2001 Château de Beaucastel Côtes du Rhône Coudoulet de Beaucastel- France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône (6/6/2014)
Pop and Pour. Ruby/purple, clear and bright. The nose is really nice with a bit of warm earth with just the slightest funk on it. Also some cherries and leather. On the palate, there is a nice cherry flavor with lots of complexity. Earthy. No tannins left. This seems to be at peak for me and just a beautiful aged bottle. I have a couple left which I will drink in the next year or so. Nice to age a not too expensive wine and have it show so well. A glass left in the bottle for the next day showed lots of oxidation. (91 pts.)
At peak, no tannins left - interesting. Is Beaucastel typically a 15-year lifespan (ish)? I’ve had a few bottles of ‘double oh’ Beau ('00 Beaucastel) and would concur with the assessment that it is at peak, but one would assume that wines made by this house, for as long as they have been, would have been more long term in style.
Todd, this is Coudoulet. Your 00 Beaucastel might taste great now but it will likely also be great in 20+ years. The 1985 always drank well and it seems it still does. Likewise 1979.
My experience with Coudoulet is that it survives well enough but it’s not likely to become a great 20+ year old wine. At least not like Beaucastel.
Thanks for the note. I hope for some similar results with a good stash of 2010’s I picked up a year ago as my second vintage of cellaring Coudoulet. First was the 2009.
The 2011’s are next on my list but they are really approachable right now so I drank all that I purchased so far.
Thanks for the note. I have only two 2001s left from two cases and have been drinking the 2004s and 2005s which are also drinking well. The 2001s have always been good to very good and my last one about 9 months ago was probably similar in enjoyment for me as your above note indicates it was for you.
Coudoulet has been a regular purchase for years [the white is good too] and used to be incredible value. It’s still IMO very good value but no longer the steal it once was.
While they keep very well they have the advantage that the best cru Beaujolais and Muscadet has: they drink well young, in middle age and, as with the 2001, past 10 years.
I think the 01 is less intense now as it was a few years ago. I still love it but it´s past peak IMO. The 2004 is fine now. The 2007 ist atypical for this producer because it is the only Coudoulet I know with an overripe aspect. Parker like the fig and prune profile. I don´t.
As I tried to indicate in my first post my experience of these wines is that they don’t so much improve with age as develop different rather than better characteristics. For me they are good from early on right through until they start finally to lose something.
Others might experience them differently but I have already had bottles of 2006s and 2007s [my last case purchases] and they were certainly enjoyably drinkable.
My preference for individual vintages is related primarily to the vintage itself rather than the age at which I have consumed them.
I bought some of the '07 on release and for my palate it keeps getting better. Still have a couple left and gonna wait 2-3 years before opening another one.
Also, I haven’t found notes of prunes/figs in the 2007 Coudoulet. Otoh, the 2007 Sinards…well, that’s one of the wines that helped push me further away from CdP.
Price check. A local store has what they show on their Web site as 2009 for $35. Not sure if the site is up to date. I paid a tad high there for a couple of German Rieslings the other day and almost picked up a Coudoulet. Might go back there or order from another source.
I’m polishing off the last glass of a 2007 Perrin et Fils ‘Les Sinards’ [CNDP] which has been open for a number of days. I am not sure I’ve had this in other vintages, generally sticking to their Coudelet bottling when I have the taste for a furry/bretty/sauvage baby Beau. And overall, I like that bottling better, since the 2007 Coudelet (albeit drunk at a younger age) felt better balanced. This - whether its 15 years of bottle age or picking too late or not enough acidity - has some of the prune, fig sur maturite notes. Those might have been less noticeable in its youth, but now they are sticking out, along with cloves and tawny port notes. Fruit flavors of soft, squishy plums, sediment is low given the age, and the acid is low. Sinards is 14.5% abv as was Coudelet. This branded blend is made with bought in grapes, and perhaps vats that didn’t make the cut for the flagship. $27 near release, vs $21 for the CdR. For my tastes, this was best on day 1, so I suggest drinking up, which is also reasonable guidance on other 2007 CNDPs. In my ledger, enjoyable so a B+
