Cellar Series : Chateauneuf du Pape – a tête-à-tête

The third of IWFS Capital Branch’s Cellar Series ventures to Chateauneuf-du-Pape in France’s Southern Rhone. For centuries, the Chateauneuf du Pape region has been admired for producing beautifully complex, warm-climate red wines from 13 different grape varieties, but mainly focused on grenache, syrah and mourvèdre. The wines are rich in ripe fruit but lifted by flavours of dried herbs and florality. The wines gloriously shout ‘Mediterranean!’

This time, instead of a survey of wines from across the renowned region, we offer a special head-to-head conversation (not competition!) between two of its leading producers – Clos des Papes and Chateau de Beaucastel.

Clos des Papes is one of the classic estates of Chateauneuf du Pape, founded by Paul Avril who began producing wine in 1896. The estate is a traditional ‘one estate, one wine’ domain that produces only one cuvee each of red and white wine. Grenache is two-thirds of the blend, followed by Mourvedre. The rest is Syrah with small amounts of Vaccarese, Cuonoise and Muscardin.

Chateau de Beaucastel was initially run by Pierre Perrin when he married into an olive oil merchant family in 1909. Beaucastel is well known for its commitment to maintaining all 13 traditional grape varieties in Chateauneuf. The red wine is based on a high proportion of Mourvedre with an equal proportion of Grenache.

We will fill the evening by describing the deep history of the region, and how winemaking has been evolving to redefine style and express terroir.

Join us at 67 Pall Mall for a carefully curated selection of properly aged wines from these two properties. Our line-up highlights a mature top-end 1994 Chateau de Beaucastel Hommage a Jacques Perrin. By showcasing wines up to 34 years old, we explore how these famous wines age over long spans of time – both their similarities and differences.

The list of wines to be tasted are below. Most of the bottles have been sourced directly from members’ private cellars. The wines will be preceded by a refreshing glass of French bubbly, and accompanied by a three-course dinner from 67 Pall Mall's celebrated kitchen.

Welcome Drink: French sparkling wine

Flight One: 2010 Clos des Papes vs. 2010 Chateau de Beaucastel

Flight Two: 2005 Chateau de Beaucastel vs. 2004 Clos des Papes

Flight Three: 1994 Chateau de Beaucastel Hommage a Jacques Perrin vs. 1990 Clos des Papes