Famille Perrin, Vacqueyras (Rhône Valley, France) 2011

Extremely powerful, with terrific density and depth of fruit, this may be the single best release I’ve ever tasted from this Famille Perrin line of wines.  I confess that, after the amazing vintages in the southern Rhône Valley in 2009 and 2010, it did not seem possible that a 2011 could rise to a comparable level of excellence, but this wine manifestly does exactly that.  There’s so much gorgeous fruit in this wine that it can be enjoyed now with robust foods, but it will continue to unwind complexities for a full decade if you can manage to keep your mitts off of it.