From the vault – Bonneau v Beaucastel

Image


By chance, I came across tasting notes made at a 2000 comparative tasting of the Châteauneufs of the famous Henri Bonneau and Ch de Beaucastel just after having the chance to compare two of the wines again (blind) over a dinner earlier this month. The 2000 tasting was organised by London retailer La Réserve and was hosted by Rhône expert John Livingstone-Learmonth. The most extraordinary thing is how little the Bonneau Célestins seems to have aged in the nine intervening years.

The notes are presented below, in the order the wines were tasted, first for the tasting a decade ago...