2020 Chateauneuf du Pape Hommage Jacques Perrin

On another level, the saturated purple-hued 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape Hommage A Jacques Perrin offers up a sensational bouquet of blueberries, ripe black cherries, smoked game, spring flowers, graphite, and ground pepper. It's rich, full-bodied, has building tannins, stunning purity of fruit, and a gorgeous finish. It deserves 7-8 years of bottle age but will evolve for 30 years if well stored. One of the stalwarts of the appellation, Château de Beaucastel continues to produce an incredible array of wines from their estate in the northwestern edge of the appellation. Looking at the vintages reviewed here, the 2022s are ripe, sexy wines that bring to mind 2019 or even 2009. The whites are absolutely brilliant, and while only tasted from barrel, the 2022s will certainly be incredible wines. The 2021s also showed well and possess more depth and density than most in the vintage. In general, Mourvèdre seemed more challenging in 2021, but you certainly wouldn’t have that impression after tasting at Beaucastel. The closest comparison here for the 2021s would be the 2008s, which are balanced, elegant wines that are still drinking beautifully today. The 2021s should be a step up in quality, although I suspect they will evolve along a similar trajectory. Lastly, the estate is wrapping up a massive renovation of the cellar that was built with sustainability front and center and will be using an evaporative cooling mechanism with stored rainwater.

75% Mourvèdre, 10% Syrah, 10% Grenache, 5% Counoise. Harvest 30 August to 4 October. Cool vintage. Organic. Mid ruby colour. Very high toned and slightly animal on the nose, with layers of violets, cherry blossom and leather. The palate has hints of iris and game, together with lots of red fruit – there is an almost Pinot-like delicacy to this vintage. Fragrant and highly polished, this is an immediate Hommage that may not be the most profound vintage, but it is a delight to drink. (TP)

The 2020 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Hommage à Jacques Perrin is a monumental effort. It dazzles with pristine aromas of rose water, crushed violets, red and black cherry, blueberry, forest strawberry, licorice, dried lavender, bay leaves, sage, black olive and cardamom. Firmly formed like a skyscraper, the wine continuously builds on the palate, exposing layer upon layer of jewel-like fruit. As the taste develops, pixelated tannins enter the scene, adding to the wine's seamless mouthfeel. Despite the elevated flavor concentration, the wine is so light on its feet that tasting it is an almost ethereal moment. Kudos to César Perrin and his team for making one of the wines of the vintage.