Made from close to 100% Grenache and all from sandstone soils, the 2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Safres offers more framboise, strawberry and kirsch-like notes to go with a full-bodied, layered style on the palate. Ripe, textured, and incredibly sexy, yet with building tannin (it’s more structured than the traditional cuvée), it's going to just sing on release, yet keep for 15+ years of more.

Sourced from the lieu-dit of Les Bédines, the 2016 Chateauneuf du Pape Les Safres is 95% Grenache, with the remainder being a mix of other permitted varieties. Like the other wines from Le Clos du Caillou, it shows great intensity and purity. Flowering garrigue accents black cherry fruit in this full-bodied, fresh, vibrant and intense wine, which ends with a burst of bright orange zest and waves of silky tannins.

Drinking Window: 2018 - 2030

Reviewer Name: Joe Czerwinski

Review Date: 31st August 2018

High-pitched fennel and green almond notes lead the way, while this quickly turns richer in feel, showing mirabelle plum, pear and yellow apple fruit flavors at the core. Lovely verbena, honeysuckle and salted butter accents score the finish.

There are places around the Clos du Caillou winery where the safres are up to 50m deep, and this Grenache wine with a tiny infusion of Mourvèdre, Vaccarèse and Cinsault comes from vineyards on this soil type alone, sited in the Bédines lieu-dit. The same winery’s ‘Quartz’ cuvée comes from vineyards in the little island of Cassanets, an appellation zone detached from the main part of Châteauneuf, with both safres and galets roulés. This wine is made from destemmed fruit at present, but stems will be used in the future. After a 30-day maceration period, it’s aged in foudres or older demi-muids. The wine is clear and limpid in colour, and despite its youth the aromas are already mellow and harmonious, with finely detailed notes of black raspberry, garrigue, lavender, lemon zest and lemon blossom. On the palate the wine has the dramatic concentration and poise so typical of this outstanding vintage. Its vibrant flavours are underwritten by juicy acidity and bright cherry and raspberry fruit, supported by soft, supple tannins which complete the mouthfilling effect.

Vivid ruby-red. Highly perfumed red and blue fruit and floral pastille aromas are complemented by Asian spices and smoky mineral flourishes. Juicy and focused on the palate, offering sweet cherry and raspberry liqueur flavors that become deeper and spicier as the wine opens up. Shows impressive power and breadth on a very long, floral-accented finish shaped by supple, harmonious tannins.

Glossy, succulent red fruit with a smoky scent on the nose and dense tannic chew on the palate. Impressive and sizeable, with slight emerging complexity giving a sort of hard cheese note on the finish.