Type: Red Wine   Volume: 750ml

Winery:Beaucastel

Country: France   Region: Southern Rhone

District: CDP

Ratings and Tasting Notes:

(JS=100) A more savory, moody, strong expression. Deeply rich nose with minerals, flowers, wild herbs, tar, toasted spices and pepper. The dark berries have a smoky edge. Minerally edge, too, thanks to the 60 per cent mourv?dre. The palate has glossy, ripe and super-fine tannins in sheets. Deep-set, dark plums and blueberries in the finish. Noble tannins. Age-worthy. (RP=99+) Tasted three weeks after bottling, I couldn't quite bring myself to give the elusive three-digit score to this admittedly super wine. Perhaps once the 2016 Chateauneuf du Pape Hommage ? Jacques Perrin has been in bottle a bit longer, as Mourv?dre seems to go into a bit of a funk when recently bottled. For now, it's merely profound, packing in savory, mossy nuances, hints of exotic dried spices like star anise and cardamom and layers of rich, plummy fruit that manage to be full-bodied and deliciously intense without being weighty or overwrought. Creamy, lush, intense and long, it's a tdf (tour de force) in CdP. (AG=96-98) Opaque ruby. Heady aromas of mineral-tinged dark berry preserve, incense and espresso; a sexy floral nuance gains power as the wine opens up. Smoky, appealingly sweet and lively on the palate, offering densely packed black and blue fruit, cola and candied licorice flavors braced by juicy acidity and exotic flourishes of five-spice powder and violet pastille. Finishes with outstanding clarity and dark-fruit-dominated persistence, leaving suave floral and spicecake notes behind.