Wine Region: Rhone Valley - France
Grape: 100% Syrah.
Tasting notes: Christine Vernay is rightly recognised as one of the Northern Rhône's most gifted wine-makers and is gaining increasing recognition for her red wines as well as her celebrated Condrieu.
Her evocatively named, red 'Terres d'Encre' Saint-Joseph wine emanates from 3 parcels of vines on the terraces of Chavanay. It is a wine that stands up well to simple grills and would repay 3 to 5 years bottle age.
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.
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