The wines under the “Famille Perrin” label (from the family behind the ultra-famous Chateau Beaucastel in Châteauneuf-du-Pape) have gotten strikingly better in the last couple of years, and this wine provides ample evidence for this upward swing. The fruit shows an uncanny combination of freshness and savory earthiness, with very subtle oak that lets the interplay between fruit and earth hold center stage. Delicious now, this is sufficiently structured to improve for another three or four years if you’d prefer to let the fruit recede a little in favor of an even more earthy profile.
Famille Perrin, Rasteau (Rhône Valley, France) 2011
By Michael Franz