Hip Tastes Blog

He was totally right! When I first stepped into the vineyard I toppled precariously this way, then that, grabbing at the crisp air around me as if I might find something to steady myself out there. Instead, I only found the Mistral, that crazy wind that blows like there's no tomorrow everywhere in the Rhone, although nowhere more powerfully than at Beaucastel, amongst all those blasted rocks. Once I'd gained my foothold, I decided it was all very fabulous and apros pos.

We arrived late for our appointment at Beaucastel after much bickering in our rented Peugeot, so Fabrice's humor was appreciated. Beaucastel was our last winery appointment of the trip (much to JC's relief, I'm sure!) and the first to which we were late.

I'm not sure which cosmic forces aligned to cause our tardiness: Perhaps it was the fact that we had to pack up all of our belongings and check out of the hotel that morning before the tasting, or maybe it was my inability to find a parking space outside our hotel that morning and subsequent need to re-circle the entire old town portion of Avignon in AM traffic (yes, there is actually rush hour traffic in Avignon!) to get back and find one; or it could have been the fact that the main autoroute (A7) to get from Avignon to Beaucastel seemed to have up and disappeared that morning, and we were forced to take surface streets all the way.

Or maybe it was just the plain old fact that we got lost. Again. As we had nearly every day of our trip thus far. Good times!

Regardless, once we'd finally arrived we were whisked out into the vineyard by hospitality guru Fabrice, who, because he had another appointment immediately after ours, proceeded to give us a tour of the vineyard and the insides of the winery at a fast-forward clip, so that I had the surreal sense that the entire thing was happening to someone else, and we were just sort of watching it happen. Very fast. It was quite a counterpoint to the five hour-plus visits we'd had at Moulin de la Gardette and Montfaucon the two previous days! But no matter: we still got to taste a ton of great wines, and I took a bunch of great snaps I'm able to share here in the blog.

Our rocks are bigger than your rocks
And so, into the vineyard! As the title of this entry hints, there are lots of stones in the vineyards at Beaucastel. In fact, the property is pretty unique in the Chateauneuf du Pape appellation for its large stones - they're not all like this. In fact, driving from Beaucastel after our tour to the village of Chateauneuf du Pape I was struck at how much the terrain varied from vineyard to vineyard.

Some of the others had noticeable stones, and some just didn't. I had expected the entire appellation to be filled with giant stones like Beaucastel's (which are constantly photographed and therefore pretty well known in the wine world). But, in the end, Beaucastel's got by far the biggest rocks on its 240 acres, 2/3 of which lie in the Chateauneuf du Pape appellation, with the remainder in the Cotes du Rhone. Turns out there are four types of soil in Chateauneuf du Pape: clay, stone, sand and limestone. Clearly, Beaucastel's got the lion's share of the stone!

And here they are. Check out this one that's bigger than my shoe! Walking amongst the vines I had, much as I had at Spring Mountain's Pride earlier this summer, the satisfied feeling that these cami shoes were finally helping me blend into my environment. Above you can see me pictured with Francois, and also a snap of a tiny young vine that's just been planted. I loved the contrast with the other big vines around it, which are comprised of a combination of 13 different grape varieties that Beaucastel blends into its wines. Most of you probably know this, but Beaucastel is one of the only Chateauneuf du Pape estates that still uses all 13 of the classic permitted grape varieties of the appellation in its blend.

For you geeks out there, they are: Grenache & Cinsault (warmth, color, roundness); Syrah, Mourvedre, Vaccarese & Muscardin (structure, aging capacity, depth of color & flavor); Counoise, Terret Noir, Clairette, Picpoul, Picardin, Bourboulenc & Roussanne (taste & bouquet).

So where do these stones come from, you must be wondering? They were deposited over the years by the mighty Rhone River, which at times ran over this very spot (and was much bigger, I might add), where it deposited rock fragments from the Alpine range above. The stones are key ingredients in the Beaucastel terroir, since they retain and radiate heat up into the vines at night, helping to mitigate the rather significant day-night temperature swings the region experiences. They also provide amazing drainage, allowing water from the top level to seep down to the roots far below.

"Chemicals and Fertilizers are like junk food."
This is how Fabrice explained the operation's aversion to using chemicals in the vineyards. Fabrice was a bit of a bard, with a really funny and oftentimes totally right-on simile for just about everything we talked about. When presented that way, YES, I had to agree that chemicals are bad. Bad, bad, bad! Organic since 1954, Beaucastel, Fabrice explained, only uses copper sulfate and sulfur in the vineyards to counteract problems. And those sparingly. Keeping artificial treatments to a minimal level increases the natural nutrients in the soil, improves the vines' physiology and increases their resistance to diseases. Equally important, these positive results mean that Beaucastel can avoid the escalating need for chemical remedies that invariably follows their over use. Bravo!

Let's go into the winery now to similate our mega fast tour. I was impressed by the hyper clean and very modern looking equipment at the receiving and processing end of the winery. This was in marked contrast to the much more ancient looking barrels and foudres on display near the back. In the middle were a bunch of tile-lined concrete fermentation vats that represented, I thought, a nice middle ground between the steel at one end and the old wood at the other. This was my third winery visit in the Rhone and the third at which I'd seen concrete fermentation vats. Seems to be de rigeur around these parts.

"A breathing box, not a flavoring box."
This is how Fabrice explained Beaucastel's philosophy about the oak they use. Much of it is old, and this is just fine for them: the purpose of the oak is to allow the wine to slowly breathe through its porous surface as it matures and improves. It's not to enhance or flavor it. Fabrice then cued up another totally appropriate simile when he announced, "it's the story that must carry a movie, not the special effects."
I completely agree. For the ladies out there, Fabrice offered a more feminine comparison as well: "It's also like plastic surgery. It can be used to ENHANCE, but it should not BE." Enough said.

Here's a pic of a tile-lined concrete fermentation vat. Fabrice explained that the enamel lining from the tiles allows them to more precisely control the temperature in the tanks. For making whites, this is critical because, again, a simile: "making whites is like making pastry: it's very precise, and you don't have much time to goof."

"Wine, food & love punctuate the best moments of our lives."
Another Francois gem. And so, you must be wondering - what did we taste? Perhaps I should say, what DIDN'T we taste?! Fabrice and Beaucastel were - and this seems to be a trend in this region - really generous with the amount and range of wines they allowed us to try. We tasted a total of 8 wines including selections from the Perrin family's (owners of Beaucastel) various ventures and vineyards, including some Cotes du Rhone offerings, appellation-specific Rhone reds including two excellent offerings from Vinsobres and Gigondas, their celebrated second label Coudoulet de Beaucastel, and three different vintages of Chateauneuf du Pape ('04, '00, and '90).

Here are some brief notes I took on the wines:
- 2004 Beaucastel Blanc (80% Roussanne, 15% Grenache Blanc, 5% other white)
banana, peach, some refreshing honeysuckle, macadamia nuts & flowers. Good.
- 2004 Reserve Perrin Cotes du Rhone (various Rhone reds)
pepper, ripe plum, raisin, earth; tastes like Cotes du Rhone should. Good.
- 2004 Vinsobres Perrin & Fils "Les Cornuds" (50% Grenache, 50% Syrah)
*Vinsobres is a small semi mountainous village in the northern Cotes du Rhone that produces firm reds
Smells like black olives!; pepper and black fruit as well; lots of pepper. Good to very good.
- 2004 Gigondas "La Gille"
* Gigondas is a village with its own appellation further north in the Rhone; mountainous
Very fine and lighter in color. Smells like a bunch of herbs, including lavender; black fruit as well. Very good.
- Coudoulet de Beaucastel (red blend akin to Chateauneuf du Pape)
* made from a single vineyard owned by the Perrin family just outside Chateauneuf du Pape appellation
Sorry, forgot to write down the vintage on this one! Up front fruit, licorice, caramel, nutty; subdued and mellow on the palate, with a Sherry-like essence on the finish. I really like this wine. Good to very good.
- 2004 Beaucastel Chateuneuf du Pape (red blend of 13 varieties)
This was bottled a week and a half before we tasted. It was really up-front with its fruit, and drinking pretty well given the limited bottle time. Good.
- 2000 Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape (red blend of 13 varieties)
Madeirized-seeming and nutty. Lovely perfume! Thyme, plum, blackberry, leather and saddle leather. Very good.
- 1990 Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape (red blend of 13 varieties)
Same as above, only with more depth: leather, pomegranate, earth. Excellent.

Although I didn't get to meet the family behind the Beaucastel operation as I had on my two previous Rhone area visits, I sensed the same passion for the region's wines paired with an undercurrent of humility that I had perceived on the other visits. Besides Fabrice's obvious passion for the place, I sensed this on reading, of all things!, the Beaucastel corporate brochure Fabrice handed me when I was leaving. The last page features a picture of members of the Perrin family in the stony vineyards outside the place along with the following really lovely copy:

"We want to preserve the spirit of craftsmanship in our business. Behind the wines of Beaucastel lie human beings, as they make the wines.
By respecting the traditions of our fore-bearers, Beaucastel is a noble and honest wine, made from grapes that are grown in a natural way. One cannot make good wines without having good grapes, but one also needs experience and talent to be a successful winemaker."

I really like that they included this, and I left my visit feeling, although it had been somewhat rushed, extremely satisfied with my wine visits in the Rhone and already looking forward to coming back. Only next time I'll make sure to allow plenty of time to find the elusive A7 en route to Beaucastel.

www.beaucastel.com

Bonus: some pics of the village of Chateauneuf du Pape