Wine Region: Rhone Valley - France

Grape: Syrah

Tasting Notes:The 2019 Maison Rouge Côte-Rôtie (14% ABV) exhilarates freshness in an elegant, fruit-driven & pure way - a magnificent effort f Christine Vernay at Domaine Georges Vernay. Deep, semi-translucent garnet-violet in appearance. Eloquent, quite expressive nose singing w white pepper, violet, blackberries & cassis, graphite, a tad of iron. Palate is medium-bodied, sleek yet w superb fruit concentration, smoky/chalky, multi-layered, velvety w fairly racy acidic structure, closing on a distinct peppery & iron-marked note!

Expert Rating: Wine Enthusiast 92/100.

About the Winery:Domaine Georges Vernay is one of the oldest and most famous estates in Condrieu. Georges highly contributed to the reintroduction of Viognier on the hillsides of the region when in 1960’s the appellation used to cover only 8 hectares. 

Today the domaine is managed by Georges’ daughter Christine and her husband Paul. The vineyard covers 8 hectares in Condrieu, 2.5 hectares in Côte-Rôtie and 1.5 hectares in Saint-Joseph and the rest being located in IGP Collines Rhôdaniennes and Côtes-du-Rhône. Their Condrieu are made from vineyards in the heart of the appellation and all express the purest; most restrained expression of the Viognier grape.

For over 20 years, Christine Vernay has used organic farming methods. Considering herself as the custodian of a land for which she is responsible for caring, she has long been committed to organic farming, long before it was fashionable or urgent to do so. She has now successfully demonstrated that, while it is difficult to work the steeply sloping vineyards using organic farming, it is not impossible.

More about Domaine Georges Vernay here…