Le Clos du Caillou, Les Quartz, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, France 2020

“From a sandy, late-ripening site next to the clos, the 2020 Chateauneuf du Pape Les Quartz is an 80-20 blend of Grenache and Syrah. Scents of roses, herbal tea, cherries and raspberries leave the mouth watering, while the palate is full-bodied, lush and silky. It really looks special this year.”-95-97WA, 2022-2035

Wines from Le Clos du Caillou are Rhône blends at their most intense. Concentrated and richly textured, these organically raised, older-vine wines capture the spice and silk of old-vine Grenache grown on the region’s finest terroirs. Each wine too reflects the native perfumes of the south, the “garrigue” blend of thyme, rosemary and lavender that grows wild among the estate’s vines.

Of all the terroir in the Côtes du Rhône appellation, the “clos” of Caillou has to be one of the most exceptional. Completely surrounded by Châteauneuf-du-Pape vineyards, this walled parcel of land was intentionally left out of the appellation by the owner, following a bureaucratic spat back in 1936. What this means today is that Caillou’s Côtes du Rhône wines are the qualitatively the same, with regard to terroir and exposition, as top Châteauneuf wines.

Caillou’s devotion to the character of the land (through bottling wines according to terroir) and its dedication to organic and biodynamic viticulture are what captivated us so many years ago when we first encountered these wines; and over the years, this fidelity to soil and soul has only intensified.