Full, unctuous and low in acid, yet lifted by heady perfume
Ageing
Mostly 2–6 years, at its aromatic peak young
Serving
10–12 °C
Condrieu is Viognier's homeland and, for a long time, was very nearly its grave — by the 1960s the appellation's steep granite terraces had shrunk to a handful of hectares and the grape almost vanished from the earth. Its rescue, and Viognier's subsequent conquest of the wine world, began on these south-facing slopes above the Rhône.
The wine is like no other white: full-bodied and richly perfumed with apricot, peach blossom and violet, low in acid yet somehow weightless in its aromatic lift. Difficult to grow and best drunk young, it is a small, heady luxury — the most flamboyant expression of a grape that owes Condrieu its very survival.