Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-Du-Pape 2016

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

Alongside Vieux Télégraphe, Clos des Papes, Charvin, and, the epic Rayas, Beaucastel, is one of the great established names of the region. Blended from 13 red and white grape varieties, it’s no surprise that their wines have incredible complexity. Add to that the almost 110 years of experience and a truly special wine ends up in our glasses.  2016 is a stunning follow up to the bold 2015. I can’t wait to see what Beaucastel have delivered. Judging by what I’ve seen so far the balance and poise have ramped up a notch. If the reviews are anything to go by we’re in for some fun! The 2016 was at the top of a list of 250 wines from the Southern Rhône tasted by Nick Stock late last year.

Château de Beaucastel

With a history traced back to the 1500’s Château de Beaucastel has long been regarded as one of the greatest wines in France. In 1909 the winery truly began it’s rise to the status of one of the worlds great estates. It is notorious for its elegance, balance and ageing potential. Beaucastel has an exceptional terroir at the Northern limit of Châteauneuf du Pape, exposed to the Mistral wind. All thirteen varieties of the appellation have been organically grown since the sixties.

Château de Beaucastel is 110 hectares, with one single plot at the north of the appellation. The terroir is archetypal of the best terroirs in Châteauneuf: rolled pebbles on the surface, sand, clay and limestone deeper down. The vines are old and have been organically grown for 50 years, which has allowed the roots to grow exceptionally deep.

Beaucastel grows all thirteen grape varieties authorized by the appellation.

Each variety is harvested separately and manually. Vinification takes place in oak fermenters for the reductive varieties (Mourvèdre, Syrah) and in traditional enamelled concrete tanks for the Oxidative grapes (all the others). Once the malolactic fermentation is finished, the Famille Perrin blends the different varieties. The blend is then aged in oak Foudres for a year before being bottled.

Varieties:
Cinsault: 5%
Counoise: 10%
Grenache: 30%
Mourvèdre: 30%
Syrah: 10%
Vaccarèse, Terret Noir, Muscardin, Clairette, Picpoul, Picardan, Bourboulenc, Roussanne: 15%

The video below follows the Perrin family through a year. As you watch, note the manual labour that goes into nurturing the vineyards and the wine.

In the vineyard, you’ll see an incredible amount of rock “Caillou” which translates more accurately to pebble.  These provide a mulch retaining moisture, they warm during the day to radiate heat back to the vines during the night. You’ll see the vineyards are on a relatively flat plateau, and the vines are minimally trellised as bush vines. In the warmer southern climate, of Châteauneuf this allows the canopy to shield the fruit from the sun and freshness to be retained in the fruit.

In the winery you’ll see careful quality control, sorting fruit, the use of large Foudre, 5,000L barrels, and, the blending of 13 varieties to make the best expression of their site possible. Note the patience, of waiting to release wines, with 2016 only just released, it’s clear, that the wines are allowed to take their time to become complete before release.

If your French is passable you’ll get a little more out of the following video. Watching it without comprehension will still give you an insight into the vineyards and Château.

In the following video Marc Perrin explores the importance of blending the 13 varieties in making a complete wine, the only recent dominance, post-phylloxera of Grenache in the blend, the impact of the mistral on cooling the vineyards and maintaining freshness in the wines.

The 2016 Vintage

Along the full length of the Rhône Valley we have seen stunning wines produced from the 2015 Vintage. Those that have timed picking perfectly have made exceptional wine. 2016 sees an extra edge of sophistication!

“As I signed off last year’s Southern Rhone tasting report, I declared that “next year’s visit cannot come soon enough,” and as I returned to my modest hotel to the north of Avignon in France in July this year, I was champing at the bit to taste the next vintage. The beautifully plush and carefully engineered 2015s had been superb, and the promise of fresh and refined 2016s had not been forgotten. My eagerness for rating the wines this year was rewarded with all the wines tasted in the Rhone this summer. I tasted almost 500 wines while traveling through the region and I found some fabulous wines including one perfect, 100-point Chateauneuf — Château de Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape Hommage à Jacques Perrin 2016 — and a 99-point counterpart in the estate’s normal bottling. Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe and Domaine de Ferrand were close by with 98-point bottlings from the same vintage. And there are hundreds of other wines rated 90 points or more. The wines in this year’s tasting in the southern Rhone certainly did not disappoint and the apex moment of power and finesse was everything it had promised to be. The Chateauneufs 2016 are quite simply the best wines this region has seen in a very long time. The overcooked fruit, the excessive extraction and the obsession with excess seem to be over for most producers. The glory of grenache as an expressive, complex, elegant, enlivening, and powerful platform is back and long may it reign! As Marc Perrin of Beaucastel explained to me last year while barely containing his excitement, “Everything is perfect in 2015 and I think 2016 is perhaps even better!””

Nick Stock

A bit of History

Châteauneuf-du-Pape literally translates to “The Pope’s new castle” and, indeed, the history of this appellation is firmly entwined with papal history. In 1308, Pope Clement V, former Archbishop of Bordeaux, relocated the papacy to the town of Avignon. Clement V and subsequent “Avignon Popes” were said to be great lovers of Burgundy wines and did much to promote it during the seventy-year duration of the Avignon Papacy. At the time, wine-growing around the town of Avignon was anything but illustrious. While the Avignon Papacy did much to advance the reputation of Burgundy wines, they were also promoting viticulture of the surrounding area, more specifically the area 5–10 km (3–6 mi) north of Avignon close to the banks of the Rhône. Prior to the Avignon Papacy, viticulture of that area had been initiated and maintained by the Bishops of Avignon, largely for local consumption.

Clement V was succeeded by John XXII who, as well as Burgundy wine, regularly drank the wines from the vineyards to the north and did much to improve viticultural practices there. Under John XXII, the wines of this area came to be known as “Vin du Pape”, this term later to become Châteauneuf-du-Pape. John XXII is also responsible for erecting the famous castle which stands as a symbol for the appellation.

Click to enlarge 🔎

The Grape Varieties of Châteauneuf

Châteauneuf-du-Pape is traditionally cited as allowing thirteen grape varieties to be used, but the 2009 version of the AOC rules in fact list eighteen varieties, since blanc (white), rose (pink) and noir (black) versions of some grapes are now explicitly listed as separate varieties. Also in the previous version of the appellation rules, Grenache and Picpoul were associated with different pruning regulations in their noir and blanc versions, bringing the number of varieties previously mentioned from thirteen to fifteen.

Red varieties allowed are Cinsaut, Counoise, Grenache noir, Mourvèdre, Muscardin, Piquepoul noir, Syrah, Terret noir, and Vaccarèse (Brun Argenté). White and pink varieties are Bourboulenc, Clairette blanche, Clairette rose, Grenache blanc, Grenache gris, Picardan, Piquepoul blanc, Piquepoul gris, and Roussanne. (The varieties not specifically mentioned before 2009 are Clairette rose, Grenache gris and Piquepoul gris.)

Both red and white varieties are allowed in both red and white Châteauneuf-du-Pape. There are no restrictions as to the proportion of grape varieties to be used, and unlike the case with other appellations, the allowed grape varieties are not differentiated into principal varieties and accessory varieties. Thus, it is theoretically possible to produce varietal Châteauneuf-du-Pape from any of the eighteen allowed varieties. In reality, most Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines are blends dominated by Grenache. Only one of every 16 bottles produced in the region is white wine.

Tips for Drinking these Wines

🌡Temp: 15°C. 10-15 minutes in the fridge will if all it takes to drop the temp if they’re a little warm.

⏳🍷Decanting: These wines love air and time in the glass. Marc Perrin suggest all of his wines should be decanted and enjoyed over several hours, if you can hold off!

🕯Cellaring: Marc Perrin talks of a sweet spot commencing at 10 years of age, tannin evolution being the most significant change. The wines are often capable of ageing 50 plus years. If you want to get the word on drinking windows from the Perrin’s download their iPad app and you’ll be able to access info on their wines as far back as 1960. Be patient it takes a while to update, you can choose between English, French and Chinese.