Le Clos du Caillou Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Reserve 2021
Rhône · Châteauneuf-du-Pape · Red Blends · red
About this wine
“The 2021 Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Réserve turned out magnificently and is one of the highlights of the vintage.” – Antonio Galloni, Vinous BOO-YEAH!!! Clos Saint-Jean may have gone the way of the dinosaur (I told you it would!), but instead of tissues, tears, and pats on the back – I’m here to offer something truly salvatory. La Réserve 2021!!! Cooler than Arthur Fonzarelli, Steve McQueen, James Bond, Thomas Shelby (ok, that’s pretty damn cool) — this Clos du Caillou flagship was blessed with TRIPLE 95 POINTS — and I’m here to say…totally worthy! (And maybe deserving of a couple more, but I get it -– lean, elegant, and precise CdP’s can’t seem to get those same really HIGH scores as the jammy, spice and fruit bombs from warmer, more classic vintages.) But as fascinating as 95 point scores are – this wine is all about the aromas and flavors, baby! That, my friends, is where this wine SHINES!!! Impressively floral, with roses, kirsch, and violets, some creme de cassis richness, more ripeness than their Les Quartz, but still incredibly elegant...and POWERFUL!!! This La Réserve carries a less traditional blend of nearly equal parts grenache and mourvèdre, and the latter really showcases its intensity here. Blood orange, and then juniper berry, with Herbs de Provence, fennel, and a tang of salty ocean air give this incredible depth and a hold-on-to-your-hat rollercoaster ride of sensations. This is youthfully powerful, with an intensely structured finish that is really going to STRUT over time. Put this one down a couple of years if you can, and watch the magic happen! This flagship for Clos du Caillou hails from some gnarly 70-year-old vines in the lieux dits of La Guigasse and Pignan — the latter sandwiched between the enviable vineyard of Chateau Rayas and Vaudieu, with Guigasse sitting just to the north of there. This is the CdP Northeastern plateau — a higher-elevation exposure studded with those famous potato-sized stones, and known for the most-expensive, longest-lived, treasure-worthy CdPs on the planet! This is just such a wine — and we’ve got it for one heck of a great price!!! Only a handful to share – but what a steal…while it lasts, that is!
Wine details
- Producer
- Le
- Vintage
- 2021
- Region
- Rhône
- Appellation
- Châteauneuf-du-Pape
- Varietal
- Red Blends
- Blend
- 55% Grenache and 45% Mourvedre
- Color
- red
- Winemaker
- Bruno Gaspard
- Alcohol
- 15
- Last Bottle price
- $129
- Retail price (estimate)
- $200
- CellarTracker score
- 95.8 (5 reviews)
- Critic score
- 95 — Decanter