Condrieu, Coteau de Vernon, Domaine Georges Vernay 2023
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Why this wine
Condrieu was down to a handful of hectares before Georges Vernay replanted it, and Coteau de Vernon is the family's historic parcel — 2.5 hectares of granite terraces with vines up to seventy years old, yielding 25 hectolitres a hectare. Twelve months on the lees with bâtonnage give it weight without costing it the perfume. The benchmark for what Viognier can do.
At a glance
- Grape
- Viognier
- Region
- Rhône Valley, France
- Alcohol
- 14.00%
- Body
- Full
- Acidity
- High
- Sweetness
- Dry
- Drink
- Medium (5-10 yrs)
- Pairs with
- Rich & Creamy Dishes, Poultry & Pork, Cheese
How it tastes
Peaches and dried apricot, with ginger, jasmine and a hint of liquorice, and oak that complements rather than covers. Delicate yet opulent, full in weight but cut by racy acidity, elegantly structured and long. Viognier 100%.
The producer
Georges Vernay is known as the King of Condrieu and was responsible for the small appellation's recovery in the 1950s; his daughter Christine has looked after the winemaking since 1997, and in 2019 the domaine was awarded three stars by La Revue du Vin de France. Coteau de Vernon is 2.5 hectares of south to south-east facing granite and biotite terraces in the heart of Condrieu, vines of 50 to 70 years on 110 Richter rootstocks, planted at 8,000 to 10,000 per hectare and yielding just 25 hectolitres; the terraces are too steep for machines, so the vineyard is maintained by hand, without weed killers or insecticides, and is certified organic. The fruit was picked at full maturity, meticulously sorted and pressed immediately, the clear juice fermented in 225-litre barrels over four to five weeks, then matured twelve months on its fine lees in oak barrels, 25% of them new, with regular bâtonnage.
Food and drinking
Serve at 10 to 12°C. It goes with lobster, roast chicken with cream and morels, pork belly with apricot and a washed-rind cheese. Drinking well now and over the next five to eight years.