Francois Villard, 'Le Grand Vallon' Condrieu, Rhône, France, 2020

Overview of the Wine
Villard’s passion for wine began while working in the world of culinary arts. This eventually led him to becoming a sommelier, but when his hunger could no longer be satiated, he looked to getting his hands dirty. When the opportunity to acquire 4 hectares of uncultivated land in the lieu-dit of Poncin (in the appellation of Condrieu), he did not hesitate. With the help of Yves Cuilleron, a like-minded vintner whose family had been cultivating the region since the 1920s, planted his first vines in 1989. The year 1991 marked his first vintage from his small plot in Poncin, producing an enticing, elegant wine that would become one of the most fancied labels in Condrieu. The domaine has since expanded to 42 hectares, spread over 6 appellations and produces 450,000 bottles annually.

Domaine Francois Villard wines come to life in the vineyard, where it is believed to be the most fragile and vital stage of his wines’ development. Villard’s deep respect for nature and terroir are evident in his many sustainable and organic viticultural practices (and is expecting to be certified by 2023 by ECOCERT). “It is by respecting the soil that we can let the terroir express itself,” insists Francois Villard. His philosophy today is to produce authentic and balanced wines. For Villard, it is imperative that his wines be as representative as possible of their terroir, by optimizing the minerality as well as possible, which for him is the greatest freshness that one can imagine in a wine.

Year-long dedication in the vineyard is vital to the success of the harvest, insists Villard. From terrace wall maintenance during winter months, to planting and soil work in the Spring, plant cover, leaf stripping and thinning in preparation for picking. When the harvest arrives it is manually accomplished, plot by plot so that each bunch is harvested with perfect maturity. Wines are then vinified with indigenous yeasts, that is to say, that they use the yeasts naturally present in the grapes and control sulfur additions from the reception of the grapes until their bottling.

Grape / Blend
Viognier

Origin
Rhône, France

Winemaker's Tasting Notes
Bursting with pineapple fruit and mineral depth. It comes from a single vineyard in the south of the appellation, in St Pierre de Boeuf. The east/north-east aspect makes this site cooler than many, and its granite and gneiss soils results in superb mineral tension in the wine.

96 Points - Decanter 
Plenty of rich, ripe apricot and peach fruit, with lemon thyme and lemon verbena. Not overly full-bodied, this is more measured on the palate than some, well-tailored, with plenty of salty extract and scintillating acidity. With such a long finish, it’s exceptional this year. Aged in oak barriques, 35% new. Tasted non-blind. Drinking Window 2022 - 2032.

Product size: 750ml