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.

Gorgeous florality on the nose, fresh rose petals and sweet red fruits, so beguiling and tempting. Beautiful fragranced fruit on the palate, the roses really continue all the way, edging the fruit and giving the palate such scent. Tannins are smooth and well integrated and this has a gorgeous texture, full and generous but silky smooth and so delectable. Excellent acidity gives freshness and energy and underpins the flavours giving a lovely hit of spiced liquorice, caramelised nuts and cola cubes. Feels really well worked, intense and concentrated but excellent definition and focus. A stylish and seductive wine. Hold onto for a few years. 5% Counoise completes the blend.

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.

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.

Beaucastel continues to set the bar for what Châteauneuf du Pape can do, and it is delivering a superb 2020 vintage of Hommage à Jacques Perrin here, using grapes from a dedicated 4ha of the property. Characterful smoked earth, dried herbs, grilled blackberry and blueberry fruits, immediately setting out the effortless way that these soils cope with the heat, and turn it into an important part of the personality. Relax and take your time with this wine, as it stretches out, deepening as it goes. So much complexity and teasing power. Director Charles Perrin, winemaker César Perrin.

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)