2019 Le Clos du Caillou "Les Quartz" Côtes du Rhône, Rhône Valley, France

ABOUT THIS WINE:

Hand-picking with sorting in the vineyard and then in cellar. 80% de-stemming (20% whole cluster) and vilification in concrete and stainless-steel tanks for 2 months with wild yeasts.

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER:

Wines from Le Clos du Caillou are Rhône blends at their most intense. Concentrated and richly textured, these organically raised, older-vine wines capture the spice and silk of old-vine Grenache grown on the region’s finest terroirs. Of all the terroir in the Côtes du Rhône appellation, the “clos” of Caillou has to be one of the most exceptional. Completely surrounded by Châteauneuf-du-Pape vineyards, this walled parcel of land was intentionally left out of the appellation by the owner after a bureaucratic spat back in 1936. What this means today is that Caillou’s Côtes du Rhône wines are qualitatively the same, with regard to terroir and exposition, as top Châteauneuf wines.