Domaine François Villard

The Les Terrasses du Palat, the “terraces of the palace,” is crafted from François’s vineyards in Chavanay & Vérin. It blends the two poles of Condrieu expression: Chavanay in the southern portion of the appellation with the loamier granite à muscovite soils shot through with silvery mica and having more water retention, is known for producing the roundest, more floral and opulent expressions of Condrieu; meanwhile, Vérin is in the Northern end of Condrieu (Château-Grillet AOC is in the dead center of it), and its soils are typically those pure granites à biotite rich with black mica and having a very dense composition, arzelle soils in the local shorthand, and these the higher draining yet warmer soils stress the vine while ripening the fruit, providing the tightest and most mineral-driven and long-ageing expressions of Viognier in the world. Combining the two sites gives us an earlier drinking expression without want for tension. 8,500 vines/ha on decomposed granite and quartz. 25yo vines. Direct pressed and fermented at low temps in barrels with native yeasts. Aged 16 months: 12 months in oak on the fine lees followed by four months in stainless. This is François’s earliest 13.5% ABV. 15,690 bottles produced. Cellaring potential: 10 years.