User:Corkcollector/Château de Beaucastel

Château de Beaucastel is a French wine estate in the Châteauneuf du Pape appellation of the Southern Rhône valley owned and operated by members of the Perrin family.

History
The Château de Beaucastel estate is located near the town of Courtezon, in the eastern part of the Châteauneuf du Pape appellation. The name Beaucastel comes from Pierre de Beaucastel, a Huguenot land-owner who purchased the lands making up the estate in 1549. Grapes have been grown on the property since at least the 1830s.

The estate was purchased by Pierre Tramier in 1909 and later passed on to his son-in-law Pierre Perrin. The estate has since been owned and operated by subsequent generations of the Perrin Family including Jacques Perrin until 1978. Château de Beaucastel is currently owned and run by the brothers François and Jean Pierre Perrin, sons of Jacques. François Perrin is the current wine maker. Marc, Pierre, Thomas and Mattheiu Perrin, the fifth generation of the Perrin Family and sons of François and Jean Pierre, are beginning to take over the winemaking duties at Château de Beaucastel.

Vineyard
The vineyards are approximately 100 hectares (247 acres) in area [3] Its vines are predominantly Grenache (30 %), Mourvèdre (30 %), Syrah (10 %) and Cinsault (5 %), with the remaining 25 % comprising Picpoul, Terret Noir, Counoise, Muscardin, Vaccarèse, Picardan, Clairette, Roussanne and Bourboulenc. The average age of the vines is around 60 years.

The vineyards are organically managed. Some of the biodynamic grape growing methods of Rudolph Steiner are also followed in the vineyard, including eschewing or minimizing the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides.

Wines
Château de Beaucastel produces approximately 335,000 bottles of primarily red wine per year. All of the grapes are hand-picked and totally de-stemmed prior to vinification

Each of the 13 different grape varieties allowed in Châteauneuf du Pape, including separately free-run and press juice, is vinified separately resulting in 26 different wines. Blending of different proportions of these components year to year results in marked vintage variation.[5]

The estate produces a red (Rouge) and white (Blanc) under its eponymous label, which represents its grand vins. The Rouge is a blend of primarily Grenache and Mourvèdre. The Blanc is primarily Rousanne. Both wines are considered by many to be the finest red and white wines produced in Châteauneuf du Pape.

Château de Beaucastel uses much less juice from Grenache grapes in its red blend than most other wine estates in Châteauneuf-du-Pape to achieve a more structured and less alcoholic wine. The wine is typically 30 % Mourvèdre, 30 % Grenache, 10 % Syrah, 5 % each of Muscardin, Vaccarèse and Cinsault, and small quantities of the other seven varieties.[6] The traditional method used to produce the Château de Beaucastel Rouge, vinification à chaud, was developed by Jacques Perrin, and involves heating the grapes with steam to 80 °C (176 °F) for around 1.5 minutes to improve the extraction of color and to kill bacteria, which also reduces the need to use sulphur and cultured yeasts to make the wine. The grape skins are punched down regularly during vatting. The wine undergoes full malolactic fermentation. Unlike many fine wines, François Perrin does not use any new wood in making his wines. Rather, the reds are aged in large, used, oak foudres for up to 14 months before bottling, and then aged in the bottle an additional year before being released to the public.

The Château de Beaucastel Blanc is typically 80 % Rousanne and 15 % Grenache Blanc and also undergoes full malolactic fermentation.[4,6] One third is barrel fermented and the other two thirds are fermented in stainless steel tanks before being combined for the final blend.[4]

Other labels
Other wines produced include an old vine white, Vieilles Vingnes, made entirely from Rousanne, Côtes du Rhône Coudoulet de Beaucastel red (Rouge) and white (Blanc), Côtes du Luberon La Vieille Ferme red (Rouge) and white (Blanc), and Côtes du Rhône Grand Prebois red (Rouge). [4] In years producing exceptional quality Mourvèdre fruit, the wine Hommage à Jacques Perrin is produced as an homage to the family Patriarch, whom was a staunch proponent of the grape.[4,5] It is made from primarily Mourvèdre (60 %) and Syrah (20 %), with small amounts of Counoise and Grenache.