Domaine François Villard

This single vineyard Condrieu comes from the vertiginous lieu-dit of Poncins in Saint-Michel-sur-Rhône, a vineyard that towers steeply over the Rhône, just a short walk from the Domaine’s home and cellar on the plateau above. This is François’s original Viognier vineyard (although the oldest vines, combined with the oldest Grand Val vines, go into his extremely limited Villa Pontciana cuvée now). This is prestigious terroir. Here we have the darker and heavier biotite rich granite high in magnesium and iron and micronutrients, but the granite bedrock here has seen an exceptional amount of weathering over millions of years, making the land particularly austere, giving the vines plenty to struggle with while also giving them just enough to create the most incredible fruit. These sharp slopes and shallow soils have proven pitch perfect in the water stress needed to create deeply concentrated wines that remain cooled by the winds and northern latitude, sunbathed by the south-facing aspect, and ripened by the heat-banking darkness of the soil. 8,000 vines/ha on granite and mica schist. Average of 20 year-old vines. This texturally ripe fruit meets François’s ebullient élevage styling, adding some gorgeous new cooperage (25% new oak) to the ripe apricot, peach, and orange blossom notes that surround the smokey, flinty mineral core of this benchmark Condrieu. The wine is direct pressed and fermented in oak with native yeasts at a low temperature, then aged 16 months: 12 months on fine lees in oak followed by four months in stainless steel. 13.5% ABV. 16,000 bottles produced. Cellaring potential: 15 years.