Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rouge - 2023
Presentation

Château de Beaucastel has long been regarded as one of the greatest wines in France. It is notorious for its elegance, balance and ageing potential. Beaucastel has an exceptional terroir at the Northern limit of Châteauneuf du Pape, exposed to the Mistral wind. All thirteen varieties of the appellation have been organically grown since the sixties.

The vintage

With fairly standard but slightly late weather conditions, the 2023 vintage is showing great potential with superb freshness. The fairly dry winter was followed by a relatively humid spring but with wind allowing to maintain good health. Budburst was a little late and this slight shift in the vine cycle lasted until the harvest. The summer was quite dry, and slightly cooler allowing the grapes to ripen nicely, despite a short heat wave in mid-August which completed the ripening of the berries. The harvest began on August 24th for the whites and on the 28th for the reds, and took place in idyllic conditions until September 5th. With magnificent berries, the vatting was quite short with great extractions. The first tastings reveal wines with great potential and astonishing freshness.

Location

Châteauneuf du Pape, between Orange and Avignon, Château de Beaucastel red is a 70-hectare vineyard.

Terroir

Château de Beaucastel is 110 hectares, with one single plot at the north of the appellation. The terroir is archetypal of the best terroirs in Châteauneuf: rolled pebbles on the surface, sand, clay and limestone deeper down. The vines are old and have been organically grown for 50 years, which has allowed the roots to grow exceptionally deep.
Beaucastel grows all thirteen grape varieties authorized by the appellation.

Ageing

Each variety is harvested separately and manually. Vinification takes place in oak fermenters for the reductive varieties (Mourvèdre, Syrah) and in traditional enameled concrete tanks for the Oxidative grapes (all the others). Once the malolactic fermentation is finished, the Famille Perrin blends the different varieties. The blend is then aged in oak Foudres for a year before being bottled.