Château Beauchêne ‘Hommage’, Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2015

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Château Beauchêne Hommage, Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2015 is made up of mainly Grenache. The nose is very young, shows some lees within its bright cherry, redcurrant fruit. It’s an expressive start. The palate offers a good weave of close-knit, upbeat fruit and tannin, a tight bundle, with the tannins firm for the late stages. This has a good, naked quality, with freshness on the agenda and some mineral-rocky elements adding intrigue. It’s a wine of integrity, not obvious, has fine detail, pure juice, as it finishes, with smoky bacon, pepper touches.

Chateau Beauchene Hommage a Odette Bernard is culled from the best barrels that would normally be placed in the Grande Reserve. The wine receives an extended period of barrel ageing as well. The wine is produced from blending 85% Grenache with Mourvedre. The terroir a mix of galets and sandy soils. The wine is aged using a small portion of new, French oak casks, while the remainder of the wine is aged in used, French oak barrels and tank for 18 months. Amandine Bernard – the daughter fo the original owner of Château Beauchêne, the family’s first vineyard – purchased in 1794 – is still in use today. And with her parents running the estate since 1971 (her father being the former head of the confederation of Rhône producers), there’s very little the family doesn’t know about the region and its wines. Winemaking at the Chateau is hugely sustainable, having been awarded an HEV (High Environmental Value) High Environmental Value (HEV) is based on environmental performance indicators that cover the entire estate. The certification makes it possible to certify that the elements of biodiversity (hedges, grass strips, trees, flowers, insects, etc.) are very widely present on the farm and that the pressure of agricultural practices on the environment (air, climate, water, soil, biodiversity, landscapes) is reduced to a minimum.

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