2009 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape (10/25/2022)
Someone whose palate I respect said this was ready to go. I disagree. It’s certainly enjoyable to drink, but it’s much more primary/fruity than I prefer my Chateauneuf. It took nearly 48 hours for it to reveal some herbal, earthy and leathery characteristics, and still was more fruit than savory. It’s a very good wine, just not ready as far as how I prefer my Southern Rhône wines.
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I keep thinking exactly the same thing when I see periodic notes about '09 Pegau being ready and then try one.
2006 Pegau is in the zone though.
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2 day wine tasting, I like that!
Same feelings about the '10 Pegau. The first bottle from my case actually drank alright at age 7 but since then the wine has felt shut down.
@David_Bu3ker This is making me think twice about tapping into my case of 2015 Beaucastel later this fall. I normally like trying CDP at around age 7, but I was hoping it wouldn’t still be completely primary.
I haven’t tried the ‘15. Don’t know how it stylistically compares to 2009.
Drink 08 Pegau instead, which is an excellent effort (same for 2011 Pegau) …
and should be much cheaper …
I also had 2008 Charvin … and 2008 Versino/Bois de Boursan recently …
those are much more in the zone as any good 2009 …
Back when Beaucastel gave tours at the domaine, the tastings, as well as tasting the most recent vintage, routinely involved tasting a ten year old Beaucastel and a twenty year old Beaucastel. The point of that, according to the tour guides (I was at probably three or four of these), was to show how necessary age was to the wines. After ten years, the wines opened up, but, as David notes here, they were far from fully mature. After twenty years, the perfume on the nose became quite exotic, and the gamey flavors emerged with the fruit being more like and aged fruitcake flavor. I couldn’t pin down when between 10 and 20 this starts to happen and I’m sure it varies by vintage, but in strong vintages, I’m sure it’s later rather than sooner.
I completely agree with Gerhard about 08 and Pegau, Charvin (and Ferrand) at least, as well as the 11s for those wines. They are drinking beautifully. I quite like the 09s now, but they could use a few more years. The 08s also show better than the 07s for me. I wouldn’t assert that that will always be the case, but I would be less surprised than some others here if it is. Last week, I had both the 04 Pegau and Charvin. Both were singing and, for me, both outshined the 05s. Again, maybe that will change, but after 17 and 18 years, one starts to think that the old computer acronymn, wysiwyg starts to apply.
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I just opened an '06 a few weeks ago, and it really needed more time open than I gave it. I messed up by not thinking of the sediment first, so I double decanted and left in the opened bottle for a few hours, but it didn’t really start to blossom until almost 4 hours. I’d imagine an '09 would need even more time (in the bottle and in the cellar). The '06 will drink well for a long time still.
… and I agree about Ferrand - Philippe Bravay makes fantastic wines … also his Cotes du Rhone VV … and La Ferrande (Syrah) 
Just had a 2004 a month ago that was absolutely singing. For somebody who has not had very many aged CdPs before, this was an eye-opening experience. There’s a wine shop near me selling the '04, '06, '07, and '09 ex-chateau (the “Oenotheque” labeling) for $100 apiece. Super tempted to buy more
I’m just now realizing there is a difference in the Oenotheque and the regular release label. I’m assuming there is nothing different other than the wine was held in their cellar until recently? I got an '06 from that release and then got another '06 and an '09 when I saw more a week later.
That’s not much more than current vintages on release. I would go for it.
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Gerhard - I wish I had asked your advice before I drank my one Charvin as I naively assumed a solar vintage like 2009 would be ready after 13 years. I have one bottle of 2012 Clos des Pape that I was thinking needed another 5 yrs. Any thoughts on that one? Thank you.
The idea that a 13 yo Beaucastel is “ready” strikes me as … well … let’s just say this: opinions can differ. Drastically.
I don’t see myself ever again opening a Beaucastel rouge before it hits at least 20 yo; from memory, I’ve never been particularly impressed with one that was younger, but for a '94 (weak vintage) at 14 years of age (gave it a 90 score).
Stephen, I haven´t had the 2012 CdPapes for 7-8 years, but I don´t think it is anything but very young. 2004 was drinking well in September, and the 1995 last Saturday was everything one was longing for … I mean complexity, depth and tertiaer aromas, not only primary fruit …