Weren't they all white?

Perrin “Château de Beaucastel” 1999 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc (Rhône) – Wax and peach skins. Sun-dried flowers. Quince. Less weighty than a Zind Humbrecht with which it is paired, which says more about the ZH than it does about this wine. Very nice. (7/11)

Pretty palace

Beaucastel 1996 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rouge (Rhône) – I drink so little young Châteauneuf these days that I forget how good it can be. And make no mistake: this is still young CdP. The preludes of meat, herb, raisined (but not jammy) fruit, and so forth are all here, but still bundled in a very primary structure. The end result is powerful, long, and nowhere near ready yet. (7/10)

Beaucastels in the sky

Perrin “Château de Beaucastel” 1996 Châteauneuf-du-Pape (Rhône) – Coming out of its difficult phase, but only just, and as such it’s somewhat evasive. The meat-smoke, bacon liqueur elements are only teasingly in place, there’s a strong but backgrounded residue of dried plum, and the minerality at the core is left rather bare and exposed by the wine’s reluctance to rise from its sleep. As such, the structure dominates. This needs some more waiting. (2/08)

Coudoulet your hands on me

Perrin “Coudoulet de Beaucastel” 2005 Côtes-du-Rhône (Rhône) – Bursting with ripe fruit, all fresh and upfront but with a solid pulse underneath. There are hints and shades of the earthier/meatier aspects, but they’re pretty much buried under the berried fruit right now. A lot of fun, nicely balanced, and surpassingly drinkable. (2/08)