Château de Beaucastel 2024

Characteristics and tasting tips for Château de Beaucastel 2024

Tasting

Colour

The wine shows an intense, brilliant and clear garnet colour.

Nose

The nose is powerful, generous and complex, blending spice, fresh dark fruit and forest floor notes.

Palate

On the palate, richness meets delicacy, with a broad, silky texture. Flavours of chocolate, blackberry and clove emerge, carried by a fine tannic structure. The mouthfeel is airy.

A red Châteauneuf-du-Pape from the north of the appellation, where Mourvèdre plays an important role

The estate

Château de Beaucastel is an estate in the southern Rhône Valley, located in Courthézon, in the north of the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation. Although the Coudoulet locality is mentioned as early as 1549, the modern estate was born in 1909, when Pierre Tramier took over a property affected by phylloxera. Owned by the Perrin family, it extends over approximately 100 hectares of vines and uses all thirteen grape varieties of the appellation. Jacques Perrin extensively replanted Mourvèdre there and adopted organic farming as early as the 1950s, followed by biodynamics in 1974.

The vineyard

This Châteauneuf-du-Pape comes from a large single block of vines, located on the northern edge of the appellation. Rounded pebbles cover clay, sand and limestone from an ancient Miocene seabed. These pebbles store the heat of the day and release it at night, while the roots can reach down deep. The vineyard, exposed to the mistral, is cultivated without irrigation. This wind helps to limit disease pressure.

The estate has approximately 70 hectares devoted to red wine. The vines are farmed organically and biodynamically. The soil is enriched with compost produced on site. A crop rotation system allows vines to be replanted on land that has been left fallow for a long time. Yields are controlled and the harvest is exclusively by hand.

The vintage

The 2024 vintage saw complex weather conditions, which required constant vigilance in the vineyards. Temperatures remained relatively cool during the ripening period, which made it possible to avoid night harvesting as much as possible. The harvest began at the end of August with the white varieties, followed by the reds, and ended in early October with Mourvèdre. This long period made it possible to choose the harvest date for each parcel and each grape variety. Yields were considered reasonable.

Vinification and ageing

For Château de Beaucastel 2024, the grapes are hand-harvested and then carefully sorted. Each grape variety is vinified separately, according to its nature. Mourvèdre and Syrah, known as reductive varieties, are vinified in truncated conical wooden vats. Grenache and Counoise, which are more sensitive to oxidation, are vinified in concrete or enamelled stoneware vats. Each vat is tasted individually. The blends are made after malolactic fermentation. The wine is then aged in large oak foudres before bottling.

Grape varieties

Grenache, Mourvèdre, Syrah, Counoise, Cinsault, Vaccarèse, Terret Noir, Muscardin, Clairette, Picpoul, Picardan, Bourboulenc and Roussanne.