Wine Advisor
Le Clos du Caillou, Chateauneuf Du Pape Les Quartz 2016
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Joe Czerwinski
A prospective blend of the 2016 Chateauneuf du Pape Les Quartz showed waves of cherry fruit, rich, velvety tannins and a long, spice-driven finish. It's a complete wine, even at this embryonic stage, and should age up to two decades.
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
Lurid ruby. A complex, hugely perfumed bouquet evokes red and blue fruit preserves, exotic spices, incense and floral oils, along with a vibrant mineral quality that builds steadily as the wine opens up. Alluringly sweet, seamless and broad on the palate, offering densely packed yet lithe raspberry, boysenberry and spicecake flavors that show remarkable clarity and back-end power. The mineral and floral components drive an extremely long, sweet finish that's given shape by smooth, well-knit tannins. The interplay of power and finesse here is awfully impressive. This wine, along with its Le Réserve sibling, is a standout in what has turned out to be a monumental vintage for the region.
Reviewed by: Joe Czerwinski
Full-bodied, rich, concentrated and velvety, the 2016 Chateauneuf du Pape Les Quartz is a complete thoroughbred. A blend of 85% Grenache and 15% Syrah, it offers up stunning aromas of crushed stones, tea roses, black cherries and licorice. A powerhouse, loaded with extract, it finishes long and intense, picking up hints of chocolate and star anise. It appears capable of evolving for a couple of stunning decades.
Reviewed by: James Suckling
Aromas of ripe, red plums meet dried, meadow flowers, strawberries and pastry. The tannins are suave, ripe and long, carrying plenty of deep, red plums. This really tests the limits of ripeness at the finish. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold.
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
Lurid ruby. A complex, hugely perfumed bouquet evokes red and blue fruit preserves, exotic spices, incense and floral oils, along with a vibrant mineral quality that builds steadily as the wine opens up. Alluringly sweet, seamless and broad on the palate, offering densely packed yet lithe raspberry, boysenberry and spicecake flavors that show remarkable clarity and back-end power. The mineral and floral components drive an extremely long, sweet finish that's given shape by smooth, well-knit tannins. The interplay of power and finesse here is awfully impressive. This wine, along with its Le Réserve sibling, is a standout in what has turned out to be a monumental vintage for the region.
About the Producer
Our vineyard is rich of traditional red variety, such as Mourvèdre, Syrah, Cinsault, Carignan, Counoise and also some white variety: Viognier, Roussanne, Clairette, Bourboulenc, without forgetting the Grenache, native god red and white. Grounds are worked in the respect of the nature, by regular ploughing without weedkiller and without chemical produce, using only phytosanitary treatment of sulfur and copper in a lower quantity. Grapes are picked by hand and sorting at the vineyard. Grape varieties are vinified separately to respect their own character, aromas and originality. The red vinification is usually preceded by a cold maceration during few days. Pomp-over, punch-down and delestage are made during all the maceration (1 month to 40 days depending on the vintage and the cuvee). The alcoholic maceration start naturally by the wild yeast present on the grapes. We use stainless tanks for the vinification of the white and rose wine and wooden and cement tank for the vinification of the red. Red wines are then aged in foudres and in oak barrels during one year and more, in the underground cellar, built in the safres, with a natural temperature (13 to 15°C). Foudres and demi-muids composed the maturing cellar. Natural cultural practices at Le Clos du Caillou have been started with Claude Pouizin in 1950 : regular plough, organic compost. Since the early years of the vineyard, we put all our efforts to work in a natural way. Thats is why, Jean-Denis Vacheron started the organic agriculture when he arrived on the vineyard in 1996. We got the certification on 2010 vintage. To continue our philosophy, we engage in 2007 in biodynamic agriculture. It permits to produce qualitative grapes by improving the fertility of the soils. Today, it is of major importance to give back to the soils their total vitality. These practices permitted to give to our vines a new youth thanks to the use of horn-manure and silica preparations, sprayed in the vines while respecting the rythm of the cosmos and the nature cycle.
