Region | |
---|---|
Subregion | France > Rhône > Southern Rhône > Châteauneuf-du-Pape |
Colour | White |
Type | Still |
The outrageously good 2004 Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape blanc Vieilles Vignes is monumental, with wonderful notes of litchi, marmalade, honeysuckle, huge body, but great acidity and definition. This is an amazing wine that is just sumptuous to drink now, and probably should be consumed over the near-term, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find this exquisite in 15 or 20 years.
Medium gold color. Brooding, deep aromas of orange marmalade, mango, melon and candied quince. Thick and unctuous, with incredible thickness and weight, showing a range of ripe tropical fruits and intense bitter orange and honey flavors. The yield here was just 14 hectoliters per hectare, according to Pierre Perrin. Clings to the palate like glue, with a gorgeous note of peach essence. An immensely concentrated, powerful wine with a long track record for improving with age.
The 2004 Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape Roussanne Vieilles Vignes is a wine of exceptional intensity, with litchi, exotic orange marmalade, and honeysuckle notes, huge body, good underlying acidity, and loads of tropical fruit. It is a dense, full-throttle wine that has a remarkably long finish. Of course, this is a wine lover’s nightmare when it comes to cellaring, as it drinks gloriously for 2-4 years then seems to go into an oxidized state, with the finest vintages returning to form in about 10-12 years.