Château de Beaucastel

Château de Beaucastel – A family legacy from the southern Rhône Valley

Château de Beaucastel is one of the most significant and time-honoured estates in the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation in the southern Rhône Valley. With 110 hectares of vineyards, it is one of the largest estates in the region and is situated on its northern border.

The estate’s origins date back to the 16th century: in 1549, a certain Pierre de Beaucastel acquired a property in Coudoulet, where his descendants built a manor house and remained in residence for 200 years. At the end of the 19th century, the vineyards were devastated by phylloxera. The owner at the time, Élie Dussaud, did not replant them, but instead sold the estate in 1909 to Pierre Tramier, who replanted the vineyards and passed the estate on to his son-in-law, Pierre Perrin. Today, Beaucastel is run by the fourth generation of the family, the brothers François and Jean Perrin; their father, Jacques Perrin, a highly regarded winemaker in the Rhône Valley, established three guiding principles: natural winemaking, a high proportion of Mourvèdre, and the avoidance of modern techniques that might distort the wine’s natural character.

The terroir is archetypal of the finest sites in Châteauneuf-du-Pape: pebbles on the surface, with sand, clay and limestone beneath. The vines have been cultivated organically since the 1950s and biodynamically since 1974 – long before these terms became fashionable. Beaucastel cultivates all thirteen grape varieties authorised by the appellation, with Grenache and Mourvèdre dominating at 30 per cent each. Each variety is harvested individually by hand; the reductive varieties Mourvèdre and Syrah are fermented in oak barrels, whilst all others are fermented in concrete tanks. Following malolactic fermentation, the cuvée is blended and aged for a year in large oak casks.

The estate’s philosophy is characterised by an uncompromising respect for the terroir: ‘Accompany the vine, never force it’. For lovers of great Rhône wines, Beaucastel offers the rare opportunity to experience a wine that bears the hallmark of one of France’s most distinguished winemaking families and has maintained an impressive continuity over more than five generations.