.
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10/11/2006 - PhDP wrote:
Place Jourdan, par une chaude soirée d'automne... (groupe accords mets & vins, Bruxelles, Belgium, chez L'Assiette de Bernard): Canard landais aux olives
Magnifique en "solo", aérien, complexe et fondu.
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10/7/2006 - Eric wrote: 95 Points
JasonG's 35th Birthday (Issaquah, WA): This featured a piercing nose, very Grenache, very young smelling. Mmm, big, sweet and ripe with a saturated palate. This is as primary an example of the 1990 Beau as I have ever tasted. This bottle was not even close to ready, just pure, clean and lush.
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9/30/2006 - cortoncharlie wrote: 94 Points
Decanted for 3 hours. Medium ruby color. Nose of leather, game, truffles and damp earth. Very silky in the mouth although there's plenty of tanin you hardly noticed it. Kirsh, roast meat, lots of game and savoury flavours. Good depth and a long finish with a bit of "heat". Drank with a 1992 Hill of Grace which was more powerful and open on impact but the Beaucastel had elegence and balance and the stuffing comes at the back.
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9/20/2006 - M&D24 wrote:
Bottle showed very well and quite lively. Seemed quite young.
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9/15/2006 - dougsmith wrote: 95 Points
Medium ruby tending to tawny. Complex, intense nose of damp earth, tobacco, nutmeg, clove, lavander, and leather. After about an hour of air it showed more meaty notes. On the palate it is very silky, and in contrast with the nose, there is a lot of wonderfully precise red fruit flavor, red cherry and strawberry in particular, with tobacco notes. The fruit coats the palate, and the flavor persists for well over a minute. Perfect balance, some slight tannin. After a bit over two hours the palate began to dry out. Not sure if this is getting close to the end of the road, or if the bottle wasn't stored optimally.
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8/12/2006 - beachnic wrote: 90 Points
A bit dissapointed with this. I was expecting a 95pt wine and this just didn't deliver. I built this up and opened 2 bottles for father's day with friends.. My wife said she didn't get it. Not the response I wanted. I agree with her it was pleasant but lacking in concentration and a little simple. No WOW factor.
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7/25/2006 - baroloboy55 wrote: 95 Points
Awesome wine. Decanted for 2-3 hours before dinner. Classic beaucastel. Lots of exotic eastern spice, earthy, gamey, rich, ripe mourvedre. Center had some bright plummy fruit. Good structure. Had all those delicious, unique, indescribable nuances of a very fine CNP. Will try to expand later when I have more time.
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7/19/2006 - BradE wrote:
Drunk side by side with each other, the 89 and 90 Beaucastel. These were both absolutely perfect bottles (yeah for provenance) and both were simply outstanding. The 90 was a bit more of a slut (says Ben), and he was right, although it wasn't as sweet as it can be (which is good). The 89 was just perfect, and there was not one whiff of brett. Looking forward to the rest of these cases.
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7/18/2006 - Ben Andersen wrote:
Tasted side by side with the 1989. Although I;ve had both vintages a number of times, this was the first time I've had the two side by side, which was a real treat - thanks Brad! Tonight the 1990 was absolutely wide open, with a big, expressive nose that offered a mix of dark fruit, game and sous-bois components - indeed, perfectly mature. Rather lush / soft mouthfeel, with broad, expansive flavors of game, leather and dried fruit. Fantastic. Due to its flattering state of maturity, I preferred the '90 to the less expressive, though still wonderful '89 (see TN).
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7/18/2006 - Dave Dalluge wrote:
Dinner at 112 Eatery (Chave, Beaucastel, Pegau, Voge, Donjon, and others): Tasted side-by-side with the 1989. Wow! Great wine. And is this open for business. On the nose this shows big red fruit with only a slight hint of barnyard. Just enough secondary elements to hold my interest. In the mouth this shows big, opulent red fruit. Plenty of stucture but gorgeous fruit and just a bit of earthiness. Very balanced. Tannins are mostly gone, although I am sure this will age spectacularly for years to come. Very special to taste these two side-by-side. This bottle too was recently sourced from an excellent seller in Europe. Thanks Brad.
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6/25/2006 - theoutlaws wrote: 92 Points
Two bottles, both similar. Quite a light brick red with tinge of orange. Decanted an hour in advance. Lovely complex nose. Palate complex also, but losing its fruit: not a blockbuster with a slightly dilute finish. To be drunk soon.
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6/24/2006 - gorm wrote: 94 Points
Light brown color - clearly a wine with age. Powerful ", smell", of stables and barnyard! Later settles down and becomes more balanced with red fruits and some spices as well as some minerals. Medium-bodied with great taste. Evolves quickly in the glass and becomes more youthfull by the minute until it becomes very balanced.
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6/17/2006 - Burgundy Al wrote: 93 Points
Old Wine Dinner (Caliterra -Chicago IL): Paired with the sensational 1989 Beaucastel. Rich, ripe blackberry and black cherry aromas with some liqueur hints. Similarly large-scaled fruit on palate with good spice and black pepper on finish.
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6/12/2006 - Eric wrote: 95 Points
Always a pleasure and a real standby for just awesome CNDP. This opened up very tight with lots of blood and iodine, very spicy on the palate, yet dark and brooding, unusually muscular. With a couple of hours in the decanter this did soften and showed its lush personality on the palate, loaded with provencale herbs and tapenade, always a bit chewy, meaty and powerful, just an awesome example.
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6/1/2006 - winefool wrote: 94 Points
Ray Goder Dinner at Caliterra (Caliterra): Full purple red color. Absolutely great nose of spicy black fruit with coffee notes. Huge rich sweet briar red/black fruit on the palate. Lovely. 94-95 pts.
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5/22/2006 - psmith wrote: 94 Points
Dinner(s) with friends; 5/21/2006-5/22/2006 (Northern Ohio): A meaty, leathery young red fruit nose that's remarkably clean for Beaucastel. Full and expansive on the palate, and benefits greatly from time in a decanter. Concentrated but stops short of being overtly flashy. Some unresolved tannin. The most youthful and best bottle of this I’ve had - still years away from maturity.
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5/20/2006 - Russell Faulkner wrote:
Beaucastel Offline (Snow on the Green - London): A little odd on the nose, some coffee and cedar - tertiary oak? Drier tannin than the 1989. Great but not as balanced as the 1989. ~94 pts.
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5/9/2006 - Siggy wrote: 95 Points
Tasting Group Dinner - 12 Years of Beaucastel (JP's American Bistro, Minneapolis): Big nose of garrigue and purple flowers. Deep, rich cherry fruit, with moderate, fine-grained tannin. Wonderful balance and minerality. Interesting note of Asian spices to go along with the garrigue. Still seems youthful. Great stuff. I guessed this was the 2001 and was way off. Blind tasting is so humbling! WOTF (by default).
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3/25/2006 - Ben Andersen wrote:
Recent purchase. Slightly low fill, but other wise good appearance.Like a bottle of '89 from the same cellar (see TN 4/3/2006), this bottle came across as muted and monotone, compared to other bottles of the '90 I've had over the years. The '89 fromthis cellar was slightly more impressive than the '90, FWIW. Rather than the usual, explosive nose, this had a somewhat reluctant nose of game and red fruit. On the palate, again, it's quite one-dimensional and nowhere near the wine it has been in the past from other sources. My initial guess was that this was stored badly - or at least not ideally. When I discussed this with the wine merchant they claimed the cases of '89 & '90 were impeccably stored by a local private collector since release and it must be a case travel shock, having recently been moved around (cellar to warehouse, to store, to my cellar)... I did let both wines sit for over a month... I'll be reporting on another bottle in a few months...
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3/7/2006 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 94 Points
Very lovely nose of rich fruit and barnyard, more of the same on the palate, lively, concentrated, youngest tasting wine tonight, needs three years to peak, long finish, great aftertaste, the image of the 1983 but seven years younger. Tied for first broke on older wine wins.
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3/1/2006 - winefool wrote: 94 Points
Older Rhones - Group #5, My #3 - Full red/crimson wit ha bit of lightening. Forward aroma of slightly canned rich red fruit with briar hints. Lovely rich red fruit with slight sour notes. Candied notes as it opened. 3/06
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2/26/2006 - michaelgor wrote: 98 Points
STG does Beaucastel: light pale brick color. and then the nose ! OMFG ( a borrowed LeVine-ism) such a mixture of barnyard and fruit.. horse.. saddle leather.... cedar..sweet stewed prunes..black pepper..again Latakia and Damask roses and then the palate: such smooth tannin integrated with the fruit... very giving.. it seems quite lite, not in a dilute way, but in a delicate, complex way with a long, long beautiful, smooth, finish clearly my WOTN
:) !! Yippee !! 7 more in my cellar :)
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2/26/2006 - Eric wrote: 97 Points
Seattle Tasting Group does Beaucastel (Issaquah, WA): Once again, the 1990 Beaucastel is my wine of a tasting. Cedar, pine, spice, leather, licorice and garrigue. This is is just so opulent and forward, a wine that just soars on the nose and palate, almost indescribably complex, never heavy, very pure with beautiful Provencale herbs and all of the usual game you find in a Beaucastel. It finishes out long and poignant. This wine is definitely and nearly always right in my happy spot.
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2/23/2006 - Jeff Leve wrote: 95 Points
Smoky, dark red fruit, pepper and spice. Deep, full bodied, round and ripe. Finishes with soft textures, and a myriad of red and black fruits.
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2/18/2006 - Eric wrote:
Legends of Châteauneuf-du-Pape with Leve (Los Angeles, CA): Sweet, lush and much more forward than the 1989. However, tonight, this is just a bit more simple than its counterpart. I usually prefer the 1990 but tonight the 1989 took it. Still, this has it all, horse garrigue, cherries, licorice, a dynamic and vibrant wine that is drinking extremely well.
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2/11/2006 - DAN BAILEY wrote: 94 Points
Drunk over dinner at a restaurant with friends last night. Bottle was in great shape with a good fill and had been properly stored by the restaurant since original purchase. Wine was decanted for approx 30 mins and then drunk over the following 2 hours. Delicious wine! Elegant, balanced, medium bodied and with bags of sweet, dark fruits. A hint of the trademark barnyard/brett on the nose but in no way did this detract from the wine (I especially dislike brett and am very sensitive to it). Wine did not evolve much over the evening (perhaps softening a tad) indicating that it has many years left yet although it seemed to me to be absolutely at its peak now. Perhaps lacking a little weight/power to really blow me away but nevertheless I would be happy to drink this any day.
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2/7/2006 - psmith wrote: 93 Points
Princeton eBob Coche Dinner (The Ferry House, Princeton NJ): Bright, sexy cherry fruit with only a hint of Beaucastel funk. Large-scaled, ripe, and full of grainy tannin. Doesn't have quite the potential or exotic profile of the '89, but considerably more accessible at this point.
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1/9/2006 - Rupert wrote: 90 Points
Tim's 1990 tasting (North Cheshire): Brown, but still dark, polish on the nose, sweet and farmyardy - long, but somehow not big - a very good wine, but I've preferred most other vintages I've had
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1/3/2006 - MC wrote:
Bottle was french label with iwa/julienne import label accross top. medium red. nose was great right out of the bottle. wonderful mix of fruit, earth, and cdp funk. elegant fruit with some tannin on the back end. after about an hour it shut for a while. about two hours later opened back up. next day although some oxidized flavor, the leftover makes me think this has time to get even better. A-
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1/2/2006 - Lorien wrote: 94 Points
Simply fantastic - with massive concentration within a very slick balance and velvety tannis. Big, enjoyable and really tasty. A true pleasure!
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12/31/2005 - winenutnyc wrote:
Not the best showing for this wine- I've had much, much better bottles- this was dominated by horsiness, and you could sense the core of fruit, but it never really showed itslef- decanted for 1.5 hours.
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12/24/2005 - chbeaumont wrote:
Magnificent wine. Fully mature, but a lovely drink. 18
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12/2/2005 - Jason wrote: 97 Points
Dinner sans Manlin (Lampreia, Seattle): This was a terrific bottle that just blew me away. The nose was extremely expressive with leather, horse, and spiced cherries. The palate was ever better. It showed the stunning cherry notes that I love in aged Beau. It may not have the structure of the 89, but it is far more open and ready to go at this point.
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12/2/2005 - Eric wrote: 97 Points
Dinner without Scott Manlin (Seattle, WA): Why is this nearly ALWAYS the wine of the night? OMG, from the moment we popped the cork, this was singing with white pepper, garrigue and cherries, soaring, delivering as always. It is hard to put words on how glorious and pure this wine is, but for me, this is one of the nost enjoyable expressions of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Bravo!
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11/25/2005 - andrewstevenson.com wrote: 96 Points
“A more Burgundy style,” according to Thomas Perrin. This is very stinky on the nose, and it’s not just brett: I really can’t get past the stink. Maybe there is some raspberry fruit there? Really quite fresh on the palate, with lots of tannin almost from the beginning. The tannins recede towards the finish, revealing very fine, elegant fruit. I can see what Thomas means about Burgundy: it really does have a pinot feel to it. Very elegant. Excellent.
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11/25/2005 - KPB wrote: 94 Points
With thanksgiving meal; the wine has an impressive, expressive, spicy nose and is still showing substantial fruit and a rich, complex, long finish. At its peak but shows no sign of fading and clearly has many years of life ahead of it.
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11/21/2005 - winenutnyc wrote: 93 Points
Another great bottle of this wine. This is an exotic CdP with layer after layer of flavor and depth with absolutely no signs of age whatsoever. Hints of coffee and ham on the nose alongide garrigue and ripe red fruits with a dusty/spicy element as well. The palate is a wild mixture of raspberries and blackberries in perfect harmony and balance. I've never had a bad bottle of this and I can't see it fading anytime soon.
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11/13/2005 - Vini Ciclismo Likes this wine: 92 Points
Gruner and Mourvedre lunch with David Burkit (Bathers Pavillion): huge intensity and spice with dried herbs
supple, balanced, long, earth and game, lovely
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11/12/2005 - DrDave wrote: flawed
Oxidized - #$%#!!
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11/7/2005 - Russell Faulkner wrote: 92 Points
Roy Hersh Offline (St. John, London): More meaty, horsey, a little rustic, the brett takes something from the brightness of fruit of the 1989, something not quite right on the finish, almost metallic. On this ocassion the 1989 showed better to my mind, but I have had other 1989's from the same batch more in the mould of this 1990.
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10/22/2005 - DFC wrote: 93 Points
This wine opens up with a great bretty, earthy nose. On the palate, delicious cherries are there, but it finishes with some drying tannins. This was good, but did not match expectations.
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10/22/2005 - Not Levine wrote: 94 Points
1990 and older CdP Redux (Ed Murray's): Yep, it's true. Beaucastel is horsey. I'm having trouble reading my notes, but this was bretty and sauvage, but still retained plenty of sweetness and power. Great wine, but will not last as long as the Mont Olivet Papet.
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10/8/2005 - TheOtherPoster wrote: 95 Points
We opened this and had it poured into a decanter at the beginning of the meal. The wine was very dark purple and looked beautiful. Initially we noticed those barnyard / leather along with soaring black fruits, garrigue, pepper and earth. It really enveloped the table at the restaurant. The palate was medium to full bodied, with sweet black fruits, gravel, earth and a gamey quality, along with a very nice finish of about 20 seconds. Then it seemed to become muted for about half an hour, with all of the above elements minus the barnyard. Finally it came back to life, no barnyard funk but a beautiful nose of leather, fruit, garrigue and game, and a palate of full bodied bliss. This was a great wine and was superior in all ways.
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9/19/2005 - Russell Faulkner wrote: 94 Points
Chateauneuf Offline (Caldesi, London): Very interesting, nice tannin structure, great minerality, acidity in balance, just a hint of brett. Excellent
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8/12/2005 - Eric wrote:
43 bottles of Château Beaucastel with Bob Parker (Mark's Duck House, Falls Church, VA): (magnum) Wow, this was utterly singing, the best of the regular Beau’s, with textbook garrigue, ripe fruit, yet very vibrancy and layered. This wine just rocks, and more and more I prefer it to the 1989.
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8/10/2005 - Mlermontov wrote: 95 Points
Antwerp - or "The Day the Music Died" (Antwerp): so we talked about other '90 and how beaucastel is a great wine and it would be interesting to compare it to the hommage.... Herwig says "one moment" and comes back with the '90 beaucastel... by that point i think surprise was outside of the range of emotions we could show but still..WOW...
i had this wine one time before as well...and it showed just as well the last time. Yes - the hommage surelly showed more class but this is a great wine in its own right. the animalistic power and the great fruit are there and ready for picking. I think this wine is ready and willing. lots of sweet spices as well... just a great bottle of wine.
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7/15/2005 - Mlermontov wrote: 95 Points
Roy in NYC part 1: "The Brothers" at Tribeca (Tribeca Grill): WOW right from the bottle this was clicking! rich powerfull tannic wine with tons of chocolate and leather notes. body is spicy and alive - its just rushes through you! I love this wine!!
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6/22/2005 - jamiekutch wrote: 93 Points
S.F. - Rubicon High End Rhone Wines (Rubicon, S.F.): Leather nose with notes of toasted cedar and earth. Great weight and solid inner core of flavors. Showing some secondary notes and that famous Beaucastel bretty nose that I have come to love.
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5/15/2005 - keithgg wrote: 96 Points
Drank at Manresa, 5/14/05.
The 1990 Beaucastel was brilliant. Still a young wine that offered tremendous aromatics - black fruits, bacon and coffee flavors. A little tight at the beginning, it constantly changed in the glass; good many years of life left. I will be looking for more of this. Far superior to the 89 I drank recently.
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5/15/2005 - thomaskeil wrote: 95 Points
Double decanted back into bottle 2 hours before serving. This wine is simply hitting on all cylinders. A rivieting nose, terrific mouthfeel and a finish that continues to evolve flavors while lasting 30-45 seconds. Was a little surprised that there was no 'horse poop' and very little brett; just spices, flowers, earth and fruit galore.
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5/14/2005 - DougLee wrote: 95 Points
From a 375. Consumed again in just a few weeks, this wine again hits a home run. Decanted about 1 1/2 hours. Ruby hue. Nose is so terrific: market spices, cinnamon, horse poop (which blew off), pepper. On the palate, totally integrated and yet complex flavors of garrigue, pepper, violets, some leather, and some asphalt. Nice structure, tannins well-integrated. Lovely finish. Super wine now at its peak.
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5/3/2005 - robmatic wrote: 95 Points
Gorgeous aromas of char, minerals, coffee, soy and earth. None of the funk that some 89's have. Still young and a little bit tight, but definitely ready. Chewey, with some good unresolved tannins, and excellent acidic intensity. Full and luscious, and perhaps even lascivious. Significant sediment, needs to be decanted. Should have a long life ahead. A great wine, providing great drinking pleasure.
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5/1/2005 - DougLee wrote: 95 Points
Consumed at SOME. This was, in a flight of 4 CDPs, the most typical and the most outstanding. Dark ruby hue. Nose poured out of the glass exhibiting market spices, smoke, tar, pepper, and raw meat. Balanced attack combining blackberry fruit, pepperiness, garrigue, and grip in a most satisfying manner. Tannins provided backbone but not in an obtrusive way. Finish was exemplary. All of a piece and flawlessly put together, a complete wine. Bravo!
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4/30/2005 - Eric wrote: 97 Points
1990 and older Châteauneuf-du-Pape offline at Kaspar's (Seattle, WA): This is wide open, just blasting along with horse, tapenade and sweet cherry. My note is brief, but this wine is yielding immense pleasure right now, at a perfect point to enjoy, still young and yet with so much complexity.
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4/30/2005 - Blair Curtis wrote: 96 Points
Pre-'90 Chateauneuf in Seattle (Kaspars): I got the dregs of this from another table. I preferred this by a hair over our better bottle of '89 Beau. This had the full animale character I love in Chateauneuf. It was horsey, sweaty and had some old leather. But it also had great rich red fruit. Just plain super.
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4/24/2005 - jwwinec wrote:
Little ullage, but cork shows seepage to within 1-2mm of the end of the cork. Very nice, classic Beaucastel nose and mouthfeel, but seemed cranked down a notch. Merely very good instead of the hoped-for mind blowing. Perhaps a damaged or off bottle?
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4/23/2005 - sdr wrote: 91 Points
I have little experience with mature CdP, so I was grateful for the opportunity to try this one from Greg's collection. As he pointed out, there is a complexity to mature CdP which is comparable to Bordeaux and Burgundy (and we had examples of both on the table at Wish). Spicy, very full and a satisfying accompaniment to meat or game dishes. The resolving tannins are relatively coarse which is suitable for the hearty flavor profile of the wine. Absolutely no hint of brett or other unclean elements. Outstanding and interesting red wine.
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4/3/2005 - beachbum wrote: 94 Points
from a 1/2 bottle purchased at the winery in 1996 and hand transported back by plane. After all of the positive notes recently on this wine I wanted to try a bottle, 15 years on. Wow, beautiful. Decanted at cellar temp and started to drink within 1/2 hour. The wine is starting to come out of it's shell. Not as dark as on release, but showing no brick. Sparkes in it's dark cherry color. Nose is the old, classic beaucastel, some horse, tar, brambleberry and violets. I would say that it is a bit more restrained than some, but his may be the 1/2 bottle. On the pallete it is wonderful, silky smooth and complex. I get loads of tar, cherry fruit and underbrush. The finish is quite long, and the sweet taste of the fruit is very persistent. Tannins are just there to frame the wine. This was magnificent with bbq strip steak. I think ready for the prime time now, at least from this format! No obvious brett, but this was one complete wine. Yum.
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3/26/2005 - Eric wrote: 96 Points
Dinner with Clair and Paul (Seattle, WA, USA): Mmm, this is one utterly spectacular Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Some initial funk blew off to reveal a highly expressive nose of tapenade, Provencale herbs, leather, and licorice. The palate was powerful and soaring, loaded with kirschy notes, licorice, and dried herbs, vibrant, complex, layered and powerful. The finish still shows plenty of structure and a long life ahead, but this is absolutely delicious right now.
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3/17/2005 - agallut wrote: 95 Points
Tasted March,17th, 2005 in the biggest wine store in Paris, called Lavinia with the Perrins brothers offering Beaucastel 1990 and 2000: the 1990 is not filtered, a slightly ambered ruby robe with sediments. Leather and pepper aromas on the first nose. An aroma of wet ground follows with notes of nutmeg .
In mouth, the wine is powerful, the wine slips on the palate with a strong aromatic feeling which is increasing, a strength perfectly balanced, it is a large, powerful and rich wine. The mouth ends on a fruit forward feeling and of complexity with a very large persistence, it is very long. Afterwards, it remains on blackcurrant notes, it is a splendid, straight and powerful wine. Already into a nice evolution and that can continue to melt its tannins, it is in a very pleasant phase already. Without any doubts, it requires to spend at least an hour in the decanter...I am glad to have some of these bottles in the cellar (actually Magnums !)....it should last for at least another 10 to 15 years.
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3/14/2005 - tconcilio wrote: 95 Points
NYC Shafer Weekend; 3/14/2005-3/15/2005 (New York City): I opened this to accompany dinner at a french bistro in NYC. This is probably the best bottle, in my limited experience, of CdP I have had. Upon opening the nose had a slight barnyard nose that blew off after about thirty minutes. Medium body with lots of complexity and acid. Very well balanced. It will probably improve a little over the next three years, but not dramatically. At or near it peak. A great wine!
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2/1/2005 - Eric wrote: 96 Points
San Francisco offline at Bizou (San Francisco, CA): This was my co-WOTN with the 1989 La Chapelle. On opening, this was a serious "whoa Nellie" wine with, for me at least, a huge blast of horse. For me this is a good thing, an the wine easily handled the funk. Bramble, cherry, licorice on the nose with loads of sweet, pure fruit on the palate. Perhaps the best part was the long, long, leathery finish. This was perhaps the most advanced of the 1990's we tasted, yet that was a good thing. Mmm, this is really everything I want in a great Châteauneuf-du-Pape!
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1/29/2005 - Ben Andersen wrote:
Dense, black fruit, licorice, prune, leather, tobacco. Gorgeous texture and balance. Less tannic and more expressive than the well-built '89, tasted last week. Well stored, I'd guess the '90 could still go another 10+ more years before starting to fade. This was perhaps the best showing I've experienced for this wine, which I've always enjoyed and which I've been lucky enough to have had at least seven or eight times now.
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11/12/2004 - CSteefel wrote: 92 Points
Dark ruby red, fading to a paler color at the rim. On the nose early on this wine shows the barnyard character we expect, but this faded to a subtle note given time in the glass. After the initial olfactory attack, the nose is dominated by damp earth and blackberry, with complicating notes of saddle leather. In the mouth, surprisingly light perhaps given the reputation of the wine, but impeccably balanced in terms of residual fine tannins, acidity, and the evolved dark fruit. Seems to access the full range of the mid-palate and then finishes long and fine. Surprisingly aristocratic in its presentation, but lacking some of the body and sheer power I thought I would find. Perhaps this particular bottle was stored under less than ideal conditions (I don't fully know the provenance), since it seemed to be on the far side of its drinking peak.
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11/12/2004 - CSteefel wrote: 92 Points
Dark ruby red, fading to a paler color at the rim. On the nose early on this wine shows the barnyard character we expect, but this fades to a subtle note given time in the glass. The nose is dominated by damp earth and blackberry, with complicating notes of saddle leather. In the mouth, surprisingly light perhaps given the reputation of the wine, but impeccably balanced in terms of residual fine tannins, acidity, and the evolved dark fruit. Seems to access the full range of the mid-palate and then finishes long and fine. Surprisingly aristocratic in its presentation, but lacking some of the body and sheer power I thought I would find. Perhaps this particular bottle was stored under less than ideal conditions (I don't fully know the provenance), since it seemed to be on the far side of its drinking peak.
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10/29/2004 - Jason wrote: 94 Points
STG Does 90 and Older CdP (Issaquah, WA): While I love this wine, when it is tasted next to the 89 it does suffer a bit. It still, however, is a terrific wine. I hope to enjoy many bottles of this as I wait for my 89s to mature. The nose shows horse, dried herbs, and minerality that is reminiscent of an ocean breeze. The palate is open, sweet, and lush. In addition to sweet fruit, there is a good dose of minerals.
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10/29/2004 - Eric wrote: 96 Points
Seattle Tasting Group does 1990 and older Châteauneuf-du-Pape (Issaquah, WA, USA): In comparison to the 1989 this is so much more giving and ready right now. The nose is unreal, just screaming out of the glass with horse, sweet herbs cherry, and menthol, utterly piercing and soaring. On the palate this is so sweet and delicious yet powerful with huge structure, still very primary and sappy. There is very impressive purity and intensity here. Group average 94.9
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10/28/2004 - Jeff Leve wrote: 94 Points
Dark, saturated color. Aromas of black cherry liqueur, BBQ spice and herbs. Deep dark, juicy plums and soft texture complete the finish.
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10/16/2004 - Jason wrote: 95 Points
This bottle showed nearly an inch of ullage, so I decided it was time. We took this with us to Cafe Juanita. When we pulled off the capsule there were signs of leakage. At first whiff the wine did seem to show some signs of oxidation, but after 20 minutes of air the fruit emerged to cover it. The nose shows leather, cherries, and smoke. This is the smokiest Beau I have tasted. The palate has the wonderful mouthfeel that I love on the 90s (while I like the 89 better, I like the mouthfeel on the 90 is better). I find flavors of sweet cherries, dried herbs, and a good dollop of minerality. All parts of this wine are perfectly integrated, leading to a smooth, seamless wine. Despite the possible oxidation, the finish is long and sweet.
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5/15/2004 - Jason wrote: 98 Points
A local wine merchant bought a large collection just a few days ago. I was lucky to have nearly first choice (Damn you, LeVine :)) I was fortunate enough to get 6 of these. I love CDP but have not had many with age. I guess I did not understand what to wait for because they are so good young. I now get it. This wine showed some ullage but no leakage. The nose screamed from the moment I pulled the cork. (What a good sign!) The nose shows candied cherries, saddle leather, heather and roasting meat. The palate has picked up a ton of weight in the hour this wine has sat in the decanter. At first it was a bit light, now it is a lush monster. I find tastes of cherries, leather, herbs, with a long spicy finish. While this wine is perfectly integrated, the tannins are still lively and prove it with a kick at the end. The best part, however, is the soft mouthfeel. Extraordinary.
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5/5/2004 - Joe Belmaati wrote: 95 Points
Light reddish in the glass. Scents of chalk, dark berries, and creme brulée. There are also notes of black currant, jam and peppar. Superb, sweet taste with power and definition, good structure for keeping, and excellent fatness. Round and forth coming in taste and perfectly mature for drinking now, with the option to keep for many years. This wine combines elegance and power, with great purity,balance, harmony, and, luxurious viscousity. Long, sweet aftertaste.
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4/18/2004 - La Cave d'Argent wrote: 97 Points
Tasted at a vertical Beaucastel tasting at the home of Amy Weinberg. Bright disc. Deep garnet robe with brick rim. Clean nose, showing very intense candied black fruit, exotic spices, herbs, meat, smoke and leather. Full-bodied on the palate, wiith low acidity, medium ripe residual tannins and similar flavors as for the nose. Long, smooth finish. This is a phenomenal Beaucastel which should drink well for at least another 8 years or so.
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3/14/2004 - Lorien wrote: 95 Points
Reminded me of the El Pison 95 in a way .. the aromas and flavors of fresh meat are strong. Great wine, with fantastic balance and strucutre. Huge finish. Good stuff!
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8/24/2003 - jamiekutch wrote: 94 Points
Showing beautifully, with that barnyard, earthy, farm-like quality so characteristic of a Beaucastel. Very nice wine indeed.
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10/5/2002 - andrewstevenson.com wrote: 92 Points
Lovely colour. Big, farmyardy nose. Quite light attack. V. fine and elegant Chateauneuf du Pape.
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6/7/2002 - peternelson wrote: 93 Points
Weiner: Lots of sediment, more pepper than Cornas; sharpish nose, burned hay, coffee; pretty big body, complex: t’s, acids, garrigue, well bal., aged, Nice, good, CNP
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8/15/2001 - mnh wrote:
Deep color, nice perfume. Very well integrated wine with little granache edge. This may still need another few years to emerge.
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10/20/2000 - Bandreas wrote:
Tasted at the California Wine Experience, NY - 1990 Global Tasting
Medium garnet color throughout - heady smell, astringency
nice and round at first, then comes a touch of acidity then it turns bland and then comes a mouth-puckering (tannic) finish.
A good wine, a long ways from having reached the end of its road. ***/****
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8/22/1999 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 93 Points
8 Rhone Reds Tasted (Walnut Creek, Ca.): Nose of barnyard, lovely fruit, allspice, saddle leather, tobacco, and forest floor, very tasty, medium/big body, elegant, like a rich cabernet sauvignon to me, long finish and long aftertaste. My #1 of 8. I bought 2 bottles of it the next day.
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9/22/1993 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 88 Points
Rhone Wine Tasting (Lafayette, Ca.): Dull plum color in the glass, volatile, too big and earthy, medicinal nose, and taste, medium/big body, very intense, hints of sweatsox, good, rich fruit, almost leathery, nice finish, opened slowly with leather.
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9/1/1993 - Marc wrote: 95 Points
With Bud and Liz weekend: gamey, intense, well balanced and tannic. Excellent but needs time.
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5/16/1992 - andrewstevenson.com wrote: 92 Points
The Oddbins Old World Wine Fair; 5/16/1992-5/17/1992 (London): Cask sample. Young all round. But there are some good signs and it all augurs well. 90+/100
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