Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2021

A deep, quite herbal expression, with liquorice and crushed blueberries to the cassis fruit. Full-bodied, powerfully fruited, dense and deep. Really mouthcoating, intense fruit. The tannins are ripe, fine and plentiful, all saturated in blackberry juice on a long finish. Certainly one of the more successful Châteauneufs this year. Will age well. A Mourvèdre-led expression of Beaucastel – it contains more than usual, at least 35% and probably more. Grenache and Cinsault fermented in cement, Syrah and Mourvèdre fermented in foudre. Drinking window: 2030-2045. Score – 96. (Matt Walls, decanter.com, Dec. 2, 2022)