Description
Le Clos du Caillou, Cuvée Unique Vieilles Vignes
Clos du Caillou is located in Courthézon, a village within the Châteauneuf-du-Pape growing zone, and we’ve told its “stay off my lawn” origin story many times: In 1936, 40 years after the property was established as a hunting lodge, France’s AOC governing body approached Caillou’s then-owner with the intention of incorporating it into the ‘new’ Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation. The officials were met with gruff resistance and (literally) raised guns—Caillou’s owner had no desire to join the governing ranks of anything, let alone a wine appellation. This brazen act excluded the estate from the AOC and essentially carved out a chunk of CDP’s border. Today, it continues to be an ‘unclassified’ section in what is otherwise some of the most prized vineyard land in the area. Check out the “Le Caillou” vineyard in this link for an even better look at how close it is to some of Châteauneuf’s greatest sites.
About 20 years after ‘the lawn altercation,’ Clos du Caillou was purchased by the Pouizin family, who stowed the guns, started planting vines, and began making wine. Over the next four decades, Claude Pouizin made Les Clos du Caillou a household name for premier Châteauneuf-du-Pape. In 1996, the youngest of his three daughters, Sylvie, inherited the operations. At the time, she was living in Sancerre with her husband, Jean-Denis Vacheron (the Vacherons make some of Sancerre’s finest wines). After the tragic death of Jean-Denis in 2002, Sylvie pushed forward and maintained the estate’s legacy with the help of lead winemaker Bruno Gaspard. Driven by Grenache grown in the pebbly, sandy soils of the zone, “Cuvée Unique” is a special selection created each year from the best old-vine lots and, subsequently, the best batches in the winery. The 2016 is a blend of 92% Grenache and 8% Mourvèdre that aged for one year in a mix of old foudres (large oak casks) and stainless steel tanks. To enhance purity and terroir expression, the final wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Always rich yet remarkably smooth—high quality, old-vine Grenache will yield that for you—Le Clos du Caillou’s newest “Cuvée Unique” from 2017 is an intensely opaque ruby-purple and shows a highly reflective rim. The aromatics are an explosive mix of liquored black cherry, cassis, raspberries, star anise, dried garrigue, lavender, cacao nibs and a lingering meaty sensation that all blends seamlessly into the lush, nearly full-bodied palate. For all of its concentration, there’s also incredible freshness that keeps this Grenache-dominated red lifted and dry. It’s a big, palate-coating wine with wonderfully polished tannins and savory minerals that are accompanied without any lingering sweetness or alcoholic heat—what the absolute greats of Châteauneuf manage to do. This is a decadent wine now, needing only about 30 minutes in a decanter to open up and wrap you in a warm embrace, but you could also lay it down for a few years to further develop its savory, floral side. Either way, serve around 60-65 degrees in large Bordeaux stems and grill up some juicy lamb kabobs with a tahini sauce. Succulent lamb with one of the year’s most exclusive and value-driven reds? Oh yes.
