Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

By Stefan and his annual Thanksgiving notes. Over the last few days we have had:

1994 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Splendid bottle and sadly the last of a case. Probably the best one of the lot...isn’t it always that way?
Perfect cork. Decanted for sediment and served directly. Beautiful, mature color, bricking at the rim, a bit of funk on the nose with dried fruits and earth. Wonderful wine. I would drink up over the next 5 or so years if you have these in your cellar.

2002 Domaine Huet Vouvray Demi-Sec Le Haut-Lieu

Baked apple and flower aromas with a bee’s wax/honey flavor profile. Acids are buried in the fruit. Slight oxidation and lacking the lanolin profile I associate with aged vouvray. A good bottle, but not up to the usual Pinguet standard.


2010 Domaine Couroulu Vacqueyras Classique

Deep purple, smoke and herbs on the nose. A forward wine meant to be drunk young. Good, solid Vacqueyras and excellent with food.

That Beaucastel has been drinking beautifully the last few years.

Indeed it has...an overlooked vintage for Beaucastel, IMHO. Anyone noticed a change in style to a "cleaner" aromatic profile in recent years? Say, after '01?

Yes, cleaner and, IMO, as of now not as interesting. Maybe these youngsters will mature well as the structure seems fine.

I agree. Loved the funk. Still bought up through 2010 and will keep holding them in hopes they will still turn out well.