1986 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Community Tasting Notes (73) Avg Score: 90.0 points

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  1/14/2024 - Wine Canuck wrote: 93 Points

  This pours lightly cloudy, medium garnet in the glass with light bricking. The nose unfurls nicely over the course of a couple of hours to show a gorgeous fresh traditional southern Rhone profile. Aromas are of nori, raspberry, crushed coriander seed, dried ground ginger, grilled pork, bay leaf, and decaying rose petal. The palate enters on tart red fruit with medium minus dusty tannin and medium plus, quit tart acid. The finish is moderate in length with an enjoyable red fruit, grilled pork and lightly floral finish. All in all this is quite nice. Not up to the top vintages of Beaucastel I’ve had, but very good overalll.

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  12/2/2023 - steko78 Likes this wine: 95 Points

  I rate it notably higher than the consensus on CellarTracker, but it's a blind tasting, and it was the 20th bottle in a tasting dinner concluding two and a half days of quite intensive Burgundy tasting. So, no doubt, I really enjoyed this bottle, which has a lot of personality. Enchanting nose of tea, plum, tobacco, leather; it's complex and appealing. The palate is very ethereal (as is often the case with old Châteauneuf-du-Pape that resembles Pinot Noir), sharp but adorned with just the right touch of sweetness, tangy fruit that adds liveliness, a return of black tea, leather. Confirms that I love Beaucastel when mature!
  
  Je le note notablement plus haut que le consensus de CT mais c'est à l'aveugle, et en 20ème position dans un dîner dégustation achevant deux jours et demi de dégustation assez intensive en Bourgogne, donc pas de doute j'ai vraiment aimé cette bouteille qui a beaucoup de personnalité. Nez envoûtant de thé, prune, tabac, cuir, c'est complexe et appétant. La bouche est très aérienne (comme souvent sur les vieux Chateauneuf qui font très pinot noir), tranchante mais habillée par la juste touche de sucrosité, fruit acidulé qui donne du peps, retour de thé noir, cuir. Confirme que j'aime Beaucastel à maturité !

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  2/23/2019 - HowardNZ Likes this wine:

  Wines at the February 2019 Magnum dinner (Noble Rot, Wellington, NZ): A small pour, served blind. Also, apparently a somewhat flawed bottle - a little TCA or heat damage? - but a wine I nonetheless liked. The meaty, savoury, earthy, old fashioned Rhone bouquet showed both some age and a little more brettanomyces than I would prefer (I can enjoy low levels of brett in the right context). Similar on palate, evolved, leathery with hints of tobacco leaf. Reminding me - in some ways - of a thick, slow cooked beef stew. Also, plummy, earthy, mushroomy and a little tarry. The brett was also there on palate and the Châteauneuf was somewhat rustic with a suggestion of alcoholic heat. Overall, for all of its faults, I thought it a characterful, compelling and enjoyable wine. However, even allowing for a wide degree of bottle variation here, it's time to drink up.

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  8/26/2018 - rashecellar Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Still a little life left in this beauty, although it is certainly showing age.

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  3/3/2018 - T.E.D. wrote: 90 Points

  Still enjoyable and approachable, albeit falls apart quickly. Tart cranberry notes followed by brush and gravel. Hints if Brett with air time.

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