Tasting Notes
Robert Parker – 99
Shockingly good, the 2009 Châteauneuf du Pape Hommage À Jacques Perrin offers an off-the-charts bouquet of Provençal herbs, truffle and wet-dog-like qualities intermixed with classic blueberry, blackberry and cassis fruit. Massive and full-bodied on the palate, with a sheer density and decadence that’s hard to believe, this is a pedal-to-the-metal effort that has the fruit to drink beautifully today, yet the concentration, mid-palate, tannin and balance to age for 3-4 decades. Made from a blend of 60% Mourvedre, 20% Syrah and the rest Counoise and Grenache, this is one of the wines of the vintage. Coming mostly from a plot of old vines located behind the estate, the Perrin Family’s Châteauneuf du Pape Hommage à Jacques Perrin was first created in 1989 and is a tribute to the late Jacques Perrin, who passed away in 1978. Aged all in foudre and normally a blend of 60% Mourvedre, 20% Grenache, 10% Counoise and the rest Syrah, it’s only produced in top vintages and there’s normally a scant 400-500 cases to go around. It’s an incredible, yet atypical Châteauneuf du Pape due to its high Mourvèdre content. While most vintages require upwards of a decade of cellaring, the more forward, sexy vintages can certainly be enjoyable in their youth as well.
Anticipated maturity: 2015-2049
Vinous – 96
(70% mourvedre and 10% each of grenache, counoise and syrah, all raised in foudre): Glass-staining purple. Hypnotic bouquet of black and blue fruits, potpourri and exotic spices. Broad, sappy and strikingly pure, with intense blackberry and boysenberry flavors that reach ever corner of the palate. Rich but lithe wine with a seamless texture and superb finishing clarity. This wine’s marriage of power and vivacity is something else.
