TN: Chateau de Beaucastel 2011 Chateauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes

[Ray Barnes]

Well, it was nice to finally give this wine a shot after holding it for 2 years. This is the white made from century old vine Roussanne, in limited quantity and priced at or over (in my area) $100 US. This needed a little aeration, producing a glorious bouquet of apples and pineapples laced with cinnamon and spice. It is bone dry, very luscious, ripe, long and tastes sublime. In some past Roussannes I have noticed a mild (but not unpleasant) slight metallic edge, but nothing of this sort to be found here. Uncorked on February 4, 2016, after an excellent bottle of Chateau Leoville Poyferre, this white Rhone was another notch or two better. This gives an impression of opulent sweetness and ripeness in spite of the absence of significant residual sugar, and a nice touch of minerality. Yes, it also had a discreet touch of almond. It was served as a dessert wine (apple strudel a la mode), and did the job admirably. Tried by 4 people, none of whom could find any significant or minor faults at all. The last wine which left this kind of impression was a (bone dry) Zind Humbrecht Riesling Clos St.-Urbain Grand Cru Rangen. If one is fortunate to find a bottle, it should be consumed this year or next, or perhaps held until past 2025. I have another bottle and do not plan to wait. Compared to the 1994 Zind Humbrecht Pinot Gris Clos Windsbuhl Vendange Tardive, which the Wine Advocate awarded (twice) near perfect scores, I believe this is at least as fine if not an even greater achievement. It is certainly the best 100% Roussanne I have been privileged to taste, as rich as it is fresh. I'm refusing to call it a perfect wine, in anticipation of future tastings of Jean Louis Chave's Hermitage and Marc Sorrel's Hermitage Les Rocoules; or, in case this wine shows even greater richness as a late teenager. I hope to live long enough to make that comparison.

Conventional wisdom would suggest this be served with top drawer seafood. I'm inclined to believe this can be savored as the penultimate wine of a long dinner (followed by a great madeira or port), on its own.

Updated February 5: On re-tasting after the night before, this wine, I think, is quite different. There is much less pronounced fruit and more white flower on the nose; and, the wine has a tauter, crisper, drier but still full-bodied flavor. If I had been served this wine and the one from last night blind, I would not have expected them to be from the same bottle. My preference - strictly a personal thing - is for the more exuberant, lush mouth feel. This drier wine is I think more conducive to the food pairings normally associated with Roussanne. Perhaps if one is lucky to find a bottle, one needs also to consider whether or not to finish it at one sitting.