2015 Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Hommage à Jacques Perrin, Château de Beaucastel, Rhône

Exquisite raspberry fruit on the nose, then a surprisingly savoury palate with bitter cherry, firm tannin, full body, grainy tannin and fresh acidity. This is potent stuff that manages to be big in every dimension without being overworked. Very canny winemaking, with impeccable fruit purity.

Drink 2020 - 2040

Immediately more red-fruited than other recent vintages, it's warm, with lush stewed fruit scents, stewed plums in particular, and raspberry. Full-bodied, but without the mass of tannin of the 2016. It's warmer on the palate in terms of fruit ripeness and alcohol, and the tannins are a little fibrous. Some coffee bean on the finish. It's feeling a bit closed at the time of tasting - I would leave this until at least 2025 before opening.

Drink 2025 - 2038

As this was bottled only a week before I tasted it, I suspect this rating will prove to be conservative once a few months have passed. The 2015 Chateauneuf du Pape Hommage a Jacques Perrin is another prodigious version of this wine. How many wines in this world can be so huge yet so lacking the feeling of weight? There's plenty of layered spice but also a core of raspberries; rich tannins, yet no real astringency; and a long finish without any apparent heat. Wow!

Drink 2020 - 2045

A classic blend of mostly Mourvèdre, the 2015 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Hommage A Jacques Perrin is a blockbuster that’s certainly the wine of the vintage. Possessing an inky purple color to go with an incredible bouquet of blueberries, garrigue, olive tapenade, beef blood and pepper, it's rich, full-bodied, powerful and layered, with sweet, ripe tannin. It's a more approachable example of this cuvée than past vintages, yet will keep for 3 decades or more.