Great fruit in this one! Much less feral and rustic than I expected. Wow. — 9 days ago
Surprising amount of energy and lift for a wine of this type, still full bodied but leans more towards a medium red than heavy. Very soft tannins, blackberry forward with some plum, blueberry, a bit of raspberry & floral notes and cedar — 18 days ago


The 2017 Coudoulet de Beaucastel, which comes from its own vineyard neighbouring the property, just outside the appellation. The vineyard shares much of the same terroir as its namesake across the road, and this is evident in the character – and quality – of the wine. The nose is a dead ringer for Châteauneuf, with effusive aromas of jammy red fruit, Turkish delight, liquorice, star anise, wild herbs, and cherry liqueur. The palate adds flavours of blood orange and dried cranberry, with good concentration. There is some heat and the finish feels slightly clunky, which is a shame – but I can imagine in a strong vintage this wine must be a real steal. And plenty of life left for this 2017, so I’d certainly look for the ‘16 or ‘19 as an alternative.
A nice wine to enjoy during advent.
07/12/25 — 14 days ago
2023 vintage. Screw cap. Trader Joe’s selection. Have picked up a few bottles of this every year over the last decade just to have as haus wine-esp during the holidaze. This is the best vintage I’ve had. Structure. Fruit. Accessibility. It has rolled at $7.99 a bottle as long as I can remember. Grabbed a bottle without checking the price but assuming it’s still $10 or less. Drinking like it’s a $25 bottle. Picking up more this week. 11.18.28. — a month ago
Doug Powers
Gold Cap (Bessards-Meal blend), purchased at Marche-aux-Vins in Ampuis in January, 2009, this shows lovely aromatics of iron, mineral, some floral as well, very tight, structured palate with mostly black fruit flavors, clean, balanced, very long finish, ideally needs more cellaring, but I think I only bought 1 so that’s not happening, great Syrah from Hermitage!! — 3 days ago