Many good wineries whose offerings are too expensive for the typical pocketbook put out “Second Label “ wines. Generally, these are from grapes that didn’t make the first cut for quality, or are blended with grapes from outside the premier wine’s region. Most of the classified chateaux in Bordeaux bottle a second label, as do the big guns of Napa. Opus One only sells it’s second label , called Overture, at the winery. At about $40, that’s about one fourth the cost of the premier label. Still not cheap, but for the incremental decrease in quality, it’s a bargain.
This week, I stumbled onto the second label from Chateau de Beaucastel, a premium make in the Southern Rhone of France. The premium wine is a Chateauneuf du Pape, and is routinely one of the better, and more costly wines of the region. Second label Coudoulet de Beaucastel is a Cotes-du-Rhone, required because some of the grapes are purchased and are from outside of the Chateauneuf region. Parker weighed in at 89 points for this 2003 effort, and promised that the 2004 would exceed that. My notes include wonderful dark cherry, tar and a dense mouth feel. I picture this with something gamey, duck or even rabbit, slow cooked and with a fruit demi-glace. The long finish tells of it’s quality, and the herbs and spices on the nose deliver differing nuances to each sip.
Carytown Wine and Beer stocks this at $33, and for a nice dinner or other special occasion, you might grab a bottle of this and enjoy what the “Old World” does best.
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