La Réserve
One of the greatest Châteauneuf-du-Pape! This wine has a beautiful, intense cherry colour and an explosive nose of liquorice and liquorice liqueur, softened by spicy notes of savory, pine resin and Indian pepper, with a hint of sandalwood.The palate is superbly fresh with extremely soft tannins, providing enormous finesse. This wine opens with aromas of cherry liqueur, candied plums, accompanied by candied citrus peel supported by a beautiful peppery and spicy structure.
Châteauneuf-du-Pape Réserve is a wine made only in the best vintages. The grape variety is composed of Grenache 60% and Mouvèdre 40% located on the place called "La Guigasse". This terroir, composed of sand, gives the wine finesse and freshness. Although early due to its terroir, the grapes are harvested late in order to obtain the perfect maturity of the Mourvèdre. The Grenache and Mourvèdre grapes are thus vinified together in wooden truncated tanks of 7 wines. Maceration lasts about 35 days, with daily manual punching of the cap and delestage.
The wine is aged in demi-muids of 1, 2 and 3 wines for about 18 months.
The Estate
The Clos du Caillou is ideally situated in the commune of Courthézon. It is composed of 44 ha in the Côtes du Rhône appellation, and 9 ha in the Châteauneuf du Pape appellation. The Clos has the particularity of being located on the border of the Châteauneuf du Pape appellation area. Formerly a hunting reserve, in 1936 the owner refused to allow the experts in charge of the delimitation of the Châteauneuf du Pape appellation to visit his estate. As a result, the Clos was not included in the delimitation, and today, the Clos du Caillou remains an enclave in the Châteauneuf du Pape appellation.
The 1936 classification, consequences
Not having been classified in 1936, the Clos was then classified in the Côtes du Rhône villages appellation. Today, within the Clos, on a terroir identical to that of the Châteauneuf du Pape, which surrounds the estate, we produce Côtes du Rhône that are both rich and silky. The cuvées are : Côtes du Rhône Clos du Caillou, Bouquet des Garrigues, Quartz, and La Réserve. Outside the Clos, the vines classified as Châteauneuf du Pape are grouped by terroir and vinified separately:
- the sandy terroir is the source of two cuvées: Les Safres and La Réserve.
- the terroir of rolled pebbles, which is the origin of the cuvée Les Quartz.
The grape varieties
The majority of the vineyard was established when it was acquired by the Pouizin family in 1956. Today, the vineyard is over 50 years old and is composed of red grape varieties: Grenache (80%), Syrah (9%), Mourvèdre (5%), cinsault (1%), counoise (1.5%), carignan (2.5%) and muscardin (1%), and white varieties of clairette rose (32%), grenache blanc (27%), roussane (24%), clairette blanche (9%), viognier (6%), and bourboulenc (2%)
The key terroirs of the estate are:
- The sands on a marly subsoil in the localities of "Les Cailloux" and "Les Cassanets". This terroir is one of the most interesting in the appellation. It has the advantage of being very filtering, thus evacuating excess water very quickly.
This terroir allows the grapes to ripen more quickly and to be very early (15 days earlier than a pebble terroir).
Wines from this terroir are characterised by finesse, elegance, supple tannins and generally a very Burgundian style.
- Galets roulés in the hillsides, the main terroir of the appellation in the area known as "Les Cassanets", or "Les Garrigues" in Côtes du Rhône. This terroir is composed of marine molasse from the Miocene period covered by pebbles, which evokes the passage of the Rhône at that time. The pebbles have a beneficial effect on the quality of the grapes: they store the heat during the day and diffuse it slowly during the night.
Vinification
The Clos du Caillou vines are worked with respect for nature: organic amendments and composts, regular ploughing without the use of herbicides, phytosanitary treatments reduced to the use of sulphur and copper.
The grapes are exclusively harvested by hand and sorted before their arrival at the cellar.
Vinification is often preceded by cold maceration for a few days.
The red wines are partially or totally destemmed depending on the vintage; the fermentation and maceration phase follows with manual punching down, pumping over and delestage. The wines are then aged in tuns and demi-muids for 15 to 18 months in the estate's naturally tempered underground cellars (13 to 15 degrees).
Our recommendations When and how to serve it?
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Practical information
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The Estate Le Clos du Caillou
All these specificities, gathered at the heart of the Clos du Caillou estate, allow us to offer very high quality Côtes du Rhône wines, such as the magnificent Quartz vintage, which demonstrates the richness of these exceptional terroirs. In addition, Sylvie Vacheron and Bruno Gaspard have been converting the estate to organic farming since 2006. The 2010 vintage was the first to benefit from the organic label (AB), which completes the quality of the work undertaken for decades. An estate to be followed closely, with all the qualities to produce the best... Discover the best vintages on the Passionnés du Vin website; Bouquet des garrigues, Quartz, Safres, Cuvée réserve; all of these vintages will brighten up your taste buds (in moderation) and go wonderfully well with a multitude of dishes, for an exceptional tasting experience.
The Estate Le Clos du Caillou
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