1997 Châteauneuf-du-Pape

It's an outstanding traditional year for the red wines of the appellation, says Francois Perrin, because the grenache was splendidly ripe. But so was the mourvedre, Perrin adds, as it also was the previous year. The result, not surprisingly, is an outstanding vintage at this estate, including the most promising Coudoulet de Beaucastel since 1990 and another potentially outrageous Hommage a Jacques Perrin bottling. Beaucastel's 1998 white wines, says Perrin, began with even higher grape sugars and about the same acidity as the estate's '97 whites but have gone into bottle with less generosity of texture than the earlier set of wines. In '98, he explains, the fermentations were quick ("almost too easy"), while in '97 the sugars took up to three months to ferment. As a result, the '97s are extraordinarily glyceral. (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL)

Francois Perrin describes 1997 as a great year for the white wines of Chateauneuf du Pape: very rich and ripe, but not over the top. But even the red wine has a pH within this domain normal range, he adds. The two Beaucastel white wines noted below put most other white wines of the Southern Rhone Valley to shame. Yields in '97 were cut by a quarter due to a June hailstorm. There will be no special cuvee in either '97 or '96, but Perrin was already certain there would be an Hommage a Jacques Perrin in 1998, a vintage he says produced grenache of surpassing quality. (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL)