“Coudoulet de Beaucastel” Côtes-du-Rhône 2021 – Château de Beaucastel

A quarter of Beaucastel’s 100 hectares lie just beyond the Châteauneuf-du-pape appellation boundary. It is the fruit from the vines grown here which make up the excellent Côtes-du-Rhône: ‘Coudoulet de Beaucastel’. Given the proximity of the vineyards to Châteauneuf-du-pape, this wine is often dubbed a ‘baby Beaucastel’. The soils are classic sand, clay and limestone, carpeted with galets, the region’s archetypal pudding stones, which help the grapes to ripen by retaining the daytime heat and releasing it at night. In addition to prime vineyard holdings, the Perrin family are pioneers of sustainable farming, having converted to organic viticulture as early as 1950 and having farmed biodynamically since 1974.