Photo Courtesy of Maison André Perret

Condrieu - The Explosive White Rhone
Florality and Intensity

Condrieu is the explosive, powerhouse white wine. This northern-Rhone district is home to Viognier that yields a wine of intense florality and perfume that is loaded with minerality and bold fruit that can range from apricots and melon to more tropical fruits and orange. Add to it rich textures and bold personality on the palate and you have one of the most full-throttle high impact white wines of anywhere in the world. 

The best of Condrieu are wines that seem otherworldly at first impressions and open to reveal dimensions and depth that many times are staggeringly complex. These are dramatically wild food friendly wines that complement a whole host of dishes. They are exotic and intoxicating in their youth, yet able to age and blossom in the cellar to reveal unique tea-like and mushroom umami character that is extremely hard to verbalize.

Andre Perret for us is one of the classics of the region that employs a more traditional approach to the wines with an embrace of progressive modernity that keeps the wines fresh and balanced. The Jamet family noted for their legendary Cote-Roties produce a very good Condrieu that has become one of our favorites for the slightly leaner and more focused texture that is achieved by the use of amphora partially and more recently purely. And then there is the next door icon of Condrieu, Chateau Grillet. This monopole site, is a carve out of Condrieu that produces one of the longest lived wines in the world. Chateau Grillet is a much more powerful, stony and tightly structured wine than most Condrieu, requiring more patience and cellar. But when you do - it is pure magic!

Cheers,
Jeremy