Le Clos Du Caillou Côtes du Rhône Bouquet des Garrigues 2020

Clos du Caillou’s stunning Bouquet de Garriges comes from 20 year old vines mostly Grenache with 15% each of Syrah and Mouvedre planted on sand and rounded stones on clay. The wine is fermented and aged 14 months in large old oak foudres. The result is enticing, powerful and spicy dark fruits with hints of dark chocolate and a long warm finish. 89-91/100 eRobertParker.com

Le Clos du Caillou dates from 1895 when it was a hunting lodge with surrounding forest, situated just outside the northeastern edge of the now Chateauneuf du Pape Appellation. Its strange non-inclusion in the AC is possibly down to the surveyors from the AC being shooed off at gunpoint by gamekeepers when they visited in the early 1936, sadly never to return. The clearing of the forest and planting of vines started in the 1955s by Claude Pouizin, father of the current owner Sylvie Vacheron, who also bought further land inside the Chateauneuf AC It is from this site and a further parcel in Coudelet to the north west where this stunning Côtes de Rhône comes from.