Beaucastel CDP Hommage A Jacques Perrin 2016

Type: Red Wine      Volume: 750ml

Winery: Beaucastel

Country: France     Region: Southern Rhone

District: Chateauneuf-du-Pape

Grapes Varieties: 75% Mourvèdre,10% Grenache,10% Syrah,5% Counoise

Classification:      Production: 

Alcohol:      Packing: Original Wooden Case of 3 bottles

Ratings and Tasting Notes:

(JS=100) A more savoury, moody, strong expression. Deeply rich nose with minerals, flowers, wild herbs, tar, toasted spices and pepper. The dark berries have a smoky edge. Minerally edge, too, thanks to the 60 per cent Mourvedre. The palate has glossy, ripe and super-fine tannins in sheets. Deep-set, dark plums and blueberries in the finish. Noble tannins. Age-worthy.

(RP=99+) Tasted three weeks after bottling, I couldn't quite bring myself to give the elusive three-digit score to this admittedly super wine. Perhaps once the 2016 Chateauneuf du Pape Hommage a  Jacques Perrin has been in bottle a bit longer, as Mourvedre seems to go into a bit of a funk when recently bottled. For now, it's merely profound, packing in savoury, mossy nuances, hints of exotic dried spices like star anise and cardamom and layers of rich, plummy fruit that manage to be full-bodied and deliciously intense without being weighty or overwrought. Creamy, lush, intense and long, it's a TDF (tour de force) in CDP.

(AG=98) Deep vivid magenta. A highly complex bouquet displays candied black and blue fruits, incense and musky earth aromas; violet, liquorice and Indian spice notes build in the glass. Sweet and expansive on the palate, offering deeply concentrated, mineral-laced blueberry, cherry compote, fruitcake and floral pastille flavours that are given a spicy lift and bite by a late peppery flourish. Tightens up slowly on a strikingly long, chewy, floral-driven finish framed by dusty, steadily building tannins.

(WS=97) This delivers a torrent of lively raspberry pâte de fruit and plum reduction notes, infused liberally with anise, fruitcake and black tea nuances. Ripe and dense, yet lively, defined and fresh in feel, coursing over graphite and leather accents on the well-structured finish. Best from 2021 through 2045.