Tuesday 7 February 2012

Chateau de Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape 1999


A friend and I splashed out and shared a bottle of this recently over a fine piece of venison. Life, it ain't so bad sometimes. It's not cheap, but it is wonderful.

The Wine Cellar Insider says:

"Blackberry liqueur, minerals, blueberries, fresh herbs, pepper and smoke with a hint of coffee. This intense, full bodied, voluptuous wine is rich, thick, intense and mouth coating".

But back in 2005 it was clearly awful:

"Huge, packed and stacked but perfectly balanced. Black and red fruit, earth, gunpowder and herbs scream from the glass. Layers of fruit take over your palate. The long red fruit filled finsh is a pleasure."

Norwegian artist references aside, apparently it has either 91 or 94 Robert Parker points, which is good enough for me.

I'd still go with the 2005 description above, but what do I know? I can never taste all the things reviewers can. But it is bloody lovely, complex, bold and spicy, with that finish that keeps going. What more can one ask for?

Wine Searcher says it's around £50 a bottle, but then Fine and Rare have it for 'just' £38.

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