1988 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc

Community Tasting Notes (5) Avg Score: 89.5 points

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  7/25/2014 - dcwino wrote: 87 Points

  Mostly Northern Rhone dinner (The Grill Room at Capella Hotel Georgetown): The last bottle I had from the same batch showed no sign of oxidation and really enjoyable, around 93 pts. Unfortunately this shows a hint of madeira. Dry fruits, dry figs, dry orange rind, lemon candy, nuts and a hint of sherry. Still quite fat.

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  12/31/2013 - jrobs7777 wrote:

  Still perfectly pleasant going on 25 years. The acidity is there. The waxy tropical fruits are still there but there are some secondary notes coming through as well. It does not feel old.

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  12/26/2011 - liteagilis wrote: 88 Points

  Right now I'm having an inner debate about this wine. Full-Disclosure. Beaucastel *red* was my epiphany wine. 2001 red is one of my favorite bits of grape juice ever, on my 30th birthday we drank 81 from magnum. I have had VV Roussanne bottles w age. THIS bottle is an accident but I got it for a song. In the parcel were a few bottles w low fill level. One had signs of seepage. This bottle looked perfect, 2.5 cm, great cork and capsule. Other wines from this cellar were mint. On opening the wine was light gold in the glass. Looks like a mid-nineties bottle of white bordeaux or so. Nose is also fairly primary. Huge whiff of ripe apple and spice. I always think white rhone stinks of apple pie anyway. Herbal. Palate is medium-full w adequate acidity and no trace of alcohol (usually what I notice in white winss where the bottom is falling out). That rich white rhone texture is not really present, there is a trace on the side of my mouth. Mid palate is solid, finish is not short but nothing to write home about. Not a mineral wine to speak of. I mean, its there but not singing. Wonder if letting it sit out would help. Also worth noting (and no surprise). Wine was opened in the low 40's, left on the counter for an hour and a half and came into drinking temp at about 60-64. This is not a wine to have 'cold.' Don't think I'd buy this if it were $75. Or even $40. At $25 it was a fun experiment and I was surprised at how well it held up.

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  6/19/2011 - costamalfitana wrote: 91 Points

  light golden color; more yellow than gold, beautiful nose of lime, citrus and tropical fruits; amazing at this age, no oxidation, beautiful fresh impression, better than a bottle drunk some years ago; medium bodied on the palate, fresh acidity, much better than expected given the age; outstanding.

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  4/26/2009 - fredb wrote: flawed

  Deep yellow-gold color. Clear notes of oxidation on the nose. Tastes of fine manzanilla sherry. Was put aside to see if improvement came with slow oxygenation, but still showed sherry notes later in the evening. Hard to discern if this was correct or not from limited direct experience with older Beaucastel. Assumed oxidized and past prime. Moved on.

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