Famille Perrin, Côtes du Rhône Villages (Rhône Valley, France) 2018

For more than a generation, stretching all the way back to the late 1980s, the go-to wine for very good Côtes du Rhône was Guigal.  The offerings from Jaboulet or Chapoutier have never really measured up, and though Chapoutier is getting closer, this negociant offering from the Perrin family (famous for Château Beaucastel and distinctive from the others on grounds of being based in the south) is now arguably the best of the lot.  The Guigal version is quite late in being released, vintage wise, which has the virtue of making it a bit more complex aromatically, but often not as fresh and versatile with food as this wine, which excels in both respects.  The 2018 is lovely, with very pure fruit notes recalling pie cherries and red raspberries above all, indicating the predominance of Grenache in the blend.  There’s not the slightest hint of over-ripeness here, nor any heaviness, not any rough tannins or overt wood, making this a great year-round sipping wine but also one suited to all sorts of foods — bird, beast or fish — including spicy preparations.  This is not a bowl-you-over wine (Perrin’s “Nature” bottling can serve that purpose), but rather one that is very precise and…again, pure.