2023 Coudoulet de Beaucastel Rouge

Bottled three months ago and showing beautifully, the 2023 Côtes Du Rhône Coudoulet De Beaucastel is based on 30% each of Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvèdre with 10% Cinsault and brought up all in foudre. It offers darker berries, pepper, sappy flowers, and some obvious stony, earth-like minerality in a medium-bodied, nicely concentrated, layered style. It's balanced with terrific purity, ripe tannins, and outstanding length, offering incredible pleasure today, yet it will keep for 10-12 years. Drink 2025-2036. One of the stalwarts of the appellation, Château de Beaucastel continues to produce an incredible array of wines from their estate on the northwestern edge of the appellation. Looking at the vintages reviewed here, the 2023s show the approachable style of the vintage, yet the reds bring impressive density and concentration. The estate lost some Grenache due to shatter in 2023, which resulted in a higher Mourvèdre component in the classic cuvée (40% Mourvèdre, 30% Grenache, 10% Counoise, 10% Syrah), giving it a more serious, focused style than most in the vintage. The whites are absolutely brilliant, with the 2024 Roussanne Vieilles Vignes showing heavenly levels of richness and depth from very old Roussanne from a single parcel just behind the château. It’s consistently one of the greatest white wines in the world. The tiny production Hommage à Jacques Perrin comes from a single parcel planted by Jacques with the idea of the perfect blend for a Châteauneuf du Pape and is always based on 60% Mourvèdre and 20% each of Syrah and Grenache. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to taste the 2024 reds from barrel, but I’ll report on these next year. The estate recently wrapped up a massive renovation of the cellar that was built with sustainability front and center and will be using an evaporative cooling mechanism with stored rainwater. As usual, this brilliant family never puts a foot wrong.