When we tasted “Les Safres” at the domaine back in March (mere days after it was bottled), we furiously scribbled raving reviews in our notepads. Now that it has been commercially released, the major critics also concur: It truly is a towering, cellar-worthy achievement that combines richness, minerality, and endless layers in a phenomenal vintage—one that Caillou’s winemaker puts above the legendary years of 2010 and 2005.
This old-vine, organically farmed Châteauneuf-du-Pape is satisfyingly dense, bursting with the savory complexities of ripe Rhône fruit and the fine-grained minerality that can only come from Caillou’s inimitable safres (compact sand) terroir. Holding this friable soil while traversing their vineyards and tasting today’s wine was one of my most authentic experiences in recent memory. That said, I’m ready to pass it on to all of you: If you appreciate richly layered reds that also preserve freshness and terroir, “Les Safres” will be one of the most enjoyable bottles you have all year. Les Clos du Caillou’s wines are always a home run, but this 2016 is a full-on grand slam. Quantity is extremely limited, so everyone must be capped at six bottles today.
There is a classic “stay off my lawn” story behind Clos du Caillou. First established as a hunting lodge in 1895, the estate is in Courthézon, a village in the Châteauneuf-du-Pape growing zone. In 1936, when the new governing body of the AOC approached Caillou’s then-owner with the intention of including the property in the designation, they were met with steely grit 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 and essentially carved out a chunk of CDP’s border. It continues to be an ‘unclassified’ section in what is otherwise some of the most prized vineyard land in the AOC. Today’s “Les Safres” bottling, however, lies within Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s boundaries, coming from the “Les Bédines” vineyard. From here, we are only a mile north from the famed vineyards of Château Rayas.
About 20 years after ‘the lawn altercation,’ Le Clos du Caillou was purchased by the Pouizin family, who stowed the hunting 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—whom you may know if you’ve been purchasing here for awhile—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.
“Les Safres” takes its name from the compact sandy soils in which the vines are buried, but there is also a small presence of marl and quartz. Their parcel within Les Bédines houses vines that range from 50-70 years old and everything is farmed both organically and biodynamically with extremely low yields. After harvesting and twice-sorting by hand, grapes were destemmed and a natural fermentation occurred in wooden tanks. In 2016, the grapes sat on their skins (maceration) for an astounding 35 days! The wine, a cépage of 95% Grenache with Mourvèdre, Vaccarèse, and Cinsault serving as the remainders, aged in foudre and demi-muids (larger-sized casks) for 14 months. It was bottled during the second week of March.
In the glass, the 2016 “Les Safres” displays a superb dark crimson core mixed with deep purple and dark ruby reflections. It is a compact wine—fully opaque and highly concentrated with tears that slowly creep down the glass. The nose explodes with incredibly ripe and fresh fruits: red and black raspberry, black cherry, and blackcurrant, followed by strawberry coulis, blueberry pie, purple flowers, rose petal, licorice, garrigue, turned earth, crushed stones, soft pepper notes, and baking spices. On the palate, the wine retains the fresh lift of 2014, but has bumped up a weight class: it’s wonderfully luxurious with fine-grained tannins (thanks to the “safres” soil and extended maceration) and fresh acidity lending great focus. There are endless layers to this wine and it finishes with a clean and aromatic flourish. This is a seamless beauty after an hour decant, but the true magic lies in cellaring: it will evolve beautifully for 10+ years. For pairing, prepare the attached pork belly recipe—don’t be afraid to get outside and utilize the grill instead of the oven. Enjoy!
