2010 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rouge, Château de Beaucastel, Rhône

This is a classic blend of 30% Grenache, 30% Mourvèdre, 10% Syrah, 10% Counoise and the balance made up, as is traditional, of the other permitted varietals. Marc Perrin, in playful mood, describes the Grenache in terms of a beautiful lady, or even a firework, then the Mourvèdre as the discrete power behind the throne, growing ever more powerful over time and the Syrah as the structural intermediary, the go-between if you like, between the two. Leaving aside the dubious benefits of such personification, the wine does indeed impress with its forward and ripe fruit, but behind that with its grippy tannins and savoury weight at the back of the mouth. A triumphant future seems assured.
Simon Field MW, BBR Buyer, February 2012

Beaucastel occupies an almost homogenous 100 hectare plot in the north-east zone of the appellation, the zone which is perhaps the most resistant to rapid climate change as it is the most exposed to the Mistral and has a great number of the famous pudding stones, with their capacity to regulate excess temperature over the course of a day and a night. The reputation of the property continues to climb, its stewardship now secure in the hands of the next generation of Perrins. One of whom, the affable yet very industrious Marc, maintains that he has not seen a vintage better than 2010. For him the nearest comparisons are 1978 and 1962, the latter of which he will not have encountered personally, merely though the enviable library stock held at the property.