2022 Chateau de Beaucastel Cotes du Rhone Coudoulet de Beaucastel, Rhone, France (750ml) RNDC

WINEMAKER’S NOTES:

Superb deep-ruby red color with purple reflections. The nose reveals a beautiful freshness and a seductive aromatic bouquet combining notes of red fruit, spices and white pepper with a hint of perfectly integrated toasted vanilla. Full bodied, greedy, very soft, the palate presents a very nice balance with freshness and aromas of black cherry jam. The finish is long with a beautiful aromatic intensity and velvety tannins. A wine of great elegance with good aging potential.

TASTING NOTES:

Very attractive red cherry fruit fills out the medium-bodied palate where the fine tannins underline this very well. Impressive length with plenty of licorice and a touch of candied citrus at the long, crisp and emphatically dry finish. A cuvee based on grenache and mourvedre. From organically grown grapes. Drink from release.
– James Suckling, 92 pts

A terrific vintage for this wine, which was bottled just a couple of weeks prior to my late June visit, the 2021 Cotes du Rhone Coudoulet de Beaucastel is a blend of 30% each Grenache, Mourvèdre and Syrah, plus 10% Cinsault. From a vineyard just outside the boundaries of the appellation of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, it’s a remarkably consistent wine and always a solid value. Scents of sunbaked stones, black cherries and licorice appear on the nose, joined by hints of purple raspberries and dark chocolate, while the medium to full-bodied palate is lush and velvety, finishing long and complex.
– Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, 92 pts

 Bottled just a month before this tasting, the 2019 Côtes Du Rhône Coudoulet De Beaucastel is showing brilliantly, with a rich, medium to full-bodied, textured style that displays the ripe, sexy style of the vintage. Offering lots of both black and blue fruits as well as truffly earth and garrigue notes, it can be enjoyed any time over the coming 10-12 years.
– Jeb Dunnuck, 92 pts