1990 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rhône France Wine Tasting Note
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1990
Château de Beaucastel (Châteauneuf-du-Pape)
Better than my previous experience, but not at the extraordinary level it was about 5 years ago, the medium-bodied wine is elegant, refined, soft, silky, and spicy with layers of sweet cherries, kirsch, green olives, earthy raspberries, pepper, and herbs. There is no need to decant and no reason to hold this any longer. Drink 2022-2024. 4,016 Views Tasted Aug 9, 2022No decanting here. Just a pop and pour was all that was needed to bring the flowers, baked cherry, kirsch, spice box, herb and green olive aromatics. Silky, soft, fresh sweet and tart cherries with a strong note of olive tapenade and cocoa in the finish. This is not as good as it was a few years ago. If you are sitting on any bottles, you should consider drinking this sooner than later. 5,456 Views Tasted Feb 9, 20201990 Beaucastel is a consistent beauty that always seems to deliver. The wine is complex, with a garrigue, thyme and kirsch filled nose. The texture is luscious, silky and sauvage, ending with a blast of fresh, sweet, spicy cherries. This is probably at peak, but there is probably no hurry to finish your stash. 5,870 Views Tasted Nov 29, 2014Can you say Rockstar! Wow! Packed with supple textured, ripe, sweet, spicy, fleshy red berries, plum, herb, earth and kirsch aromas, every sniff and sip got better and better. While there is no urgent need to finish your bottles, I do not think there is much to gain by holding them any longer. 6,721 Views Tasted May 31, 2014It's obvious I caught this wine in the sweet spot with all its sweet, ripe and over ripe dark red berries, cherries, kirsch, pepper, sweaty horse and garrigue aromatics. The wine is soft, elegant, concentrated and deep, ending with a least 40 seconds of black and red spicy fruits. There are times I prefer the 1989 and other days when I think the 1990 is the wine to have. Today, it's the 1990! 6,519 Views Tasted Jan 21, 2014On the nose, barnyard aromatics meshed with rose, leather, black pepper, roasted strawberry, BBQ spice and grilled steak. On the palate, silky, rich, concentrated flavors of ripe black cherry and wild strawberry fill your mouth with pleasure. The finish ends with a 40 second blast of black and red fruit. Everything is in balance. This wine seems fully developed and while there is no hurry to drink it, based on this bottle I am not sure it's going to improve. 6,422 Views Tasted Nov 10, 2011Once you got past the horse scents, (which some people didn’t) spices, earth, wild cherries, jammy black fruit and more were a pleasure to discern in this Chateauneuf du Pape! This is no shy wine and your palate knows it as it becomes coated in lush, sweet, jammy fruit. This was a good bottle of 90 Beaucastel, but I've tasted better examples 6,249 Views Tasted Nov 18, 2010Expressive aromatics starting with barnyard scents meshed with rose petals, leather, black pepper, strawberry, BBQ and grilled steak. On the palate, silky, rich, concentrated flavors of ripe black cherry and wild strawberries fill your mouth. The finish ends with a 40 second blast of spicy, black and red fruits in this Chateauneuf du Pape wine. 6,685 Views Tasted Dec 27, 2009Smoky, dark red fruit, pepper and spice. Deep, full bodied, round and ripe. Finishes with soft textures, and a myriad of red and black fruits. 6,193 Views Tasted Feb 23, 2006Dark, saturated color. Aromas of black cherry liqueur, BBQ spice and herbs. Deep dark, juicy plums and soft texture complete the finish. 6,275 Views Tasted Oct 28, 2004 |
When to Drink Chateau Beaucastel, Anticipated Maturity, Decanting Time
Chateau Beaucastel is a much better wine with age. Young vintages can be decanted for 2-3 hours, give or take. This allows the wine to soften and open its perfume. Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment.
Chateau Beaucastel is better with 6-10 years of bottle age. Of course, that can vary slightly, depending on the vintage. In the best vintages, the wine should be consumed within 10-35 years after the vintage.
Serving Beaucastel with Wine, Food, Pairing Tips
Beaucastel is best served at 15.5 degrees Celsius, 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The cool, almost cellar temperature gives the wine more freshness and lift.
Beaucastel Rouge is best served with all types of classic meat dishes, veal, pork, beef, lamb, duck, game, roast chicken, roasted, braised, stewed, grilled dishes, sausage, tomatoes, and cassoulet. Beaucastel Rouge is also good with Asian dishes, hearty fish courses like tuna, mushrooms, and pasta.
The white wine of Beaucastel is best served with a myriad of different seafood dishes, shellfish, crab, lobster, sushi, sashimi, chicken, pork, and veal, as well as Asian cuisine and cheese.
Other wines from the Perrin family.
The Perrin family also maintains a partnership in California with Robert Haas called Tablas Creek. Formed in 1989, the California winery focuses on producing Rhone-style wine with both red and white Rhone varietals.
In 2013, the Perrin family entered into a partnership with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie to produce Miraval, an organic Rose' wine from their Provencal estate. Miraval also produces 2 white wines, a blend of Grenache Blanc and Rolle, as well as a wine from 100% Rolle. Needless to say, Miraval is now the world's most popular Rose and wine from the Cotes de Provence.
In 2015, Miraval became the first rose' as well as the first wine in the entire Provence appellation to add anti-counterfeiting measures to their bottle. To prevent the type of forgeries that anything to do with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie attracts, Miraval comes in a unique curve-shaped bottle. The bottle is also etched with the word Miraval at the bottom of the bottle.
Starting with the 2009 vintage, Beaucastel became one of the first wines outside of Bordeaux to be sold on the Place de Bordeaux by Bordeaux negociants. The Perrin family also produces one of the best red and white wines from their 30 hectares of vines in the Cotes du Rhone.