2007 COUDOULET DE BEAUCASTEL - RIGHT ON TRACK

We recently took at look at the rather frustrating 1998 Châteauneuf-du-Pape from Château de Beaucastel. The last couple of bottles had flattered to deceive and had left one slightly concerned about the wines of this venerated southern Rhône estate. With this recent experience in mind, it seemed timely to crack the first bottle from a case of 2007 Coudoulet de Beaucastel, the Châteauneuf's sibling.

Although made from fruit grown just outside of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and designated as a mere Côtes du Rhône, Coudoulet de Beaucastel is the equal of many Châteauneufs. Like 1998, 2007 was lauded as a vintage when the wines were initially released. Certainly, when tasted on release, the 2007 Coudoulet de Beaucastel promised plenty; rich fruit and lively spice framed by robust but ripe tannins.

Five years from vintage the wine is starting to display notes of development, the primary fruit having receded somewhat, meaty, savoury and gamy notes emerging. Although a powerful wine, not lacking for alcohol, it is medium in body and quite silky in texture (until powdery tannins emerge with extended exposure to air). There’s plenty to like here, and if this bottle is evidence, the wine should really be singing with another 2 or 3 years in the cellar. It is a bottle that has just about restored one’s faith in Château de Beaucastel.

2007 COUDOULET DE BEAUCASTEL CÔTES DU RHÔNE
Producer: Château de Beaucastel
Variety: Grenache et al
Vintage: 2007
Region: Southern Rhône, France
ABV: 14.5%
Closure: Natural cork
Retail Price: N/a
Date tasted: 29 December 2012

Tasting Note:
Bright garnet. Intense nose of roasted Asian spices, plum, cherry, figs and tar. Medium bodied, silky in texture but reveals powdery cocoa tannins as the wine sees more exposure to air. Dry, savoury, quite gamy and ‘animale’, meaty. Primary fruit is fading slightly, indicating bottle evolution, but the tannins suggest that the wine should develop further.
Score: 16.5+/20