SommSelect and our subscribers alike have come to cherish wines that push far beyond both their price tag and appellation limits; e.g. wines that drink at twice their price, such as a Bourgogne Rouge that performs like a stellar Premier Cru. “Les Quartz,” from the terrific Clos du Caillou estate, is one of the great examples of this.
Although Côtes du Rhône in name, today’s wine is, for all intents and purposes, a top Châteauneuf-du-Pape; if Le Clos du Caillou priced it accordingly, it would easily climb up to $60-$80 (they bottle a CdP version from a neighboring vineyard that sells for $90!). We’ve offered a handful of Le Clos du Caillou’s wines—all of which are certified organic—over the past few years, but as far as value for dollar is concerned, this stands far above the others. It’s intensely rich and delightfully fresh with endless layers of fruit and spice; exactly what the best Châteauneufs deliver, at a price none of them can match. This is easily among the best-value reds we’ll offer all year—a whole lot of wine for the money!
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, forty 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.
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.
Le Clos du Caillou makes “Les Quartz” under two labels: Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Côtes du Rhône—both of which are named after the large quartz stones (
galets roulés) that lay atop sandy subsoils. Today’s Côtes du Rhône is sourced from 50-year-old vines in the estate’s walled (clos) vineyards, directly next to “Les Cassanets,” the chosen vineyard for their CdP bottling. Biodynamics have been implemented for 15 years and Caillou has been certified organic for the past eight. That means, of course, that vineyard work is incredibly laborious: plowing, crop thinning, the use of organic compost, and hand harvesting. For 2016 “Les Quartz,” all grapes were destemmed and transferred into cement vessels, where fermentation on indigenous yeasts occurred. Interestingly, the Grenache (85%) aged in large French oak
foudres whereas the Syrah (15%) rested in smaller
barriques. After 14 months, they were blended together and the final wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered.
The 2016 “Les Quartz” reveals a serious dark ruby color in the glass. As you swirl, deep purple hues and thick, slow-moving tears drip down to a bright magenta rim. The nose is incredibly expressive and pungent with high-toned aromas of boysenberry, black cherry, raspberry liqueur, licorice, star anise, violets and lavender, garrigue, fresh roses, and cacao nibs. Nothing short of full-bodied on the palate, “Les Quartz” enters rich and textured, showing off ripe fruits and loads of persisting spice on the finish. Ripe and opulent, yet always fresh throughout, it carries its alcohol effortlessly—there’s none of the jammy ‘heat’ you feel on some high-end Châteauneufs. After a 30-minute decant, this was in a perfect drinking spot and I think it will be performing at its best through 2025, so there’s absolutely no rush to drink! When consuming, pour in Bordeaux stems and do your best to keep the drinking temperature around 60-65 degrees—avoid room temperature for sure! For a pairing, check out the attached preparation of braised short ribs drenched in a grated chocolate and rosemary sauce—it’s well worth the gastronomic coma that is almost guaranteed to follow. Cheers!
