Very young with tightly drawn tannins still covering the black cherry raspberry and sweet cigar smoke notes. Plenty of guts with beef bouillon mesquite game hot stones graphite and spice notes coursing through the finish. Should be very long-lived.--1995 Châteauneuf-du-Pape retrospective. Drink now through 2025. 500 cases made.

Coming from a vintage that featured a hot summer followed by substantial rain in September that forced vignerons to wait until late September/early October to harvest, the 1995 Châteauneuf du Pape Hommage À Jacques Perrin (70% Mourvedre, 15% Syrah, 10% Grenache, and 5% Counoise) has the classic Beaucastel funk, with lots of olive tapenade, gamey meat, truffle and sweet currant and cherry fruit. Still structured and firm on the palate, it opens up nicely in the glass, has impressive concentration and a spine of both acidity and tannin that should keep it evolving nicely for another decade or so. - Jeb Dunnuck