Le Clos du Caillou’s annual release of “Vieilles Vignes” is something we have come to voraciously hoard whenever possible due to its extraordinarily low price, the subtle tip-off on the label, and the vineyard-sourcing secrets that lie inside the bottle.
Do you see “Cuvée Unique” running diagonally across the upper corners of today’s label? That’s the “clue” that tells us local winemaking legend Bruno Gaspard has specifically hand-selected a handful of high-performing barrels for his longtime friend/boutique importer. As for the raw material? This luscious red hails from vines that qualified for Châteauneuf-du-Pape AOC status when it was first classified some 85 years ago. The fact that they weren’t (more on that below), makes today’s $29 powerhouse one of the single-greatest Rhône values on the market. So forget the pedestrian “Côtes du Rhône” label: geographically, stylistically, texturally—this is Châteauneuf-du-Pape at half the price, and this 2018 might be my favorite bottling yet. If you’re new around here, allow me to echo the collective voice of all previous purchasers: regardless of region, this hearty, full-bodied red is among wine’s greatest values.
Clos du Caillou is located in Courthézon, a village within the Châteauneuf-du-Pape growing zone, and we always enjoy sharing its “stay off my lawn” origin story: 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 armed resistance—Caillou’s owner had no desire to join the governing ranks of anything, let alone a wine appellation. This brazen act originally excluded the estate from the AOC and essentially carved out a sizable 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 the Loire’s finest wines). After the tragic passing 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 Côte du Rhône selection created each year from premium old-vine lots and, subsequently, the best batches in the winery. The 2018 is a blend of 85% Grenache, 8% Syrah, 5% Carignan, and 2% Mourvèdre that aged for 12 months in a mix of old foudres (large oak casks) and tanks. To enhance purity and terroir expression, the final wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered. Because it’s led by high-quality, old-vine, CDP-equivalent Grenache and priced below $30, we geek out over this wine year in and year out. Today’s 2018 put us in a stupor: It fires out of the glass with explosive, luxurious aromas like raspberry liqueur, plum pie, ripe cherry, redcurrant, and licorice. However, a great deal of savory/earthy components lie just underneath that rich wall of primary fruit: garrigue, dusty earth, baking spice, tapenade, rose petal, and wild thyme. The full-bodied palate is a trifecta of unabashed richness, polish, and refreshment; an opulent tour de force that magically avoids palate fatigue. In short, it’s a pure, hedonistic snapshot of the Southern Rhône. Enjoy now until 2025.
