Chateau de Beaucastel 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape Rouge 750ml

The 2009 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape had just been bottled at the time of the tasting but you wouldn’t know it by tasting it. A blend of 30% Mourvèdre, 30% Grenache, 10% Syrah, 10% Counoise, and 20% assorted varieties, the wine delivers a superb aromatic display of kirsch and black cherry-like fruits to go with a solid dose of underlying meat, truffle, earth, and leather. Full-bodied and gorgeously concentrated through the middle, with fleshy, ripe fruit, good acidity, and an abundance of structure, this will ideally be left alone for 7-8 years and then consumed over the following two decades.

Score: 96 points -- Jeb Dunnock, jebdunnock.com, 2011