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1998 Chateau de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Not Currently In Auction

Latest Sale Price

March 10, 2024 - $130

Estimate

RATINGS

96Wine Enthusiast

A big, rich wine with huge amounts of fruit oozing out of the glass. Great concentration and intensity, with licorice flavors from the Mourvèdre, finishing with chewy tannins. A great year for this wine...

95Jeb Dunnuck

Beautifully fresh and clean, with gorgeous underlying structure and depth, yet still youthful and meaty, with hints of complexity...

94Wine Spectator

Distinctive, very monolithic, clean, pure and crisp, with fresh fruit zipping along the palate. Turning a bit tough and tannic, it holds back a lot now, delivering little seduction, hiding well its leather, game, truffle and black fruit...

93Stephen Tanzer

...grenache-dominated aromas of roasted plum, cherry jam, tar and humus. Fat, lush and stuffed with fruit; almost heavy today compared to the '99. But this is utterly silky and its firm underlying structure is buried by fruit and baby fat..

92Robert M. Parker Jr.

...open-knit, complex notes of tree bark, black cherries, licorice, seaweed, pepper, and floral notes in the 1998 Beaucastel. The wine is medium to full-bodied, has nice, sweet tannins, and is surprisingly open and approachable....

18Jancis Robinson

Scented and fresh, still showing some red fruit and a touch of vanilla. Elegant and silky. Lingers with flavours of thyme and a hint of bitter chocolate. 'A Grenache vintage', according to Marc Perrin.

REGION

France, Rhône Valley, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the appellation, is a large area of nearly 8,000 vineyard acres centered around the picturesque town of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Located in southeastern France just north of the Avignon hills, the name of the appellation means “new castle of the pope” and it is a reference to the 14th century, when the Popes of Avignon built summer homes in the Southern Rhone Valley. Today the appellation is one of the most renowned in France and its terroir is known for layers of small pebbles, called “galets.” The stones in the soil are thought to help store heat and keep the soil warm, which helps ripen the grapes. The stones also help keep the soil from drying out in hot summer months. In 1923 Châteauneuf-du-Pape was a leader in establishing the idea that AOC wines in France should be made only with specified grapes, and the appellation allowed 13 grape varieties to be used. Since then the rules have been slightly modified to include several more allowable grapes. Red and white wines are produced, though in practice about 97% of all Châteauneuf –du-Papes are reds made with a blend of Grenache Noir, Cinsault, Counoise, Mourvedre, Muscardine, Syrah and Vaccarese. The red wines of this appellation are prized for being big, rich, spicy and full-bodied. White wines of the appellation are made with Grenache Blanc, Clairette, Bourboulenc, Roussanne, Picpoul and Picardin. Whites are floral, fruity and relatively full-bodied.