Winemaker Notes
Blood red color with bright purple reflections. On the nose, we have Garriguette strawberry jam and wild myrtle jelly aromas, paired with notes of licorice and saffron. Smooth and full on the palate, Les Quartz shows very silky tannins. On the palate, we have aromas of black cherry, red fruits Sabayon and wild juniper berries. Les Quartz is the emblem of the generosity, the power and the elegance of our soils of round pebbles on sand.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
An exquisite wine and one of the greatest examples of the vintage that I encountered during my journey in the region, the 2022 Chateauneuf du Pape Les Quartz exhales a deep, powerful bouquet of lilac, dark cherries, garrigue, dark wild berries, lead pencil and flowers. It's full-bodied, pure and crystalline, with a deep, multidimensional core of fruit, vibrant acids and a long, sappy finish.
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Decanter
Dark in color, this has intriguing herbal depths. Not massive, but it has an enjoyably compact frame, no lack of concentration, and serious intensity leading to a long finish. It’s vibrant, with amazing purity and clarity of flavor. Grown half on large pebbles, half on sand in lieu-dit Les Cassanets, destemmed, then fermented in tronconic concrete vats, then matured mostly in demi-muids and old barriques except for 7% in amphora. 6,800 bottles made.
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Wine Spectator
A perfumy, open version, with hints of sanguine animal meatiness underneath the sweet red forest berry and fresh currant flavors, backed by dried lavender high tones. Full but not heavy on the palate, with whiffs of vanilla and grilled mesquite. Finely crushed mineral notes line the palate, while silky tannins guide the finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Black raspberries, herbes de Provence, candied orange, and peppery garrigue all define the 2022 Côtes Du Rhône Les Quartz, which is medium to full-bodied on the palate, with a pure, layered, elegant, seamless style. It would be hard to find a better Côtes Du Rhône.
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James Suckling
At once floral, spicy and stony, this has a striking freshness for the 2020 vintage. The well-integrated tannins have a positively chalky feel to them that neatly meshes with the richness at the finish. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold.
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Vinous
The 2022 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Quartz mixes 80% Grenache with 20% Syrah from the Les Cassanets lieu-dit. Vinified from fully destemmed grapes, the 2022 evokes vivid peppercorn, red and black cherry, licorice and violet elements. Elegant and refreshing, this is a terrific Les Quartz that perfectly integrates the 15.08% alcohol. Tasted twice with consistent notes.
—Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate
From robust Côtes-du-Rhône to memorable Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Clos du Caillou wines arguably represent some of the finest values in all of France. Proprietor Sylvie Vacheron and winemaker Bruno Gaspard are keeping the great work of the late Jean-Denis Vacheron alive with wines that are heady, robust and mouth-wateringly lush.
Caillou tends wonderfully old Grenache vines, some of which are 70 to 100 years old. With older Syrah and Mourvèdre added to the mix, it’s no wonder that Caillou wines are across the board impressive for their power, extract and deep minerality. The estate’s Chateauneuf terroir borders the impressive domaines of Chateau Rayas and Beaucastel.
Yet many of the Vacheron-Pouizin family's old vines are classified, by a quirk of 1923 politics, Côtes-du-Rhône and Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages. It’s why our Côtes-du-Rhône barrel selections show surprisingly like its kin in Chateauneuf-du-Pape.
In 1996 Jean-Denis Vacheron took full control of the viticulture and élévage at this estate. Under his stewardship, the wines of Caillou steadily gained stature, and today are benchmarks for the appellation. He understood that temperature-controlled fermentation and a cool, clean cellar are necessary to craft wines with refinement and true complexity.
With bold fruit flavors and accents of sweet spice, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre form the base of the classic Rhône Red Blend, while Carignan, Cinsault and Counoise often come in to play. Though they originated from France’s southern Rhône Valley, with some creative interpretation, Rhône blends have also become popular in other countries. Somm Secret—Putting their own local spin on the Rhône Red Blend, those from Priorat often include Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In California, it is not uncommon to see Petite Sirah make an appearance.
Famous for its full-bodied, seductive and spicy reds with flavor and aroma characteristics reminiscent of black cherry, baked raspberry, garrigue, olive tapenade, lavender and baking spice, Châteauneuf-du-Pape is the leading sub-appellation of the southern Rhône River Valley. Large pebbles resembling river rocks, called "galets" in French, dominate most of the terrain. The stones hold heat and reflect it back up to the low-lying gobelet-trained vines. Though the galets are typical, they are not prominent in every vineyard. Chateau Rayas is the most obvious deviation with very sandy soil.
According to law, eighteen grape varieties are allowed in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and most wines are blends of some mix of these. For reds, Grenache is the star player with Mourvedre and Syrah coming typically second. Others used include Cinsault, Counoise and occasionally Muscardin, Vaccarèse, Picquepoul Noir and Terret Noir.
Only about 6-7% of wine from Châteauneuf-du-Pape is white wine. Blends and single-varietal bottlings are typically based on the soft and floral Grenache Blanc but Clairette, Bourboulenc and Roussanne are grown with some significance.
The wine of Chateauneuf-du-Pape takes its name from the relocation of the papal court to Avignon. The lore says that after moving in 1309, Pope Clément V (after whom Chateau Pape-Clément in Pessac-Léognan is named) ordered that vines were planted. But it was actually his successor, John XXII, who established the vineyards. The name however, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, translated as "the pope's new castle," didn’t really stick until the 19th century.