jamie goode's wine blog: Beaucastel 07 at the Majestic press tasting today

Friday, October 16, 2009

Beaucastel 07 at the Majestic press tasting today

I really enjoyed the Majestic press tasting today. There were lots of really good new wines, affordable and more expensive, and I'll be featuring them here over the next few weeks, along with the other highlights from the last two weeks of intensive tasting activity. It's so good to see the likes of Donnhof, Gunderloch and Nikolaihof make an appearance on their list.

My impression is that the Majestic range is improving. That's really good news. From recent experience, I think the Oddbins range is also improving. The recent Waitrose press tasting was really good; M&S was good too. Could it be that things are looking up for wine lovers?

One of the treats today was a look at the 2007 Beaucastel. This is a property I have a semi-sentimental attachment to, in that when I was getting into wine, this was one of the legendary names I was besotted by. The 2007 has immense potential; it is showing a bit of that already.

Chateau de Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape 2007 Southern Rhone, France
Sweet but focused berry and plum nose is elegant, fine and fresh. The palate is warm and complex with dense red berry and dark cherry fruit with fine grained tannins and good acidity. Rich but balanced with lovely elegance and definition, this is quite a pure expression of this wine that has great potential for development. 92/100, but this score will likely improve over time. (£50 Majestic)

Labels: , ,

4 Comments:

At 6:13 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

£50?!!!!

 
At 7:53 PM, Anonymous Steve said...

God, I remember when this was seven quid a bottle at Oddbins. I worked there and it was our house red. As usual, when Americans get a taste for something, everyone else is priced out of it.

 
At 9:42 PM, Anonymous Alex Lake said...

Wow, you must be old, Steve! ;-)

I remember buying 1990 from Oddbins for £14.25 - what a bargain that was! What's that in real terms today? Maybe £40ish so perhaps £50 not so ridiculous?

 
At 9:44 PM, Anonymous Alex Lake said...

PS - just looked at some CPI figures and I'm way out! £14.25 17 years ago would be just £21 in today's money.

 

Post a Comment

Links to this post:

Create a Link

<< Home