Chateau de Beaucastel Rouge, Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2016

This is a stunning Beaucastel. A classic! Has a superb array of fruit, ranging from red, through to blue, darker purple and black. Nuances of dark, stony minerals, spices, wild flowers and herbs. So fleshy. This has impeccable balance, super-silky tannins and an extraordinarily long finish. This has decades ahead of it. Drink or hold.

Bottled only a week before my visit, I was blown away by how well Beaucastel's 2016 Chateauneuf du Pape was showing. It's full-bodied, creamy, lush and rich, with layers of raspberry fruit, garrigue and spice that unfold across a seamless palate. No doubt it will go through cycles of being open and closed throughout its lifespan, but it would be a mistake to simply order a case, put it into storage and forget about it without trying one first and swooning over the sheer lusciousness and youthful complexity.

Being bottled the day of my visit, the 2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape checks in as a blend of 30% Mourvèdre, 30% Grenache, 10% Syrah, 10% Counoise, and the rest a mix of permitted varieties. It offers a ripe, sexy, rounded style that quickly shows more structure, minerality, and tannin with time in the glass. Blackberries, blueberries, smoked earth, violets, and garrigue all give way to a full-bodied, deep, structured Beaucastel that's going to benefit from 5-7 years of bottle age and keep for two decades. It reminds me of the 2001.

The nose is tightly wound for now, but shows fresh black fruits and an underlying herbal seam. It's full-bodied but immediately lifted and fresh on the palate, with powerful fruit and a dense lattice of ripe tannins. It is beautifully textured, very straight in style, with great length and energy. It's already very well integrated and balanced. Tight, refreshing, mineral and intense. A truly excellent Beaucastel.

Deep brilliant crimson. Aromas of ripe red and dark berries, musky flowers and garrigue develop a spicecake nuance as the wine opens up. Juicy and seamless on the palate, offering sweet black raspberry, cherry compote, licorice and lavender pastille flavors that display superb depth as well as unlikely energy. Doesn't let up on the impressively long, spice-tinged finish, which features smoothly interwoven tannins and a lingering cherry note.