Château Pech Redon - L'Épervier 2016

A splendid expression of La Clape, with a refined, minty flavor and superb tannins. A rare expression of a unique, sap-like, powerful flavor, from a vintage that was, unfortunately, short on rain—which prevented the tannins from fully softening—but which aging will refine. What a finish! It’s worth the wait.

Christophe Bousquet is deeply in tune with nature on his vineyard, which receives little rainfall but which we consider to be the highest-quality site in La Clape. Perched on the heights of Gruissan, very close to Narbonne and just one kilometer from the Mediterranean, Pech-Redon—with its 30 hectares grazed by sheep in winter and farmed to certified organic standards—has long produced the best wines in the Clape region: the freshest and most complex. A tasting of the whites, particularly La Centaurée, is a must. Among the reds, La-Centaurée stands in a class of its own with a distinctive style—a wine that invites contemplation, with very fine tannins, less opulent than Les-Cades or L’Épervier. Christophe is increasingly giving prominence to Mourvèdre, which thrives here particularly well because it overlooks the sea. The 2017 reds are very successful, and the 2018 vintage—tasted while still aging—will be every bit as good.

A winding road leads to the highest point of the La Clape massif, the Coffre de Pech-Redon, which gives its name to the estate, located in the heart of the natural park. Christophe Bousquet has been cultivating his 30 hectares of vineyards there using organic farming methods since 1988.

Christophe Bousquet is a dynamic and determined winemaker who strives—sometimes in the face of adversity—to fly the flag for La Clape, a coastal region (it was once an island) with great potential. He has made the agronomic choice to practice organic viticulture and has gradually refined his winemaking and aging techniques, transforming his wines—once robust and high in alcohol—into more nuanced and balanced expressions. These are wines with a very distinct character, deeply rooted in their terroir, and structured within a range that is now highly cohesive. This magnificent work, carried out under Herculean conditions in a region on the front lines of heat waves and droughts, fully deserves the star we are awarding in this edition of the Green Guide.