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Organic, schmorganic: It’s nothing new at Beaucastel
Perrin grandpere’s reasons were straightforward, “He wanted to have the best fruit he could. That’s the way to make the best wine. Exactly. It’s as simple as that,” said Mathieu.
Well, not so simple in Chateauneuf du Pape, for Perrin wanted all 13 permitted grapes at their varietal best, from Syrah down to Picpoul and Vaccarese. You might only use 1 percent in the mix, but that small drop must be, say Picpoul, at its best.
2007 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel (Paso Robles) - 95-97 Points, by Robert Parker's Wine Advaocate. ($49.99)
Most of these old grapes are no longer common and need to be tended carefully. Consider the winemaker’s crucial decision every year of the right time to start picking. At Beaucastel, that decision has to be made 13 times. “It’s a challenge,” Perrin said, “that’s why most people don’t grow them all.”
He’s glad the New World is planting Rhone grapes, including Paso Robles where the Perrins are involved in Tablas Creek. “You can make good wine every where in the world. The technology is easy,” he says by making wine that reflects the local terroir through those grape varieties. “You can only make Beaucastel here,” with the right mix of stony ground and chalk and the special rhythm of the temperatures in that patch of southern France.
Btw, the good vintages just keep coming, and Perrin notes that the 2009 vintage now in the very early stages looks to be the same classic as 2006.
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