Clos Caillou, Chateauneuf Du Pape

Clos Caillou, Chateauneuf Du PapeThe 2001 Chateauneuf du Pape is drinking perfectly, and to my mind, is getting close to full maturity. Black cherry and assorted darker fruits all mix nicely with notions of garrigue, licorice and wild herbs. It opens up in the glass to show a medium bodied, silky, balanced and textured style. Im a fan. Consume it over the coming handful of years. This was a massive tasting with the team at Clos du Caillou and we went through each of their cuvees

truffle and soft earth

The 2022 Pinot Noir Single Vineyard Hua Nui is richly fruited with plenty of substance and phenolic grip

Moderately generous wood sets off prominent notes of citrus and mineral reduction

More positively there is solid volume to the succulent and relatively dense flavors that deliver better energy than usual on the discreetly mineralinflected finish where the refreshing citrus aspect communicated by the nose reappears

Ineffable nose combines plum

Luciano Sandrone and his daughter Barbara tell me that the 2014 harvest needs explaining

This is also quite restrained but a bit less structured

full bodied

so drink over the next five or six years

Note that this is firm enough to repay up to a decade of keeping

This is almost as complex and aromatically pure as the ‘04 with notes of game

Does not taste like 100% Sauvignon from Sancerre