TN: Beaucastel Vertical with Cassoulet

WINE TALK
1

Matt “Rowdy” Richardson made some nice Cassoulet last night for a vertical tasting of Beaucastel.
Great night.
Thanks to all who came plus those who traveled, Bill Lawrence, Paul Jaouen, Chris Freemott and Joe Howe.

Started with a little champagne.
A nice Krug 88 and a delicious Selosse Initiale.


Flight One

1981 - corked.

1983 - A gorgeous mature nose. Earthy dark fruit with lots of tobacco and tertiary elements. Yummy. The palate showed great fruit. (Good provenance) Ripe dark fruit that was loaded with spice. The finish shows some almost tobacco types of notes. Terrific wine.

1986 - Lighter color. The nose is less intense but very satisfying. Dark fruit. Tobacco spice. The palate is a little linear. Lighter in the mouth. It finishes short but the aftertaste is nice.

1988 - Out of 3 liter. A revelation! Now the fruit is intense and perfectly balanced with all the tobacco, truffle and other aged elements. Yummy. The palate is a beautiful combination of dark fruit that is fresh in the mouth. Balanced with a kind of earthiness that to me is the essence of Beaucastel. An absolutely perfect example of 1988. A terrific Beaucastel! Thanks Joe.

Flight Two

1989 - Elegant nose of red/black fruit. More focus here. Intensity. Spicy but not overly so. The palate is elegant and lithe. It dances with gorgeous silky fruit in the mouth. A finish that lasts for a long time. Profound. One of the best examples I have had. My wine of the tasting.

1990- The nose is a little off. Not sure what it is. With air, it comes together a little more but never takes off. A very big palate here. The masculine version of Beaucastel. The finish is clipped by whatever got to the nose. Judgement reserved.

1995- A beautiful Beaucastel nose. Darker fruit and spice. Some truffle type tertiary elements. The palate is still showing significant tannin which doesn’t allow full expression of the underlying complexity. Gorgeous finish but will the fruit last until the tannins finally go?

1998- Primary Beaucastel. Darker fruit. Not much spice here. Jammy in a way. The mid palate is full. The finish is nice. This will one day come around. For now, this is very primary and on the riper side.

Flight Three

1999 - A nice nose that is still primary to me. Very nice earthy spicy notes here. More complexity than the 1998 but medium concentrated. The finish is quite nice.

1999 - Hommage a Jacques Perrin - Darker. Meatier. Dense black fruit that extends on the finish for some time. I liked this. This was a very polarizing wine however.

2000 - Beautiful nose. This is sexy darker fruit with that spice that makes me think of Beaucastel. The palate has great balance and a long finish. Beginning a long drinking period. Excellent!

2001 - Denser. Dark fruit on the nose. This is very primary at this point on the palate. Very fresh. Lots of structure. This needs time and will be a great one.


We had a corked 77 Taylor for dessert.
We then opened a 2001 Rieussec which made up for that. Still not completely open but very satisfying.


Thanks to all who came and participated. I do love Beaucastel.

2

Much appreciated notes. Its hard to keep waiting on 98 and 01, but I will. I have thought the 00 was pretty much open since release. I haven’t had one in a while (I think I have only one left), so perhaps I under rated it. I wish I still had more 89’s. Drank them all and they were all so good. One of my favorite all time wines when on. Thanks.

3

Don,

Sounds like it was a wonderful night indeed - and sounds as if you had the perfect food to accompany these wines!

I’m wondering if the 90 may have had a touch of brett (or a lot, depending upon how you look at it). That certainly could have led to what you experienced.

In any event, thanks again for sharing.

Cheers!

4

Loren, I’m really liking the '01. I liked the '98 much more on release but it is still very primary. The ripeness bothers me though.

Larry, I think there was a bit of cork taint on the '90 although my opinion was not shared by all.

Don, thank you again for your generous hospitality!

5

There were a lot of “opinions” flying around last night . . . one in particular was extremely dissenting about a certain wine! [smileyvault-ban.gif]

I liked the Beaucastel Blanc '91 and the Selosse Inital (not mentioned). I thought the younger wines showed promise (and a lot of fruit!). I liked the '95 better than I thought, and liked the '88-90 wines less than I thought I would.

Fun night. Great food.

6

Ack.
I forgot the 91 Beau Blanc.
It was really in good form and delicious with the frisse lettuce salad with lardons and chicken liver dressing.
Not a hint of oxidation. Waxy and gorgeous.

Glad you guys got home safe Paul.

7

Definitely a fun night. Great group. My WOTN was the '89. I thought all the wines that weren’t flawed drank pretty well. I preferred the older wines in general to the younger ones, but that’s not necessarily an indication of quality. A big thanks to Don and Rowdy for putting this together.

8

Don - sounds like a fun night.

I have always liked the 88 and 95 that i purchased and cellared myself, some of the notes i read are not as complimentary, but you seem to like them.

To bad about the 81, that is one great wine. My 83’s that I got direct from the winery in 93 were wonderful drinking for a while but gave up the ghost about 5 years ago.

The 89 and 90 are wonderful now. I think the 01 will get there.

I have never enjoyed a 98 however, your notes are similar to mine in that the wine is ample in fruit, intensity, and flavor but so different in complexity (plain?) from other beaus. I do wonder if it will come around. It has been 13 years so far?

Glad to see you are drinking well Don.

JR

9

Very glad to hear about the Blanc. Anyone here have recent experience with 94/95/96 Blanc? My 95 was great in 2009 but I have not had the others in a while.

10

Don, Salute!

Sounds like you are drinking well! Nice notes.

11

Don, have you had the 07? If you had to compare to the vintages in this tasting, which year do you think it would align itself to?

12

Benjamin,
I haven’t had the 07 so it is hard for me to compare.

13

The '07 reminds me a lot of the '98, just not as interesting. We’ll see if it morphs into something better over the next few years.

14

Very late to this, but looks like another fantastic night in Atlanta, Don, espec. if Matt was cooking up a storm.

Alone, pretty much, in the realm of Grenache-based Rhone wines, I harbour a significant fondness for Beaucastel. I haven’t had a huge number of vintages, but I do seem to recall that the 89 has been my favourite of those I’ve tried.

The Rieussec sounds like it’s about where I would expect it to be—full or half?