Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Serve with roast rack of lamb with salted pistachio crust.

Château de Beaucastel is 110 hectares, with one single plot at the north of the appellation. The terroir is archetypal of the best terroirs in Châteauneuf: rolled pebbles on the surface, sand, clay and limestone deeper down. The vines are old and have been organically grown for 50 years, which has allowed the roots to grow exceptionally deep. Beaucastel grows all thirteen grape varieties authorized by the appellation.

The blend is then aged in oak Foudres for a year before being bottled.

Each variety is harvested separately and manually. Vinification takes place in oak fermenters for the reductive varieties (Mourvèdre, Syrah) and in traditional enameled concrete tanks for the Oxidative grapes (all the others). Once the malolactic fermentation is finished, the Famille Perrin blends the different varieties.

In 1549 Noble Pierre de Beaucastel bought a barn with its land holdings containing 25 saumées at Coudoulet. More than four centuries later this remarkable domaine known today as Chateau de Beaucastel is producing what most people acknowledge to be the finest wines of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. In 1903 a young chemical engineer and mathematics professor named Pierre Perrin together with his father-in-law began to restore the domaine following the ravages of phylloxera. His son Jacques Perrin took over the domaine in 1953 and introduced many innovations such as improved grape varietals integrated pest control and a flash-heat exchanger. Today the third and fourth generations of Perrins François and Jean-Pierre and Jean-Pierre's sons Pierre Marc and Thomas continue in the tradition of their father and grandfather. The vineyards of Beaucastel are treated as a garden: no chemical fertilizer no chemical week killers or sprays are permitted. Organic fertilizer comes from compost and only a minimum of traditional sulphur-copper spray is used in the vineyards. The vineyards are planted in all the traditional grapes of Chateauneuf-du-Pape: Grenache Mourvèdre Syrah Cinsault Vaccarese Counoise Terret Noir Muscardin Clairette Picpoul Picardin Bourboulenc Roussanne.