Mystery Wine

[HAW]

Received this wine as a gift--Chateau de Beaucastel 1996 Chateauneuf-Du-Pape. I do not speak French therefore have no idea if this is a red or white, etc. Can anyone help idetify it so I can drink it properly?

[Scoop]

You've got a good friend. Chateau de Beaucastel is one of the best, most consistent producers in the famous wine-producing district (appellation) of Chateauneuf-Du-Pape in the Southern Rhone. Owned by the Perrin family, Beaucastel produces both a white and red, great wines with potential for age. The whites are big, made I believe from Rousanne and Marsanne, and the delicious red is a blend of 13 different grape varieties (principally Grenache, but also a healthy dose of Mouvedre). Incredible black fruit, herbs, and leather come to mind. IMO one of the world's great wines.

Enjoy, but not too soon.

Scoop

[Thomas]

If it is red the word rouge might appear on the label; if white, the word blanc.

You can hold it up to the light and likely see if the wine is dark (red) or clear (white).

[misterjive]

Scoop nailed it, and I agree that Beaucastel is one of the tops. In the Oxford Companion to Wine (which I quote from approximately ten times per posting), Robinson notes that Ch de B. is "one of the most rigorous producers of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, and one of the few to cultivate the entire 13 permitted varieties." She goes on to write that for white C-d-P, "there is considerable variation in the proportions of Grenache Blanc, Clairette, Bourboulenc, and Roussanne planted, although Ch de Beaucastel have demonstrated that a varietal Roussane can be a worthy candidate for barrel maturation." Now, does this mean that Beaucastel's white is principally Roussanne, and do they include the other, more idiosyncratic varieties? I'm not sure, but the bottom line is that HAW absolutely MUST tell us if this is a white or red wine!!! [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif[/img]