2020 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Hommage à Jacques Perrin, Château de Beaucastel

Tasted from foudre, the 2020 Chateauneuf du Pape Hommage à Jacques Perrin is approximately 60% Mourvèdre (from the same parcel, year after year), with the balance a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Counoise. Ripe plums and truffle-like notes mark the nose, while the palate is full-bodied and rich, with a long, velvety finish. Showing even more complexity and length than the regular bottling, there's a chance this could reach a triple-digit score down the road.

Enveloping nose of super-ripe orange, pomegranate and cigar leaf that’s still very youthful and needs time to reveal its myriad nuances. Also notes of licorice, dried herbs and rose petals. Enormous concentration, silkiness and finesse on the expansive palate. Extravagant in the best sense of that word! The finish gets finer, the closer it gets to infinity. Drinkable now, but best from 2025.

Closed for now, but very Mourvèdre in style: dense, dark and brooding. Great intensity but not as tannic as some vintages, showing lovely acidity, freshness and purity. This is a classic, compact and fresh style of Hommage, with great energy, plus endless length and depth. Around 60% of the blend comes from old vine Mourvèdre from their Courrieux vineyard. Grapes are destemmed, fermented in tronconic wooden vats using natural yeasts after a brief cold maceration, with regular punching down.

The deep, inky hued 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape Hommage A Jacques Perrin is up with the crème de la crème in the vintage and just screams Mourvèdre with its layers of blue fruits, pepper, iron, and gamey, wild herb aromas and flavors. It’s full-bodied, has terrific purity, building tannins, and a great finish. It will have some educational appeal in its youth due to its balance and purity, but it deserves a decade in the cellar.