Château de Beaucastel, Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2020

If you don't like Mouvèdre, look away. The heady perfume dominates the nose and then the palate of this dark, seriously lovely wine. Black, gamey fruit and liquorice. A "wow" wine which has every chance of being one of the most beautiful Beaucastels I have tasted. That said, tasted in late 2025, it still needs plenty of time to fully reveal itself.

Drinking Dates: 2025 to 2040

Cépagement: 30% Grenache, 30% Mourvèdre, 10% Syrah, 10% Counoise, 5% Cinsault, 15% other varieties

Soil: Diluvial alpine deposits with rolled pebbles over a former molasse sea bed of the Miocene epoch (tertiary period)

Upbringing: Handpicking and hand-sorting is followed by flash heating of the berries to 80°C and cooling to 20°C. Classic maceration in open-topped wooden vats for Syrah and Mourvèdre and in lined concrete vats for the other varieties.

ABV: 14.5%

'The 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape has lots of Mourvèdre character in its bright red and blue fruits as well as spice, pepper, and assorted meaty nuances. With medium to full-bodied richness on the palate, it shows the fresh, elegant, yet still nicely concentrated style of the vintage and is unquestionably another impressive, classic vintage for this cuvée. It should offer some pleasure in its youth as well as evolve for 20+ years in cold cellars.' 93-95/100 (Jeb Dunnock)