2021 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Hommage a Jacques Perrin

Dark in color, in fact, this is the darkest wine of the vintage, the aromatic profile shows its complex array of nuances easily. Mint, licorice, grilled meat, black fruits, flowers, peppery spice and hints of blue fruits create the perfume. Opulent, deep, fresh, long and vibrant, the wine is deep, concentration, richness and sweetness. There is vibrancy, lift, and length, finishing with layers of black, red and blue, peppery fruits. The wine blends 60% Mourvedre, 20% Grenache and 20% Syrah. Picking on the Mouvedre began October 4, finishing October 12. Like all the great vintages of Hommage, this is a wine for patient collectors as you need to give it at least 10 years of aging, and 20 would be even better! Drink from 2030-2060.

A blend of 60% Mourvèdre, 20% Grenache and the rest Syrah, the 2021 Châteauneuf Du Pape Hommage A Jacques Perrin is probably the wine of the vintage. Ripe red and black fruits, smoked meats, cedary garrigue, pepper, and other assorted wild aromatics define the bouquet, and it's medium to full-bodied on the palate, with beautiful concentration, building tannins, and a great finish. It already has some accessibility, but there are enough tannins here to warrant 5-7 years of bottle age. 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.

The 2021 Chateauneuf du Pape Hommage à Jacques Perrin is approximately 60% Mourvèdre, 20% Grenache and 20% Syrah. Marked by scents of truffle and tree bark, great blackberry and black cherry fruit, plus accents of licorice and peppery spice, it's another in a line of terrific wines that have been made every year since 2009. Full-bodied, rich and concentrated, it's velvety but tannic, with enough structure and intensity on the lingering finish to expect at least two decades of cellaring potential (but probably more).