WS 96 Pts. - WA 94 Pts. - It's just hit the floor and we have a killer price - so surely it won't last long. Beaucastel's 2009 Chateauneuf-Du-Pape is by all accounts a big boy - thanks to a warm growing season in the Rhone. Lots of fruit character and structure, this is one for the cellar.
According to the Wine Spectator: One of the more endowed 2009s, this is packed with dark smoldering cocoa, mesquite, tobacco and roasted fig notes, all inlaid with pure cassis and plum preserves fruit flavors. Long and authoritative on the finish, with singed vanilla bean and tar notes adding length and dimension. Best from 2015 through 2026. 4,000 cases imported.
According to the Wine Advocate: The 2009 Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape is reminiscent of their brilliant 1985. It will be one of the rare Beaucastels that is drinkable upon release. Made from this estate’s classic blend, it possesses soft tannins as well as a silky, open-knit seductiveness, a dense plum/purple color and a beautiful perfume of smoky Provencal herbs intermixed with grilled steak juices, garrigue, kirsch and blue as well as black fruits. The wine is full-bodied, unctuously textured, and silky smooth (the latter characteristic being somewhat atypical for a young Beaucastel). If it performs like the 1985, it will drink well young and continue to do so for 25 or more years. Rated 90+