Organic. 60% Mourvèdre (from 60 year old vines) and 40% Syrah (45 years old). As the name suggests, the Roc du Pière cuvée comes from particularly rocky, bony, limestone-rich soils. There are two plots and both are situated at around 250-300 metres altitude. These are the same estate vineyards used for Les Traverses, but now the vines are older.

While the varieties involved, and the southern exposure, means that this is Claux’s deepest and most layered wine, the cool nights, altitude and mineral soil give the wine ample freshness. Claux’s vineyard work and approach in the cellar are also geared towards preserving the grape’s natural vitality. Here, for example, the wine is aged for only 12 months in a neutral, 4,000 litre cask.

The nose is tight and spicy with blackberry/cherry and smoke notes leading to a bright, pure and juicy palate, with again, blackberry, as well as nettle and violet notes and a lingering, cool, perfumed close with a powdery nip of tannin and more than a hint of garrigue (the local wild, fragrant scrub). Magic.