Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape Hommage a Jacques Perrin 2016

Jeb Dunnuck,100 pnt

The flagship is the 2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Hommage A Jacques Perrin, 75% Mourvèdre and 10% Syrah, 10% Grenache, and the rest Counoise, brought up all in foudre. Blueberries, Peking duck, new saddle leather, black cherries, scorched earth, and an incredible sense of minerality all flow to a massive, concentrated, pure, perfectly balanced 2016 that is a prime example of the old saying, “an iron fist in a velvet glove.” It's a heavenly, perfect wine that's going to live for 30-50 years.

James Suckling: 100 pnt.

A more savory, 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 mourvèdre. The palate has glossy, ripe and super-fine tannins in sheets. Deep-set, dark plums and blueberries in the finish. Noble tannins. Age-worthy.

Decanter, 99 pnt

A tasting of the Courrieux vineyard, a single parcel of Mourvèdre planted in 1909 that always makes up around 70% of the blend. It's a wine that makes you inhale deeply. It has a wonderful, regal, stunning nose of violets, blueberries, and blackcurrant almost. It's seamless on the palate, with some camphor, menthol and rosemary notes to the fruit. There's sublime freshness, and the tannins are full and dense but very ripe. A mouth-filling, mouth coating and very intense wine, with a saline finish. Potentially worthy of a perfect score.

Wine Advocate, 99+ pnt

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 à Jacques Perrin has been in bottle a bit longer, as Mourvèdre seems to go into a bit of a funk when recently bottled. For now, it's merely profound, packing in savory, 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

Jancis Robinson, 18.5 pnt

Intense blackberry fruit on the nose with crystalline purity and extremely fine tannic weave on the palate. Such elegance! Has vivid, expert fruit. Stunning. (RH)