2008 Châteauneuf-du-Pape

"The hallmark of 2009 in Chateauneuf is silky tannins," Marc Perrin told me as we started our annual tasting. "It's a vintage that favors the late-ripening grapes because we got some good rain in the middle of September that helped the mourvedre and syrah a lot." He was especially pleased with how the estate's mourvedre turned out in '09, calling it "perfectly mature and without hardness. The 2009 classique [which is 30% mourvedre, by the way] has an elegance that will make it seductive young because the tannins are hidden and absorbed by the fruit." Perrin told me that he would be surprised if the '09s ever really shut down hard—"and if they do close up it will probably be for a short time, unlike the 2007 and 2005." Perrin emphasized that when Beaucastel makes an Hommage a Jacques Perrin bottling, as is currently planned for 2009, "it is because we think that it will be a wine of finesse, foremost. The greatest wines are the finest, the most elegant, not the most massive or brutal." (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL)

"It's impossible to argue that 2007 is not a great vintage," said Marc Perrin. "It has to be considered one of the greatest in modern times." Perrin noted that the Indian summer of '07 (like '09, by the way) ensured fully mature mourvedre, "which enhanced the lushness of the grenache." He also noted that the tannins of the '07s "are very fine and in harmony with the fruit, and don't show the hardness that we see in the 2005s." Incidentally, the Perrin family is now the owner of the cozy restaurant L'Oustalet, in the heart of the tiny, picturesque village of Gigondas, and they have already begun assembling an impressive and sometimes very reasonably priced wine list. This is great news for visitors to the region who have been compelled to make a drive to Avignon for a special meal after exhausting the handful of fine-dining options available in the immediate area. (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL)