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1989 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape
10/31/2010 - vinpre wrote: 98 Points
This particular 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 cool room temperature (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 and no signs of seepage. Six of the bottles from this case were drunk ten years ago due to leaking corks and low mid-shoulder fills (each bottle was spectacular, despite their unpromising initial appearances).
With this bottle, the bottom tip of the cork was about 27 mm above the wine. The cork came out in two pieces; the bottom quarter of the cork broke off just the before clearing the top of the neck. 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 pretty typical. The sides of the cork were damp to the touch with purple staining that ran almost the entire the length of the cork, save for a 3mm to 5mm band near the top. 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 decanted to get the wine off the very heavy sediment and to let it breathe. Similar to the 1990 opened last week, a small pour directly from the bottle showed very well. The sediment in the bottom punt was extremely heavy, and there was a fine dusting of sediment adhered to the inside of the bottle in a one to four centimeter wide stripe running from the upper shoulder to near the bottom where the deposit had settled as the bottle lay on its side in the cellar.
After letting the wine sit for 75+ minutes in the decanter, we poured a small taste into Impitoyable No. 3 stems. The color was ruby-garnet with a slightly paler garnet meniscus. Like the 1990, the wine is full bodied with a multitude of thick, slow running legs that coat the interior of the glass after swirling. From these glasses, the bouquet explodes from the bowl with aromas of ripe black cherries, ripe black plums, ripe raspberries, ripe – but not overripe – strawberries, black licorice, cinnamon, sandalwood, hickory smoke, espresso, lavender and thyme. Compared with the 1990, the fruit flavors in the 1989 are slightly more concentrated and fresher: the aromas in the 1989 are those from fully ripe, as opposed to overripe, black and red fruits.
The subtle saddle leather note in the first glass poured directly from the bottle had completely blown off in the decanter. This is entirely consistent with my experience with older red Beaucastels: if you decant them for 60 minutes before serving, any leather, meat, and animal/barnyard notes will completely blow off. If you do not like these leather, meat and animal notes, then you should 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: the evolution in the decanter is quite dramatic and well worth the wait.
On the palate, the first impression is one of sweetness from the concentrated fruit flavors, despite being fermented completely dry. The flavors are black cherry jam, tree-ripened black plums, raspberry tart filling, and sliced ripe strawberries, followed by black licorice, cinnamon, mocha, Asian spices and Provencal herbs, with some nice minerality and ripe tannins emerging on the long finish timed at 90+ seconds. Wow! Despite 1989 being another warm year vintage, the acidity is excellent and provides a sense of freshness and vibrancy for the ripe fruit flavors. As the cork dried, a fine dusting of tiny tartaric acid crystals appeared on the stained sides and bottom tip where the cork had become saturated. Based on this bottle, the 1989 Beaucastel regular Chateauneuf du Pape is now mature but will easily hold in a cool, humid cellar in 750 ml bottles due to the still-present ripe tannins. The biggest concern with holding either the 1989 or 1990 Beaucastel reds any further is the deteriorating condition of the corks. Both the 1989 and 1990 Beaucastels had more than their fair share of leakers, and even the non-leakers have near-fully saturated corks and may start leaking soon. Chateau Beaucastel changed their corks shortly thereafter; corks pulled recently from bottles of the 1993 and 1994 appear pristine and unsaturated as though they were from the 2005 and 2006 vintages. Magnums and larger formats of the 1989 should be close to full maturity and should be drinking beautifully. If you plan to hold them longer, or buy them at auction, make sure the fills are good and the corks remain sound. Rating: 98
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1990 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape
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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1993 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape
1/14/2010 - vinpre wrote: 93 Points
Second 750 ml bottle from a half case purchased from a Northern California wine merchant on pre-arrival and stored in a temperature and humidity controlled cellar since taking delivery. Stood the bottle upright for two hours so the sediment would settle in the punt and to allow the wine to warm up above 60 degrees Fahrenheit, before opening. The top of the cork was completely clean with no mold, and the bottom of the cork was about 15 mm above the wine inside the bottle. The cork came out in one piece and looked as though it was from a just-released wine except for the dark stain on the very bottom. The cork was not saturated, and the sides of the cork were completely clean. This bottle had no import strip, and the back label was in French and appears to have been shipped in a refrigerated container from France. After opening, the wine was decanted to get the wine off its sediment. After decanting, we could see the considerable fine sediment adhered to the sides of the bottle as well as a moderate amount of deposit (for a 10+ year-old Beaucastel) at the bottom of the bottle.
After letting the wine sit for 30 minutes in the decanter, we poured some into the Impitoyable No. 3 stems we were using tonight. The color is ruby-garnet with some lightening at the edge, but no amber. The wine is full bodied with thick legs that coated the interior of the glass. The wine has an intense bouquet of clean red and black fruits -- cherries, plums, raspberries, bruised strawberries -- with additional notes of black licorice, cola, pumpkin pie spices, wet stones, ripe black olives, tobacco, and creme brulet custard. Not only was there no barnyard funk, there were not even any leather notes! On the palate, the wine tastes sweet because of the rich, concentrated red and black fruit flavors mixed with anise, cinnamon, and some noticeable but ripe tannins in the very long (60+ second) finish. While drinking well now, this bottle of 1993 was still not quite fully mature and well-stored bottles will probably continue to develop further complexity. At a minimum, the wine should continue to drink well for another seven or more years with proper storage from 750 ml bottles. These notes are consistent with those from the first bottle opened in late November 2009. Rating: 93+
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