2016 Chateauneuf du Pape

It is easy to get lost in the aromatic complexities here with all the pepper, leaf, wet earth, spice, old wood, dark cherry and plum notes. On the palate, the wine is polished, deep, fresh, concentrated and sweet, Here, there is a purity and symmetry to the wine, along with a clean palate of fruits this year, that makes this a treat to taste, even at this young stage. Marc Perrin thinks this is the best wine produced here since the back to back duo of 1989 and 1990. I am sure this is better than both those previous vintages. It is a stunning wine that deserves your attention to find a bottle and taste it. This should have the ability to age for decades.

Being bottled the day of my visit, the 2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape checks in as a blend of 30% Mourvèdre, 30% Grenache, 10% Syrah, 10% Counoise, and the rest a mix of permitted varieties. It offers a ripe, sexy, rounded style that quickly shows more structure, minerality, and tannin with time in the glass. Blackberries, blueberries, smoked earth, violets, and garrigue all give way to a full-bodied, deep, structured Beaucastel that's going to benefit from 5-7 years of bottle age and keep for two decades. It reminds me of the 2001.

Bottled only a week before my visit, I was blown away by how well Beaucastel's 2016 Chateauneuf du Pape was showing. It's full-bodied, creamy, lush and rich, with layers of raspberry fruit, garrigue and spice that unfold across a seamless palate. No doubt it will go through cycles of being open and closed throughout its lifespan, but it would be a mistake to simply order a case, put it into storage and forget about it without trying one first and swooning over the sheer lusciousness and youthful complexity.