Robert Parker (94)
The 2014 Châteauneuf du Pape is one of the few inky colored wines in the vintage. Medium to full-bodied, concentrated and ripe with notable tannin, it offers beautiful notes of blackberry, shitake mushrooms, licorice and pepper meats. It plays in the 2014 vintage’s forward, supple nature, but has real depth and concentration. I don’t think it will be the longest lived Beaucastel, but it will have 15-20 years of overall longevity.
James Suckling (91)
A solid core of kirsch and raspberry compote stands out here, with light savory, pepper and shiso leaf notes peeking in. Stays fresh and sleek through the finish, revealing an echo of warm stones at the very end.
BOW (8.25)
Owen Bargreen (96)
The 2014 Chateau de Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape has evolved considerably since its release roughly two years ago and is utterly delicious at this point in its evolution. The wine shows best following a one hour decant. Once aroused this beautiful wine opens with a bright bouquet of Provencale herbs, green peppercorns, cigar box and copious dark fruits that all marvelously mingle together in the glass. Deep and seductive, the wine has a gloriously rich texture and a silky smooth mouthfeel as it gracefully glides across the mid-palate. The wine unveils intense flavors of green olive tapenade, red currant, bacon fat, blackberry cobbler and green peppercorn with herbal and peat moss undertones that build on the palate. The combination of weight and minerality is stunning here. Highly pleasurable now, the wine will have an exceedingly long life in the cellar.
