"2023 Côtes-du-Rhône “Beatus Ille”- Famille Isabel Ferrando As I mentioned last year, Isabel Ferrando’s Côtes-du-Rhône “Beatus Ille” composed from a blend of eighty percent grenache and fifteen percent cinsault, primarily from the lieu à dit of La Lionne, that lies just outside of the appellation boundary of Châteauneuf du Pape. Isabel blends in five percent syrah to the cuvée, from her vines in Châteauneuf proper. The 2023 version is again, nicely low in octane for Côtes-du-Rhône these days, tipping the scales at 13.5 percent octane. The wine’s aromatic constellation is bright and complex, wafting from the glass in a mix of red and black raspberries, fruitcake, pepper, grilled venison, a superb base of soil tones, hickory smoke and a gentle topnote of garrigue. On the palate the wine is deep, complex and full-bodied, with an excellent core of fruit, fine soil signature and grip, suave tannins and impressive length and complexity on the long and impeccably balanced finish. This is better than an awful lot of Châteauneuf du Pape being made today and is a superb deal! It is approachable now, but really deserves a bit of time in the cellar to soften up its tannins a bit."