2019 Château de Beaucastel, Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc, Rhône Valley, France.
This 2019 vintage of Château de Beaucastel’s classic Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc is drinking well right now and was a star bottle at a recent blind Rhône tasting with a rich and complex palate that shows of a finely balanced array of mineral, fruit, spice and textural presence in the glass and is nicely lively, making it an impressive effort again from one of France’s great estates. Light gold and straw colored in the glass with delicate florals and orchard fruit on the nose that leads to a full mouth of apricot, lemon curd, tangerine, golden fig fruits, as well as clove spice, a touch of oily creaminess, wet stones, almond, citron and soft wood notes. The beautiful Châteauneuf-du-Pape white wine at Beaucastel is very limited as they only have about 7 hectares of white vines planted with Roussanne playing the lead role here, as the winery notes, representing 80% of the blend. For the 2019, there’s Roussanne 80%, Grenache Blanc 15%, along with a small amount of Picardan, Clairette, and Bourboulenc. Even under heat stress and little moisture, this 2019 is way more pleasing than would be expected and I can highly recommend this wine to those that love these top notch Rhône whites, it is a terroir driven class act and thrills the senses.
Château de Beaucastel’s history dates back to 1549, when Pierre de Beaucastel purchased the land and built a manor house, which gave the property its Château, but it largely didn’t interesting here until In 1909, when, as the winery says, another Pierre “Pierre Traminer” purchased the estate, which he later transferred to his son-in-law Pierre Perrin. Today, the fourth and fifth generation of Perrins run this famed Rhône icon, all of who pioneered a biodynamic culture as a philosophy here. Their innovative approach to organic farming in 1950 and then biodynamic farming in 1974, Famille Perrin has committed to full sustainable wine growing, which many other Rhône stars have followed. The vineyards of Château de Beaucastel are located on historic land where each of the 13 approved grapes varietals of the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation are planted. The Châteauneuf Blanc vines are set on what the winery calls Molasse seabed of the Miocene period and covered by diluvial alpine deposits, including the famous galets (rounded stones) and the mix of varietals are all hand picked. For this wine Beaucastel gently presses the grapes to 70% tank and 30% to barrel for fermentation and aging, after which, the wine is bottled after 8 months, keeping a degree of freshness, as seen here. I recently also enjoyed the 100% Roussanne Old Vine version, which was absolutely incredible, so it is best not to overlook the whites here.
($125 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive