Le Clos du Caillou Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2017

"Retirement@65 2021 - a blend of Cinsaut and Shiraz.With these 2 vineyards, our biggest concern always are the birds. They are situated so far up the Darling mountains, that they fall prey to these beautiful creatures. Not that I blame them. If I had to live in the wild overlooking a nice, juicy green vineyard, I would also be tempted to have a nibble. Anyway, they were there first, so the only way for me to have anything left in the vineyard by the time of picking is to prevent them from getting close to the bunches. We therefore buy nets from Agrimark and cover the vines. It comes in rolls of 1.5 meter wide and 2 km in length. We then add these to either side of the bush vine rows and tie the 2 together at the top. The sides get covered with soil to keep it in place. And we have to repeat this process every year…When it came to the harvest of 2021, we decided to pick the Shiraz component a bit earlier than usual. The result: a wine that turned out to be a bit lighter and more perfumy. It compliments the finer aromas of the Cinsaut and amplifies freshness, adding great length. We were therefore able to add much more Shiraz to the blend than ever before - 50% Shiraz and 50% Cinsaut."