Les Clefs du Caladas (Château Simian), Côtes du Rhône, Rhône Valley, France 2021

A blend of Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, and Mourvèdre

The Clefs du Caladas Côtes du Rhône has a round palate with a deep and intense expression of fresh red fruit. The wine is marked by silky tannins and an elegant balance.

The name “Clefs du Caladas” derives from two ancient Provençal words – “Caladas” which was the large stone path that ran from Orange to Châteauneuf-du-Pape in ancient times – and “Clefs,” or keys, meaning the keys to the estate.

This historic estate began in 1920 in the small village of Piolenc, just north of Orange in the Southern Rhône Valley. Madeleine Ladret, whose mother Marcelle had been bequeathed the property of Château Simian, would marry Yves Serguier, a grower cultivating vines along with his father and grandfather in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Madeleine and Yves’s only son, Jean-Pierre, born in 1957, would eventually take over the family property in 1981, having studied enology at the University of Beaune in Burgundy.

The forward-thinking Jean-Pierre had early recognition of the effects of climate change on his wines and began purchasing vineyards in the higher elevations of Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the 1990s in effort to retain freshness. Additionally in 2008, the estate earned the esteemed Demeter biodynamic & organic certification. Jean-Pierre’s oldest son Florian and daughter Marion now work closely with their father running the estate.