Description
Le Clos du Caillou started out as a hunting preserve in 1895 when Élie Dussaud purchased a property at the northeastern edge of what eventually became the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation, and built a small cellar. However, with his passing four years later, there were no real vineyards to speak of until 1955, when Claude Pouizin purchased the land and cleared some of the forest to plant vines. 1970 marked his first commercial vintage and his wife, Colette spent the next 26 years as the sales ambassador, establishing Clos du Caillou as a quality Rhône Valley producer worthy of attention. Once Claude was ready to retire, he asked his youngest daughter, Sylvie, who was living in Sancerre with her husband, Jean-Denis Vacheron, to run things. The couple and their two young children left their life in the Loire Valley in 1996 to usher Clos du Caillou into the 21st century. Jean-Denis was making the wines yet tragically died in 2002. With a heavy heart, Sylvie soldiered on and hired Rhône specialist, Bruno Gaspard, to take over in the cellar. Bruno has been the winemaker ever since and Sylvie is still in charge today, managing the domain's 54 hectares of biodynamically farmed vineyards.
Part of what makes this blend so special is the fact that the fruit comes from Caillou's Côtes du Rhône vineyards, which are actually within the Châteauneuf-du-Pape zone, though not technically part of the appellation. This walled parcel of land was intentionally left out of the appellation, following a “bureaucratic spat” between the property owner and the government officials who were not welcome on the land. As the story goes, they were scared away with shotguns when they came to survey the property at the time the appellation was created (1936).
A blend of 70% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 5% Carignan and 5% Counoise. The grapes were harvested by hand and manually sorted in both the fields and in the cellar, then partially destemmed and fermented on indigenous yeasts in temperature-controlled cement tanks. Aged in a combination of cement tank, stainless-steel tank and older 52HL foudre, and bottled unfined and unfiltered. Aromas of wild bramble berries and garrigue. The palate is fresh, with sappy flavors of cassis, strawberry, marionberry and black cherry, with a sprinkling of spice. Concentrated and richly textured, this wine captures the essence of old-vine Grenache grown on the one of the region’s finest terroirs.
