DOMAINE DE BEAURENARD | Rasteau | Les Argiles Bleues | 2018
grenache | syrah

We will be evaluating wines in no particular order on no particular schedule. Just stay tuned and you will never miss our reviews. If the wine is tasted more than once, the rating table will be updated so as to reflect all the new impressions and observations.

Today we are are going to review a very intriguing wine that comes from one of France’s famous wine-growing sub-regions of the Southern Rhône – the delicate Rasteau – Rasteau Les Argiles Bleues 2018 by Domaine de Beaurenard. The village of Rasteau may have only been upgraded to AOC status in 2010, but Domaine de Beaurenard has been quietly making one of the village’s finest wines for decades. This particular wine is a blend of 80% old vine grenache (known as garnacha in Spain) and 20% syrah (also known as shiraz), where grenache forms the wine’s main body and structure, while syrah bring more tannin, color depth extract and delivers black fruits to the forefront and those famous spicy notes that are characteristic to many syrah/shiraz wines. Both grape varieties were sourced from old vineyards, planted in close proximity to the famous Châteauneuf-du-Pape sub-region, on pebbly-calcareous soils that are rich in blue clay (known locally as ‘les argiles bleues‘, hence the name of the wine). In order to add extra complexity to the final blend, but at the same time to preserve those delicate, terroir-driven flavours that both grape varieties are capable to deliver, the grenache grape variety has been aged only in stainless steel tanks, while the syrah variety has been matured for 12 months in big oak foudres. That said and without further ado, let’s take a look at the wine tasting results.
_________________________________________________________________________
Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:

//Visual
colour: medium-deep garnet color
clarity: hazy garnet shades on the rim

//Olfactory
intensity: pronounced & savory-earthy
fruit profile: red fruits
__red fruits: cranberry | redcurrant | sour cherry | red plum | pomegranate
fruit character: ripe & overripe

//Flavor
non fruit: spice | oak | earth | savory
__spice: red pepper | cloves | anise
__oak: cherry tree wood
__earth: clay | loam | marl | brown soil | pencil lead
__savory: iron | veal | new leather | brown olive | cured meat
primary layer: savory-earthy

//Palate
sweetness: bone dry
acidity: medium+
alcohol: high
tannin: medium
__grip: ripe
balance: good
__dominant: none
body: round | medium+

//Taste
fruit profile: red fruits
fruit character: ripe & overripe
non fruit: savory-earthy
finish: medium+
aftertaste: ripe & seedy

//Scoring
DOMAINE DE BEAURENARD | Rasteau | Les Argiles Bleues | 2018
variety: grenache | syrah
country: France
region: Rhône | Rasteau
rating: 94.2

//Conclusion
maturity: developing | drink now or age for up to 5 more years
verdict: great | a must try wine

//Prediction
predicted RP rating: 90+

//RP Rating
actual RP rating: ?

_________________________________________________________________________

This is definitely a great wine of France and, with a total of 94.2 points scored, this wine is right there, among the best wines we’ve rated so far. Check our complete database on the wine rating page, where you can find all the wines that we have tasted and reviewed or go to the about us page and find out more about our exquisite rating system.

Verdict: this is a very rich and enjoyable wine blend that feels ripe, bold and round, with a vibrant nose and a voluptuous palate. The wine is still in its development phase but very close to its prime form, therefore we would recommend to either drink it today or within the next 3 to 5 years, just make sure you don’t overdo it, as it is always better to drink a wine a year too soon than a day too late. On the nose the wine displays a mixture of ripe and overripe red fruits mixed with very nuanced, earthy-savory notes in the foreground, supported by a very subtle, spicy background. On the palate the wine delivers bright acidity, ripe tannins and a well integrated alcoholic warmth that is showing through on the mouthfeel, which leads to an appealing, ripe and seedy aftertaste. All in all this is a dense, well structured and seedy-expressive wine blend, with a nuanced, savory-earthy profile and an incredible flavour depth on the palate – a wine that is mixing power with finesse. We believe it will pair lovely with delicate meats, rich in natural umami flavour, like for example a peppercorn filet mignon steak or some real classics, like tournedos rossini. Enjoy!

_________________________________________________________________________
© The WineStatistics ratings are based solely on our own knowledge of the world of wine and on our personal wine tastes, which may, or may not, differ from yours – the reader. Just remember that there are no absolutes of right and wrong in wine appreciation.