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Coudoulet de Beaucastel Rouge, Perrin - Château de Beaucastel 2012

Tasting Notes

A juicy, forward and textured example of this cuvee (especially when tasted next to the 2013), the 2012 Coudoulet de Beaucastel Côtes du Rhône has juicy blueberry, garrigue and lavender notes to go with a fleshy, medium to full-bodied feel on the palate. Soft, with low acidity and a hard-to-resist feel, it has just enough tannic grip to keep it drinking nicely for 7-8 years.


One of the standout tasting while I working in the southern Rhône, the Perrin family, now largely under the helm of Thomas, Marc, Pierre, and Mathieu, continues to produce some of the top wines, at numerous price points, in the southern Rhône. Looking at this set of releases, the 2012s are incredibly strong, and given that, in general, the vintage was more challenging for Mourvedre due to water stress, I was amazed at what they were able to accomplish. The same can be said about their 2013s as well, and these wines transcend the vintage. The saving grace here is that Mourvedre excelled (truly special) in 2013. Another important point to consider is that the Perrins make multiple passes through each vineyard, sort again by cluster, completely destem all of the grapes, and then sort again. It's this level of control that allows them to get awesome concentration and purity in these more difficult vintages.
It's worth noting as well, this estate is increasingly investing in Gigondas, with ownership of one of the top restaurants in the area, L'Oustalet (don't miss a chance to dine here), a small set of top notch rooms that can be reserved, and ownership of the Clos des Tourelles estate there as well. I opted to include the Gigondas reviews here as opposed to waiting on the Gigondas report, but these are some of the strongest efforts in the vintages. In addition to these southern Rhônes, they've branched out to the northern Rhône as well, with their Nicolas Perrin label. Those wines will be reviewed in the forthcoming northern Rhône report in Issue 216.
In short, this is a brilliant portfolio across the board. Also, going forward, the name Perrin et Fils has been changed to Famille Perrin.

89
Jeb Dunnuck, Wine Advocate (215), October 2014

Starting the reds, the 2012 Cotes du Rhone Coudoulet de Beaucastel looks to be an outstanding example of this cuvee. Showing plenty of black cherry, mineral, cracked pepper and underbrush, it is medium-bodied, possesses great acidity, and gains in both richness and depth in the glass. While most Cotes du Rhones drink best in their first 4-5 years of life, this cuvee can age well past a decade. Drink now-2022.

90/92
Jeb Dunnuck, Wine Advocate (209), October 2013
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.