Celebrating Again! (Ngaio, Wellington, New Zealand): Absolutely a point at the moment. This is the essence of the Beaucastel style, and is an untimate expression of the heights Mouvedre can achieve. While still tannic and rustic, the bottle has clearly reached a stage of maturity that combines extreme bottle age complexity with vibrant fruit. Wet tree-bark notes combine with black berry fruit, leather, undergrowth, mushroom, moss, earth, hung game, and provencal herbs. Beautiful modulated finish. This is clearly one of the great wines of the South of France. It is a poster child for what John Gillman writes about when he talks about the transparency to the soil that Beaucastel can develop with a couple of ecades or more of bottle age. Drink or give it another decade to send it into the "old bones" stage, only reserved for the greatest of wines. This (and most of the other wines opened over the weekend) amply demonstrate what can be achieved by cellaring age-worthy wine.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Clearly drinking at peak, the nose is off the hook with its olives, herbs, smoked red cherries, bright red plums, black pepper, flowers, and thyme notes. There is power here which is balanced by the wine's elegance, which allows the finish to shine with all of its meaty, red fruits that linger. Drink from 2022-2035.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
One of the best CdPs I’ve ever had. While mature, you could tell it also has plenty of time left. All of the classic scents/ flavors of a fine CdP were there in abundance. An almost explosive nose for a wine of its age showed brambly fruit, minerals, with a touch of vinegar/earth that was actually very appealing. After about 45 minutes in the carafe, my palate was caressed with red and black fruit, iodine, smoky meat, and barnyard flavors. Wonderfully balanced, the only flaw I could find was a slight heat on the finish. Otherwise, would have been 100pts.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Decanted from a magnum. The nose was deep and flagrant with animal, feral, mint, herbs and purple flowers. Palate was rich but light on its feet with a lovely silky mouthfeel. The 90 Hommage possessed tremendous length and finish. There are only a handful of CDP (Rayas, Henri Bonneau, Pegau da Capo) that can achieve this kind of light on its feet richness and elegance. A treat to drink this.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Professional reviews have copyrights and you can view them here for your personal use only as private content. To view pro reviews you must either subscribe to a pre-integrated publication or manually enter reviews below. Learn more.
3/23/2024 - Marc wrote: 98 Points
Celebrating Again! (Ngaio, Wellington, New Zealand): Absolutely a point at the moment. This is the essence of the Beaucastel style, and is an untimate expression of the heights Mouvedre can achieve. While still tannic and rustic, the bottle has clearly reached a stage of maturity that combines extreme bottle age complexity with vibrant fruit. Wet tree-bark notes combine with black berry fruit, leather, undergrowth, mushroom, moss, earth, hung game, and provencal herbs. Beautiful modulated finish. This is clearly one of the great wines of the South of France. It is a poster child for what John Gillman writes about when he talks about the transparency to the soil that Beaucastel can develop with a couple of ecades or more of bottle age. Drink or give it another decade to send it into the "old bones" stage, only reserved for the greatest of wines. This (and most of the other wines opened over the weekend) amply demonstrate what can be achieved by cellaring age-worthy wine.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/10/2022 - Jeff Leve wrote: 99 Points
Clearly drinking at peak, the nose is off the hook with its olives, herbs, smoked red cherries, bright red plums, black pepper, flowers, and thyme notes. There is power here which is balanced by the wine's elegance, which allows the finish to shine with all of its meaty, red fruits that linger. Drink from 2022-2035.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
1/24/2022 - DickMull Likes this wine: 98 Points
One of the best CdPs I’ve ever had. While mature, you could tell it also has plenty of time left. All of the classic scents/ flavors of a fine CdP were there in abundance. An almost explosive nose for a wine of its age showed brambly fruit, minerals, with a touch of vinegar/earth that was actually very appealing. After about 45 minutes in the carafe, my palate was caressed with red and black fruit, iodine, smoky meat, and barnyard flavors. Wonderfully balanced, the only flaw I could find was a slight heat on the finish. Otherwise, would have been 100pts.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/31/2020 - Burgnick Likes this wine: 96 Points
Decanted from a magnum. The nose was deep and flagrant with animal, feral, mint, herbs and purple flowers. Palate was rich but light on its feet with a lovely silky mouthfeel. The 90 Hommage possessed tremendous length and finish. There are only a handful of CDP (Rayas, Henri Bonneau, Pegau da Capo) that can achieve this kind of light on its feet richness and elegance. A treat to drink this.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/4/2018 - steinersing wrote: 97 Points
Great wine, complex, deep, super fruit
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment