Condrieu

The name Condrieu is almost mythical in the wine world. Whilst every country and region strive to imitate it with their own style of Viognier, nowhere does it have such a sense of place than the spiritual home where it all started in Condrieu. It could easily have been so different if it were not for the driving force of George Vernay and his belief in the wines of this tiny appellation.

Today there are some 237 hectares under vine, but go back to 1990 and the story was very different with 40 hectares, further back still to the early 70’s and only 20 hectares existed; we owe huge debt of thanks to people like George Vernay and Robert Niero for keeping the faith. Matt Walls, in his new book ‘Wines of the Rhone’ quotes Rémi Niero saying ‘there aren’t many terroirs on earth that can make good Viognier’, and there is something very special about Viognier and this little piece of land.

They have immediate appeal and perhaps that is their charm, unlike Burgundy where the vagaries of vintage and age often come into play, Condrieu in the main is ready to go from the off.