"Joe Czerwinski (Robert Parker) 91-93/100
Tasted as a sample blended from several foudres, the 2018 Cotes du Rhone Coudoulet de Beaucastel features scents of sun-warmed stones and ripe raspberries. Medium to full-bodied, it's plush and open-knit, already giving a lot of pleasure, and finishing zesty and long. Drink Date 2020 - 2028. August 2019, The Wine Advocate
Jeb Dunnock 89-91/100
Offers a pretty, medium to full-bodied, elegant profile that’s a great introduction into the 2018 vintage. Complex notes of garrigue, peppery spice and dark fruits all emerge from this nuanced, balanced effort that will drink well right out of the gate."
The 30 hectares of Coudoulet are located just east of the vineyard of Beaucastel on the other side of the A7 motorway. For reasons that have now become obvious, Coudoulet is often considered the baby Beaucastel. The Coudoulet soil has many similarities to that of Beaucastel. It is made out of Molasse seabed covered by diluvial alpine deposits. These pebbles called 'Galets Roulés' play a big role: They take in the heat during the day and let it if off slowly at night which gives a good start to the vines in the Spring.
Each variety is harvested manually and separately, then sorted in the cellar. The harvest is heated to 80°C (skins) and then cooled down to 20°C. Classic maceration occurs in cement tanks for 12 days. Pressing in pneumatic presses. Blending of the different varietals after malolactic fermentation. Ageing in Oak Foudres for 6 months.
Perrin says, 'For me, 2018 is a top vintage. The tannins are long and deep.' Interestingly, the family is moving away from stainless steel for its red wines, using more and more concrete instead.
After an episode of drought throughout 2017, rain arrived in November. The mild winter enabled the teams to prune the vineyard in the most favourable days of the lunar calendar according to the principles of biodynamics. This precise work promoted a balanced vegetation and avoided any requirement for disbudding.
A good vegetative period followed until flowering which, thanks to the Mistral wind, took place in ideal conditions and created a potentially huge crop. All looked set for a perfect vintage, however, as the mercury began to rise, the amount of rain that followed, between early May and late June, made the vineyard work much more difficult and complicated than usual. The appellations of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Côtes du Rhône experienced a strong attack of mildew, especially on Grenache, a more sensitive variety that was the first to be affected. (The Gigondas appellation area was spared by the rain and therefore did not suffer any crop loss).
The dry, hot, good weather came back from July 1 to August 15 with plenty of high temperatures. A storm of 100 mm on August 15th was the last rainfall of the season. The good weather then lasted throughout the harvest, allowing us to pick each parcel at perfect maturity. The red grape harvest began on 7th September with Syrah in Côtes du Rhône, followed by Grenache, Mourvèdre and Carignan. The harvest ended on October 5th in Vinsobres.
The alcoholic fermentations went well: during the maceration we favoured soft extractions with daily pumping over. The malolactic fermentations started spontaneously at the beginning of November on all the wines. In 2018, the wines of Châteauneuf-du-Pape have a beautiful aromatic complexity with a nice balance, Gigondas are silky and elegant, the Vinsobres more round and opulent.
