Château de Beaucastel 2008

Château Beaucastel produces some of the most legendary expressions of Châteauneuf de Pape out of the entire Southern Rhône Region.  They describe their terroir as, “marked by the Rhône violence.”  The Southern Rhône is known for its difficult terroir, with its giant heat absorbing stones called galets and the blustery wind known as the mistral that keeps humidity away from the grapes.  Grapes need certain levels of stress in the vineyard in order to reveal their fullest potential once bottled.  It is natural then, that such an incomparable producer of Châteauneuf de Pape would have a terroir capable of such extremes.  Yet the gifted family of vignerons who run this estate, the Perrin family, possess an intimate knowledge of this land and are able to work harmoniously with it to create some of the most renowned expressions of Châteauneuf de Pape in the world.
 
Château de Beaucastel is one of the oldest properties within the Southern Rhône appellation, with a long history that dates back to the 16th Century.  Château de Beaucastel dates back to 1549, when the families first started cultivating parts of the Rhône Valley and Pierre de Beaucastel purchased a small parcel of land located in the Coudoulet appellation.  Several centuries later, the property was acquired by Pierre Tramier in 1909 from Ellie Dussaud, who purchased the land in 1870.  Interestingly enough, Dussaud was known for working alongside Ferdinand de Lesseps, who helped build the Suez Canal.  Once Pierre Tramier took over operations at the property, quality began to improve, and the critics started to take notice.  After Pierre Tramier passed, he willed the property to his son-in-law, Pierre Perrin.  Château de Beaucastel is now considered the most famous Châteauneuf du Pape and has been run by four generations of the Perrin family. 
 
Château de Beaucastel believes in respecting terroir above everything else.  They were true innovators in their field and practiced organic viticulture in the 1950s.  The terroir is a mixture of sandstone, stone and limestone soils.  The signature large rocks are called galets, which insulate the vines from cold and heat while helping the roots with drainage.  Beaucastel has about 130 hectares of land, and 100 of them are planted with vines.  Château Beaucastel has plantings of all 13 varietals allowed by the AOC law in the Southern Rhône, including Grenache, Mourvèdre, Syrah, Cinsault, Vaccarese, Counoise, Terret Noir, Muscardin, Clairette, Picpoul, Picardan, Bourblenc and Roussanne.  Though Grenache runs the show here, Château de Beaucastel is known for using a sizable amount of Mourvèdre in their wines.  The grapes are all harvested by hand prior to being vinified in temperature controlled tanks and aged in oak.  The wine is then aged in oak barrels for one year prior to being bottled and released.
 
What makes Château de Beaucastel unique is the sizable portions of Mourvedre in each vintage. Mourvedre is a deeply complex grape, with tremendous ageing potential and plenty of smoky and spicy characteristics.  The resulting wine is a complex one, with tremendous ageing potential.  

''A superb showing by the 2008 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape and a very complete wine that will surprise people who think ’08 was a poor vintage. Showing solid complexity and an open personality, with aromas of meat, lavender, garrigue, and licorice, medium body, solid concentration, and plenty of length, this will be a relatively early drinking wine by Beaucastel standards. Never the less, it should continue to positively evolve for 3-5 years and have 15 years of longevity.'' Jeb Dunnuck, Bordeaux 2022 En Primeur (9/25/2011) Ratings: 92

"The 2008 Beaucastel Châteauneuf du Pape is one of the few outstanding wines produced in this vintage. More evolved than Beaucastel’s wines tend to be, it reveals a healthy dark plum/ruby color, notes of licorice, meat juices, smoked game, black currants and garrigue, medium to full body, silky tannins, good freshness, surprising depth for the vintage and a long finish. Drink it over the next decade.

The Perrin brothers, Jean-Pierre and Francois, and their sons, Thomas, Marc, Pierre and Mathieu, have long owned over 200 acres of top sites in Châteauneuf du Pape and can now claim over 1,000 acres in the southern Rhone as their empire under the Perrin et Fils label expands considerably. This is good news for consumers as the Perrins, one of the great winemaking families of France, are dedicated to producing high quality wines, preserving top terroirs, and to providing a range of wines in all price ranges that are as good as consumers can expect. Purchasing a wine from this family is about as close to a guarantee of authenticity and high quality as one can expect. There is no secret to surviving the recent world-wide recession and fragile economy. No matter what field one is in – wine, the service industry, product development, etc., one has to over deliver in order to keep consumers happy. Don’t do that, expect a dwindling economic return and possible failure. The Perrins long ago adopted this philosophy, even in boom times. Speaking of wines that over deliver, readers should be searching out the super inexpensive, bargain priced La Vieille Ferme offerings. The Perrins have put together a terrific portfolio of top wines from the leading Cotes du Rhone Villages. With the exception of the estate wines in Vinsobres, they are all dominated by Grenache. To date, the finest wines have emerged from the 2007 vintage, but very strong efforts have been produced in 2009. " - Robert Parker Jr., The Wine Advocate (10/30/2010, Issue 191), Ratings: 90, Drink: 2010-2020