Jayna Fontenot

9.3

Medium legs, and a pale straw color. Smells lightly citrus-like, with maybe melon. A small acidic bite on the tip of your tongue when you first taste it, followed by a dry tannic sort of mouthfeel. Crisp, refreshing, and not too fruity. Would be great with cheese or fish. I like! — 5 years ago

Danielle Shea

9.0

A much bigger and bolder Claret from winemaker Matt Loso. Notes of stewed plum, chicory and currant jam. Full bodied and complex on the palate, mild to medium tannin with a velvet finish. Great addition to my Christmas table paired with coffee rubbed tri tip steaks. — 5 years ago

Kristen Grimes

9.5

Dark fruits on the nose, blueberries and blackberries, and a bit of brininess. All the black pepper on the tongue, lingering tingle on the tip of the tongue and a bit of berry tartness, nice tannins that lingers. Bring on the steak! — 6 years ago

Nic Anderson

9.5

Love Black Stallion. Great cab went extremely well with a tri-tip steak. One of my favorite all time cabs. Great finish, fruity, but still bold — 7 years ago

Rob Moose

9.1

Penultimate bottle! With perennial thanks to D Beckwith for the tip. Owing to its age, it shows best from 30-90 minutes on opening. Thereafter it gets sorta wide without further revelations or complexity, but there’s a kind of mineral sweet spot with cool Japanese umami notes and I’m consistently impressed by the showing. — 7 years ago

with Alex

DL

9.8

Very drinkable, goes well with food and on its own. Not much of a smell, just alcohol-y. Smooth on the tip, tingly at back of throat. Small tannins, very refreshing, kind of sweet, but balanced by zestiness. Had with zucchini grilled cheese with egg. Leaves warm feeling in back of throat. — 8 years ago

with C

Bill Bender

9.5

Vibrancy and depth with each tip of the glass. A racy freshmaker. Petrol, lemon rind and wet gravel. Very Coche-y at a fraction of the price. Credit to @romo for turning me on to this and @Max Kogod for purveying it with aplomb. — 8 years ago

Eli Barton

9.3

My last bottle of the 07... it was in pretty good shape, definitely more youthful than the other bottles I’ve opened in the last few years, so I’m guessing it was in a good window - thanks for the tip @Andrew Mecoli! After some decanting it opened up a bit more and was really good with a hearty homemade lasagna. Still plenty of acidity, and the fruit was mature but not old. This is one I wish I’d bought more of! — 5 years ago

with Jennifer

Natassia

9.8

First impression on the nose is of freshly installed carpet and peppercorn. Hits the tip of your tongue as a tingling glitter and down the back of throat with notes of peppercorn, blackberry, Cuban cigar ash, and slight smoke taint. — 6 years ago

with Nick, Sara and 1 other

Cheryl colan

9.0

Enjoying the 2015 vintage. Citrus on the tip of my tongue, but finishes complexly earthy. And quite the kick too (ALC 15.4% BY VOL) — 7 years ago

Peter Sultan

8.9

First tip of different Malbec style- the Burgundy bottle. I like to try all wine fromPatagonia. Medium to light. A bit in distinctive though — 7 years ago

DL

9.6

Refreshing, light, slightly sweet smell. Pleasantly tingly on the tip of tongue, very complex, flavors spread out on tongue, floral and fruity. Medium ish tannins. Rounded, clean finish. So good! Had at Smith and wolleksny with samir — 8 years ago

Michael Meyer

9.2

An elegant structured Sicilian wine from Faro (extreme NE tip of the island). Kind of like Nebbiolo (with its tar, rose, and bright clear color) meets Sangiovese (with its rich cherry, leather/tobacco, and assertive acidity). A food wine for sure, as Narellos always are. This one has a wee bit of Nocera as well. A fine producer...they make a rosato as well from the same blend - reputed to be the best on the island. — 8 years ago

Kaito Kikuchi

9.0

Very fragrant nose with strong berry notes. Sweet but full bodied mouthful. Acid at the tip of my tongue. Great for $9.9! — 8 years ago

Joseph LaPanna

8.9

What’s not to love about high elevation, old vine garnacha! Dark purple with an opaque rim. The nose was bright and brimming with minerals, earth and Asian spices. Tons of fruit runs from tip to stern; dominated by black cherry lavender and brambley spices. Great depth and grip! — 5 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

This is an insiders wine. You have study, focus and taste a lot wine to know how special this wine can drink. Especially, at its QPR.

There are a lot of people that covet SQN, Caycuse, Horsepower and No Girls. For my palate, these wines either burn the palate with ABV or choke off the fruit with way too much bacon fat and or deeply marinaded grilled meats. Yes, you are drinking expensive, flashy producers but, I would humbly disagree they are better wines than this 2011 Le Clos Du Caillou Vielles Vignes Cuvée Unique. Those other wines should aspire to be everything this 2011 shows and delivers.

This Le Clos Du Caillou has the balance the above wines lack and at a fraction of the price point. I would drink this 2011 over any of the other fore mentioned wines. While this Le Clos Du Caillou is a shade hot, it is not nearly as hot as SQN etc.. Hot ABV alcohol that burns the palate & back of the throat will forever be a fatal flaw in a wine.

The nose reveals, ripe; blackberries, dark cherries, blue & purple fruit mix, poached & back strawberries, black raspberries and both plums. Dark, sweet tarriness, dry, crushed rocks, steeped teas, anise stretching to black licorice, hint of dry herbs with bay leaf leading the way, dry brush, black, dry earth, savory, grilled meats, medium, dark spice, understated baking spices; clove, nutmeg, vanilla and a touch of clove, dark & mid red fruit cola, just a whiff of incense with candied, fresh and withering red & dark florals.

The body is rich and mid full. Tannins just 50% resolved with round, dark tarry teethiness. The structure, tension, length and balance are harmonious...just before their peak. Ripe; blackberries, dark cherries, blue & purple fruit mix, raspberries that haut the center palate on the long set, poached & back strawberries, black raspberries and both plums. Dark, sweet tarriness, dry, crushed rocks, limestone minerals, steeped teas, anise stretching to black licorice, hint of dry herbs with bay leaf leading the way, dry brush, dry black earth, dry stone wrapped in moist clay, savory, grilled meats, some bacon fat, medium, dark spice, understated baking spices; clove, nutmeg, vanilla and a touch of clove, Mix of caramel & mocha powder, dark & mid red fruit cola, just a whiff of incense with candied, fresh and withering red & dark florals. The acidity is phenomenal. The long, ripe, well balanced & textured, elegant finish is memorable and is persistent for several minutes.

Wine paired perfectly with our marinated Tri-tip.

If you are over paying for the above lesser wines mentioned above, you owe it to yourself to seek out and cellar this wine appropriately.

Photos of; Le Clos Du. Caillou, their barrel room, Owners-Sylvie Vacheron & Bruno Gaspard and one of their vineyards. It’s amazing they can grow anything in that stone soil structure.
— 6 years ago

Elyse

9.0

Light and crisp with an almost bubbly sensation on the tip of the tongue. — 7 years ago

with Gabe

Michael Medina

9.1

Delicious, smooth great representative of Haut-Médoc. Went great with Burgundy wine tri tip. — 8 years ago

with Rox

Martin Mazner

9.4

Wonderful example of classic, balanced California cab. Just say no to high alcohol fruit bombs. Intense yet delicate and profound. Served with perfectly BBQ tri tip. Yum! — 8 years ago

Alec Jeffery

9.2

Big style Chardonnay from the southern tip of Africa, excellent. — 8 years ago