Château de Beaucastel pays tribute to Jacques Perrin

Located in the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation, Château de Beaucastel has been profoundly shaped by Jacques Perrin’s personality. In their Hommage à Jacques Perrin wine, made in limited quantities and distributed by La Place de Bordeaux, his children and grandchildren have bottled the quintessence of their terroir.

Château de Beaucastel, a family affair

It is increasingly rare for wine estates to be run by families that live on-site. However, this still holds true for the Perrin family at Château de Beaucastel. The Perrins, who are accustomed to bucking trends, are continuing a family adventure that began in 1909. No fewer than nine Perrins are involved at the estate, namely two fourth-generation brothers and seven fifth-generation cousins. As Charles Perrin (one of the cousins) puts it, this is a family that is involved at all levels.

‘We are the owners, but we also make the wine. We really do everything ourselves, we do not have any winemakers. We work in Beaucastel, we live in Beaucastel, you could say our whole life is there.’

In the words of Airey Wong, Sales Director Asia Pacific at Twins, this situation is ‘unique’.

The Perrins do not have one single person in charge: instead, decisions are taken collectively, and everyone has an in-depth knowledge of the estate. For Charles Perrin, this began to develop at a very early age.

‘When you are a child and you get home from school, you put your bag down and ask where your dad is. Among the vines? In the winery? You go to join him, and you learn. In fact, you learn something every day. To begin with it’s a game, and one day, after you have gradually gained all this knowledge, you go and see your father and tell him that you want to be a winemaker like him.’

Jacques Perrin, a Beaucastel visionary

In the winemaking world, it is often said that decisions are made for the next generation. At Château de Beaucastel, the directions taken by Jacques Perrin last century are still shaping how the estate operates.

Château de Beaucastel was essentially one of the pioneers of biodynamic agriculture from the 1970s onwards. Before this, they had already been cultivating vineyards using an organic approach since the 1950s.

‘When my grandfather started work, chemical products were beginning to emerge and he decided not to use them. At the time, this was viewed as madness and a backwards attitude. Many people mocked his approach. This is now much more valued as a choice, but we never wanted to turn it into a selling point. A wine must first and foremost be good, and if it is organic or biodynamic, all well and good. But first and foremost, the aim is to make a good wine.’

Charles Perrin

On hillsides scattered with vines, surrounded by olive trees and oaks, the Perrin family grows the 13 grape varieties permitted under the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation. However, one of these grape varieties particularly stands out, namely Mourvèdre. This is another piece of heritage gained from Jacques Perrin.

‘A hundred or so years ago, Grenache and Mourvèdre occupied the same proportion of the appellation. After the Second World War, the authorities asked winemakers to replant a lot of Grenache and Cinsault in order to rebuild the wine sector. My grandfather refused, wanting to preserve his old Mourvèdre. And now we are fortunate enough to have 30% Mourvèdre at Beaucastel, with very old vines.’

Hommage à Jacques Perrin wine, the pure essence of Beaucastel’s DNA

Since 1989, the Perrin family has been producing a special wine made primarily from Mourvèdre. To understand it, you have to go back to 1974, when two brothers had to take over from their father following his untimely death.

These brothers naturally drew on their father’s methods by vinifying the thirteen grape varieties grown at Beaucastel separately. They realised that every single year, the best plot was a Mourvèdre plot. Their father’s choice was justified, as Beaucastel’s Mourvèdre was quite simply exceptional. The family therefore decided to celebrate Jacques Perrin’s vision through a wine made in tribute to him, produced only in the best vintages.

The first example was produced in 1989, using 70% grapes from a Mourvèdre plot planted in the early 20th century, blended with Grenache, Syrah and Cinsault. This is a limited run of 6,000 to 10,000 bottles. Whilst the wine was initially only made once every three years on average, since 2009 the quality of the Indian summers has allowed us to make it every year.

The wine enjoyed immediate recognition. This was right from the very first vintage, when Hommage à Jacques Perrin landed a 100-point score from Robert Parker. Wine Spectator named Château de Beaucastel their winery of the year. In the international press, Beaucastel became known as the ‘Petrus of the Rhône’.

Sold by La Place de Bordeaux

The Perrin family have continued working their vines, making their wines and taking decisions as a family unit ever since. From the 2009 vintage onwards, they opted for La Place de Bordeaux as the exclusive distributor of their Hommage à Jacques Perrin wine. Château de Beaucastel thus became the first French estate outside of Bordeaux to be sold via Bordeaux wine merchants. Why was this choice made? ‘We like being pioneers’, Charles Perrin emphasises.

As well as this innovative character, the Perrin family wanted to benefit from Bordeaux’s international experience.

‘Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Château de Beaucastel were very well known in France, Europe and the USA, but not so much in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Taking advantage of La Place de Bordeaux’s powerful distribution channels gave us an opportunity to find new consumers.’

Charles Perrin.