The Perrin family - Chateau Beaucastel

I love this winery!!!!

Because I love good wines from France, Italy, Germany, Portugal, USA, Chile, Argentina, Australia, South Africa, and of course, Canada...I am looking forward to taste the wines of Pearl Morissette, because someone who has learned with Roulot and Mugnier (two great masters from Burgundy) I am sure he is making great wines...am I right?

Enjoy this excellent article...try the link below... 

“The Perrin family is an institution in Châteauneuf-du-Pape,” says Philippe Cambie, the area’s leading consulting enologist. “And, along with Château Rayas and Henri Bonneau, they are ambassadors of the appellation across the globe. They lead the way.”

The mistral is blowing now, and Marc is standing at the other end of the valley, in Beaucastel’s 173-acre vineyard, discussing what sets the Southern Rhône apart from other regions. People speak of the Rhône Valley, but that’s a geographical construct.

“There is as much difference between Northern Rhône and Southern Rhône as there is between Northern Rhône and Burgundy,” he says. “The north is continental, the south is Mediterranean. The north is butter, the south is olive oil.”

At the end of World War II, when Jacques was planting at Beaucastel, Grenache accounted for 90 percent of the vines in Châteauneuf. With its big fruit flavors and high alcohol, it was a popular variety during post-phylloxera replanting. Jacques decided to bring back a variety that had virtually disappeared from the appellation—Mourvèdre, which was a dominant red grape in the southeast before phylloxera. Rich in tannins and acidity, it produces tough wines that are firm when young. “Grenache is the flesh of the wine, a very sexy grape,” says Marc. “It’s like fireworks. Mourvèdre is the opposite. It starts quiet but it grows on the palate. Syrah is the link.”

Continuing his tour of the valley, Marc steers his SUV to the side of a road outside the village of Gigondas and climbs out. The Dentelles de Montmirail, jagged limestone peaks that look like dinosaur teeth and mark the start of the Alps, loom uphill. The mistral is blowing fiercely. To make walking even more challenging, the vineyard soil is nothing but sand. But to Marc, that sand is the source of beautiful wines, and an example of why his family began buying vineyards in various spots up and down the valley.

“Look at Gigondas and Vacqueyras,” he says, contrasting this site to the next town up in the valley. “Our vineyards are four miles apart. The grapes are the same, the viticulture is the same, the climate is the same, our winemaking is the same. The wines are completely different. The difference is the soil.”

Thomas manages marketing for Canada and is flying to Toronto that day to meet with clients.

Whether it’s as farmers, winemakers, businessmen or terroir hunters, the Perrins have a talent for changing with the world. It’s made them leaders on every tier of the store shelf.

https://top100.winespectator.com/2019/article/soil-hunters-2/