Winemaker Notes
Superb gold color, clear and shiny. The nose reveals a magnificent, very fresh and particularly floral aromatic bouquet dominated by delicate notes of white flowers. Of great elegance, the palate offers a perfect balance between roundness, finesse and complexity with tasty aromas of peaches and citrus fruit, a silky, soft and refined texture and very nice freshness. The finish is long thanks to a fine bitterness which brings a delicate saline note. A wonderful vintage of Beaucastel white.
Blend: 80% Roussanne, 15% Grenache Blanc, 5% Picardan, Clairette, & Bourboulenc
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2022 Châteauneuf Du Pape Blanc brings another level of precision and focus. Honeyed quince, white flowers, honeysuckle, chalky minerality, and toasted spice notes all define the aromatics, and it's medium to full-bodied, with beautiful mid-palate depth and a remarkable sense of freshness while staying rich and textured.
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James Suckling
Fantastic nose of cooked apricots, a wide spectrum of candied fruit and toasted nuts. Full-bodied, concentrated and creamy, with a very caressing texture on the mid palate and a very long finish that has great restrained power. From organically grown grapes.
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Decanter
An aromatic vintage at this stage, with honeyed pear and honeysuckle characters. Full, round and generous, with plenty of glycerol, all cut through by a strong beam of acidity. Alcohol is just gently warming. Certainly a rich vintage, all about power, weight and ripeness.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Roughly 80% Roussanne, with the balance a mix of other permitted white varieties, Beaucastel's 2022 Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc is a fine, fine effort. Tangerine and peach notes are plump and round on the full-bodied palate, which is quite rich and plush in feel yet long and harmonious on the finish. The ability to be so ripe and sumptuous yet balanced is truly remarkable.
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Wine Spectator
An alluring, generous white, with a lot of pleasure to the honey-coated quince and apple notes, cut with pithy acidity and a chalky mineral layer. Density builds as this unwinds in the glass, with toasted almond, green herb and white blossom details adding complexity. Long, with impressive focus to the concentrated and full yet fresh finish. Delicious. Roussanne, Grenache Blanc, Clairette and Bourboulenc.
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Vinous
Fragrant honeysuckle, lemon peel, white peach and ripe pear aromas highlight the delicious 2022 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc. Vibrant and focused, it checks in at 14% alcohol and delivers a mouthful of gorgeous white Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
Full-bodied and flavorful, white Rhône blends originate from France’s Rhône Valley. Today these blends are also becoming popular in other regions. Typically some combination of Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier form the basis of a white Rhône blend with varying degrees of flexibility depending on the exact appellation. Somm Secret—In the Northern Rhône, blends of Marsanne and Roussanne are common but the south retains more variety. Marsanne, Roussanne as well as Bourboulenc, Clairette, Picpoul and Ugni Blanc are typical.
Famous for its full-bodied, seductive and spicy reds with flavor and aroma characteristics reminiscent of black cherry, baked raspberry, garrigue, olive tapenade, lavender and baking spice, Châteauneuf-du-Pape is the leading sub-appellation of the southern Rhône River Valley. Large pebbles resembling river rocks, called "galets" in French, dominate most of the terrain. The stones hold heat and reflect it back up to the low-lying gobelet-trained vines. Though the galets are typical, they are not prominent in every vineyard. Chateau Rayas is the most obvious deviation with very sandy soil.
According to law, eighteen grape varieties are allowed in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and most wines are blends of some mix of these. For reds, Grenache is the star player with Mourvedre and Syrah coming typically second. Others used include Cinsault, Counoise and occasionally Muscardin, Vaccarèse, Picquepoul Noir and Terret Noir.
Only about 6-7% of wine from Châteauneuf-du-Pape is white wine. Blends and single-varietal bottlings are typically based on the soft and floral Grenache Blanc but Clairette, Bourboulenc and Roussanne are grown with some significance.
The wine of Chateauneuf-du-Pape takes its name from the relocation of the papal court to Avignon. The lore says that after moving in 1309, Pope Clément V (after whom Chateau Pape-Clément in Pessac-Léognan is named) ordered that vines were planted. But it was actually his successor, John XXII, who established the vineyards. The name however, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, translated as "the pope's new castle," didn’t really stick until the 19th century.