From a sandy, late-ripening site next to the clos, the 2020 Chateauneuf du Pape Les Quartz is an 80-20 blend of Grenache and Syrah. Scents of roses, herbal tea, cherries and raspberries leave the mouth watering, while the palate is full-bodied, lush and silky. It really looks special this year.

This cuvée has firmed up considerably since I last tasted it, and it now appears as if it will demand a bit of cellaring to be at its best. Still a fine effort, the 2019 Chateauneuf du Pape Les Quartz easily mixes black cherries and red raspberries on a seductive nose, but it's a full-bodied, muscular wine, with ample richness, a velvety mouthfeel and perhaps a touch of warmth on the lingering finish. Try it after 2025.

Full-bodied, rich, concentrated and velvety, the 2016 Chateauneuf du Pape Les Quartz is a complete thoroughbred. A blend of 85% Grenache and 15% Syrah, it offers up stunning aromas of crushed stones, tea roses, black cherries and licorice. A powerhouse, loaded with extract, it finishes long and intense, picking up hints of chocolate and star anise. It appears capable of evolving for a couple of stunning decades.

The 2011 Chateauneuf du Pape Les Quartz—which wasn't harvested until two weeks after the sugars reached 15 degrees of potential alcohol, to allow the tannins time to ripen properly—remains a wonderful success. Initial notes of fig give way to raspberries and cherries, which still seem fairly fresh. Full-bodied, silky and fine, with a long, elegant finish, it may be enjoyed now and over the next few years.

Even better, the 2010 Chateauneuf du Pape Les Quartz offers additional depth and richness, with ample dark fruits, blackberry, crushed rock and edgy minerality giving way to a full-bodied, big, powerful wine that won’t hit prime-time for another 3-4 years. When all is said and done, it will have two decades of longevity. This was a massive tasting with the team at Clos du Caillou and we went through each of their cuvees going back more than a decade. While the domaine has been in the Pouizin family since 1956, with Claude Pouizin running the estate through 1996, most of the production was sold off to negociants until around 1993. In 1995, Claude’s daughter, Sylvie, married Jean-Denis Vacheron, and the couple took over running the estate. Unfortunately, Jean-Denis died in a tragic traffic accident in 2002. Today the estate is run by Sylvie, the wines are made by Bruno Gaspard and consulting advice is from Philippe Cambie. Located on the eastern edge of the appellation, in the Courthezon district, they produce up to three Chateauneufs (Les Safres, Les Quartz and the Cuvee Reserve) in any vintage. In addition, they produce a white Chateauneuf du Pape and a number of smoking Cotes du Rones, which come from vineyards bordering Chateauneuf du Pape (identical terroir, actually) and are top- quality. We started the tasting with their base Chateauneuf du Pape, which comes from Safres (sandstone) soils located around the estate. It’s always based on 50+-year-old Grenache vines (95% or higher) and is aged all in older foudre. While this cuvee is called Les Safres today, it was labeled as their traditional Chateauneuf du Pape up until 2005. Moving to the Les Quartz Cuvee, this was first made in 1999 and comes mostly from the Les Cassanets lieu-dit, yet incorporates a small amount of Syrah from Les Bedines. It’s normally a blend of 85% Grenache and 15% Syrah, with the Grenache aged in a combination of oak tanks and foudre, and the Syrah in new barrels. While the Reserve gets most of the attention, Grenache-lovers need to check out this cuvee as it always offers thrilling fruit and texture, with an exuberant, Grenache-driven style. The top release from the estate, their Reserve release was first made in 1998. It is a blend of 60% Grenache and 40% Mourvedre (this is sometimes a split of Syrah and Mourvedre) that’s aged mostly in 1-2-and 3-year-old, 600-liter demi-muids for 18 months. Where the Les Quartz release is more exuberant and Grenache-dominated (both in style and in the blend), this cuvee, which comes from mostly sandy soils, always has more elegance and polish, as well as rock-star concentration and muscle. In addition, it performs beautifully in more difficult vintages as well. Importers: North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 848-8910; Dionysos Imports, Manassas, VA; tel. (703) 392-7073; Import Wines, Middleton, WI; tel. (608) 833-8622; and Domaine Select Wine Estates, New York, NY; tel. (212) 279-0799