Condrieu
Condrieu is an unremarkable town, very remarkably situated on a bend in the Rhone river, with beautiful vineyards rising up above it. The word Condrieu comes from the French “coin de ruisseau”, meaning “corner of the brook”.
It is situated on the right bank of the Rhône, some 11 km south of Vienne and 44 km south of Lyon, at the foot of the lower slopes of the Mont Monnet.
Condrieu is the home of a wonderful white wine made from the Viognier grape which has been grown there since the time of the ancient Greeks. Emperor Domitian had the vines pulled up in 92 AD, as he felt they were a bad influence on his soldiers. Around 280 AD, however, emperor Probus had them replanted, declaring that on the contrary, their effect on the army was beneficial.
In the 12th century, the area archbishop built a fortress overlooking the town to fend off enemy attacks. It still stands today – see photo.
The clone of Viognier grown in Condrieu produces low yields of small berries and is less productive than the clones planted in other regions of France. This contributes to the expense of Condrieu AOC wine, of which only 30 000 or so cases are produced annually.
In the early to mid 20th century, Condrieu producers tended to make wines that were off-dry to sweet but by the end of the century the trend was to produce mostly dry wines. In particularly favourable vintages, some producers will make a sweet late harvest wine.
Condrieu wine is often characterised by delicate aromatics of peaches, dried fruit and white flowers. Some examples also have notes of anise, star fruit and melons. Often the wine is full bodied and rich in a style that is texturally similarly to Chardonnay. Condrieu is most often drunk young, but it can age very well (5 to 15 years), especially the great terroir wines of the appellation.
On the day of my visit, the weather was a bit miserable. I was able, however, to walk for a couple of hours, up the hills, before the rain came down. Timing is everything in life