Review: 2021 Booker Wines Perl Paso Robles
Perl is a venerable programming language, and now it’s also a wine from our friends at Booker Wines, whom we’ve covered on many occasions.
This 2021 is the inaugural vintage of Perl, a 90% syrah, 10% grenache blend that comes predominantly from the Booker estate, with contributions from Catapult and Moonsprings vineyards. Per the company, the individual lots were destemmed, fermented in stainless steel and aged in 50 percent new French oak barrels.
The recipe sounds like a monster of a wine, but you’d be surprised: Though dense, it’s lively with fruit — albeit the darkest of fruit: macerated cherries and currants, layered with dark chocolate and a drop or two of vanilla. Fear not, however, as some latent acidity keeps the wine from spiraling into a heavy, brooding funk. Even at 14.7% abv, there’s still enough vibrancy to keep Perl popping on the tongue through to the finish, which features rhubarb, a darker, clove-tinged baking spice, and tea leaf. It’s gently peppery on the finish — which is the only real evidence that this is built on syrah instead of cabernet; the wine never devolves into the intensely beefy quality that many syrahs can express. And for that, we thank you.
A / $75 / bookerwines.com
2021 Booker Wines Perl Paso Robles
$75
