March 31, 2024 - It’s been a year since my last bottle and it’s just as good. Garrique,,black olive, and black cherry. Fruit is ripe but everything else keeps it in check. A wonderful wine.
March 22, 2024 - Excellent - At its peak but still beautiful. Drink up...
March 18, 2024 - Beaucastel Tasting Wunderbrunnen Opfikon
general remarks:
the wines are in general more on the elegant side. red berric. high acidity. almost no wood (they only use 5000+ liters „foudres“) intermixed with some spices and flowery aromas. especially the older vintages gave me some "burgundy vibes". there was some bottle variation (some oxidative bottles), especially with some warmer and better rated vintages such as 1995 and 1999…
the younger the wines got the more similar they became and were hard to distinguish. also hard to tell where the younger vintages will end up in future. highlights were 1991 and 1996 (both 94 points).
in the cellar they use as low intervention as possible. every grape gets fermented on its own. they choose oxidative or reductive ageing for each grape separately according to the characteristics of the grape.
the chateau is owned and ran by the family perrin (7 ppl).
Tasting note Beaucastel 2001:
more cooked and ripe aromas, more masculine than the other vintages as this was a warmer vintage. red berries, but they are mature and more pinchy.
I also found some animalic aromas in the wine.
less elegant and fresh than the other vintages such as 1996 and 1991. I‘d go for 91 and 96 any day.
on the palate more tannins, younger, and more fruit driven.
should be held for some more years, will improve.
February 22, 2024 - CellarTracker me rappelle qu'au fil des ans, entre la SAQ, Iegor et un particulier, j'ai acheté pas moins de 17 bouteilles de cette cuvée! Issu de ce qui est un de mes millésimes préférés, ce vin m'a suivi longtemps et m'a toujours plu beaucoup à travers les différentes expressions que la patine du temps lui a laissées.
Cette bouteille là n'apparaissait même plus dans mon inventaire, comme une erreur de la banque en votre faveur au Monopoly.
À plus de 22 ans, il est méconnaissable, paraissant léger, avec une texture délicate, aérienne, subtile et envoûtante, tellement bourguignonne! Quelle finesse! Il faut le boire sans trop tarder car ce chant du cygne en format volnaysien est d'une exquise beauté, enchanteresse.
Un grand Beaucastel qui nous montre une autre facette de ses grandes qualités. 94 pts
February 3, 2024 - Previous btl was 5-1/2yrs ago. This is in a lovely resolved & healthy place! Might still improve but terrific now! Slow-oxed for 3hrs in 2 Riedel Burgs & btl b4 dinner. Served between high 50s / low 60s. Mature semi opaque mahogany red. Big, glorious nose of garrigue, mushroom, dark fruit & other harmonics out of my descriptor range. Velvety but plenty of lift keeping it from feeling too large. While most CdP no longer appeal to my Burgundy centered palate this is completely in my wheelhouse. Complex range of flavors w/ red fruit, meat, earth and more on an elegant expansive palate. Sourced locally for $60 on release and stored in temp control sense. Cork was in excellent condition. 13.5% alc is wonderful for CdP! Fantastic tonight w/ Nita's cast iron seared bone in pork chops! 1 left that I'll hang onto for a few more yrs.
January 20, 2024 - Consistent with my previous two bottles. This was the last one. Not sure it's going to get much better, so no reason to not drink soon and drink at it's prime.
January 17, 2024 - Flickinger Tasting at The Casino (Chicago, IL): From magnum. Among the better examples of this wine I've had. It's still quite furry/fuzzy, but this one is relatively clean. Meaty notes on the palate, with a slight brothiness that doesn't quite play well with the fruit.
December 30, 2023 - Well soaked corked. Lightly decanted off some light sediment. Full reddish garnet with a mahogany rim. Cranberry, dried red currant, creosote, leather, incense, spice, menthol and maybe even a bit of struck flint. Medium-full bodied, fully integrated tannins, dried fruit extract, good acidity, dry finish. The palate follows the nose quite quite closely. Lots of dried, sweet-tart red berries, leather, spice, tar, a bit of animal funk, tangy acidity and a long, sweet dried fruit finish.
December 29, 2023 - Opened for Xmas dinner and the perfect accompaniment, robust enough to stand up to the variety of flavours on offer, but subtle enough to not overpower the turkey. Deep ruby/garnet, the nose is beautifully layered, with plenty of secondary and tertiary notes but this is also clearly still in its prime with a few years left in the tank. Aromas include mushrooms, loamy earth, red/blue fruits and hint of truffle. Palate is likewise complex and silky smooth, with slightly baked fruit, mushrooms, hint of red spices and truffles again. Quality stuff.
December 23, 2023 - 3+ yrs since my last tasting and not nearly as good as the last time around. ...nose is quite tart, like cranberry cocktail, a little smoke, eucalyptus. palate is tart, peppery, herbal. little to no fruit left (which is to be expected in these mature beaucastels) but it doesn't have the funky, bretty or pruny notes i'm looking for. it's a little sour, finishes bitter, and overall, it lacks the flavour profile and depth i've come to expect from these CdPs. drinkable but disappointing. 89
2nd day update. having let it sit in bottle (no vacuvin) overnight, it is much improved, palate in particular. much softer, smoother, slightly oilier texture. an enjoyable finish has emerged as well. 91
3rd day update. nice thing about christmas holidays... you have an excuse to open several bottles and take your time with them. i cannot believe what massive evolution i'm seeing with this bottle. it has completely turned the corner and is demonstrating all kinds of depth and development since my first glass two days earlier. ...it's more fragrant on the nose, with sweeter notes of blackberry and cola and savoury deli meats. palate is silky and lithe. this beauty has life in it yet! 93+