Description
Perret’s approach to winegrowing is classic: respect each individual terroir—he produces several single-vineyard wines—and work the soil to avoid the need for chemical treatments. His goal is to make fresh, structured wines, in “a sort of Burgundian style” as he says, but without too much wood; wines that aren’t too worked over and will age well. His Condrieu bottlings are reference points for the entire appellation. In 1995 André built a new cellar, but he has never expanded beyond the very best terroirs and keeps the estate small so he can maintain his standards of manual labour in the vineyards and individual attention to all of his wines.
Average age of vines: 60 years // 100% Viognier // Fermentation: 1/3 in stainless steel vats, 2/3 in wooden vats // Maturation: 12 Months (regular stirring of the lees followed by racking). Then the wine is preserved on its lees for 1 year before being bottled.
Tasting Notes
Boasting exotic notes of fresh flowers, ripe lychees and honeyed apricots, the 2018 Condrieu Clos Chanson is a superb effort. Produced from 60-year-old vines, it’s full-bodied and fleshy, supple and expansive on the palate, with a lingering, wonderfully balanced and lengthy finish. It should drink well for another several years. [95 Points, Joe Czerwinski – January 2022, robertparker.com]
