CDP Beaucastel Hommage à Jacques Perrin, Perrin - Château de Beaucastel 2018

Inky ruby. Deep-pitched red and dark berry liqueur, candied violet, licorice and Moroccan spice scents show superb detail and a smoky mineral overtone. Densely packed and focused on the palate, offering powerful blueberry, bitter cherry and black raspberry flavors, along with chewing tobacco, floral pastille and fruitcake notes. Hangs on with serious persistence, steadily building tannins and reverberating florality. Two-thousand eighteen was a superb vintage for Mourvèdre, and it shows here, with that variety making up about a third of the blend. 2027-2040.

Red-fruited and garrigue-laden, the nose of the 2018 Chateauneuf du Pape Hommage à Jacques Perrin is glorious, showing remarkable complexity in its notes of cherries, raspberries and strawberries, all accented by hints of bay leaf, lavender and thyme, plus deeper bass notes of black olives, roasted meat, espresso, star anise and dark chocolate. Full-bodied and intense, it seems to have added structure since last year, with a firm matrix of tannins holding it all together and lingering on the lengthy finish. Put this Mourvèdre-based blend (approximately 60%) away for five or more years; it should drink well for a couple of decades beyond that.

Essence of framboise is joined by layers of garrigue-like complexity, rich, meaty notes and a generous dusting of Asian five spice blend in the stunning 2018 Chateauneuf du Pape Hommage à Jacques Perrin. This is full-bodied but incredibly silky, combining great purity, richness and length into a seamless, elegant package that should give immense pleasure for decades to come. 2025-2045