The wine was a medium-dark purple with no browning. It had a woody, complex nose with some baked fruit and spice. On the palate, the wine is fully mature but without the characteristic persistent fruit expected in well-aged Beaucastels. In spite of the fact that 1978 was one of the finest years of the twentieth century for Rhone wines, this seems to have been a relative off-year for Beaucastel. This was bottle #11 of a case purchased at release. 88

Just one more sip.