Le Clos du Caillou Les Safres Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rouge 2023

In 1936, when the borders of Châteauneuf-du-Pape were being drawn, a small walled vineyard in Courthézon was left out. Not because the land wasn’t worthy — quite the opposite. A bureaucratic dispute between the owner and local officials kept the parcel outside the appellation lines. And so, while vines just across the road could legally claim Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the wines from this enclosed vineyard would forever carry the far humbler name: Côtes du Rhône.

Today, that vineyard is known as Le Clos du Caillou, and the irony is delicious!

Completely surrounded by Châteauneuf-du-Pape vineyards, the estate sits on the same sandy soils that give the region’s greatest Grenache its haunting perfume and silk-textured power. The wines capture everything we love about the southern Rhône — deep fruit, wild herbs, and the unmistakable scent of the garrigue that grows between the vines: thyme, rosemary, lavender carried on warm Mediterranean air.

Farming here has been organic for decades and biodynamic since 2003. Grapes are harvested by hand, fermented with native yeasts in cement tanks, and aged slowly in large foudre and demi-muids in the estate’s cool underground cellars. Nothing is rushed, and nothing is forced. And when you consider that the vineyards are effectively Châteauneuf-du-Pape in everything but name, the value becomes even more compelling.

Beautifully open and expressive, layered with dark cherry, wild strawberry, and dried rose petal. The sandy soils lend the wine a velvety texture, allowing the fruit to unfold effortlessly across the palate. Approachable now but structured enough to evolve, with a long, perfumed finish.