Château de Beaucastel Vieilles Vignes Roussanne Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2021

Great concentration this year, making for a really intense, sappy Roussanne; pear tarte tatin flavours, alongside the intense cigar tobacco, cedar and sandalwood. Dense and concentrated, it’s weightier than the 2020 vintage, and riper and denser than most 2021 Châteauneuf blancs. Huge length. The oaking is robust, it shows quite strongly so give this time. All aged in oak, half new, half one-year-old, mostly demi-muids. Drinking window: 2024-2034. Score – 98. (Matt Walls, decanter.com, Dec. 2, 2022)