2014 Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Hommage à Jacques Perrin, Château de Beaucastel, Rhône

More forward and approachable than the 2013, the 2014 Châteauneuf du Pape Hommage A Jacques Perrin is nevertheless a massive wine that has more depth and concentration than just about every other wine in the vintage. A classic blend of 60% Mourvèdre, 20% Grenache, and the rest Counoise and Syrah that was brought up in foudre, this full-bodied, forward, sexy effort has thrilling notes of black and blue fruits, beef blood, liquorice, ground pepper, and bouquet garni. While a relatively accessible, charming vintage (by this cuvees standards anyway), it still needs 4-5 years of bottle age and is going to evolve beautifully on its balance, complexity, and length. It’s an awesome 2014.Drink 2023 - 2044jeb_dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com (June 2019)

Inky ruby. An exotically perfumed bouquet evokes mineral-tinged dark fruit preserves and incense, and a sexy floral element gains power with air. Fleshy, seamless and sweet, offering intense blueberry, cherry liqueur and floral pastille flavors enlivened by juicy acidity. The floral note comes back emphatically with air and carries through an impressively long, youthfully tannic finish, which leaves a smoky mineral note behind. The alcohol here is quite low for the region, clocking in at 14.3%.François Perrin told me that while he thinks the 2014s from the region will be highly appealing to many people for their often "massive fruit and extroverted personality," the 2013s, at their best, "will be the ones for people who like structure and have the patience" to age them. This venerable estate's wines always contain a high percentage of grapes other than Grenache, so a year with a short crop of that variety "doesn't really throw us or the blend of the wine off," he told me. "We like to work with Mourvèdre, especially, so years like '13 that favor late-ripening grapes are just fine with us," he added.josh_raynolds, Vinous.com.com (April 2016)

You can sense this is a cooler vintage immediately on the nose - there's more spice, more detail and precision. A little liquorice, leather and violets. Medium-bodied, not as dense as more recent vintages but very well balanced. Great precision, very upright and awake. It might not close down like the 2015 - you could drink this already. It doesn't have the weight and grandeur of some warmer vintages, but this is an excellent wine. It won't last as long as some more concentrated vintages, but that's not a quality issue per se. Very strong showing for a 2014 Châteauneuf.Drink 2020 - 2032matt_walls, Decanter.com (December 2019)