About this WINE
Domaine Robert Niero
Robert Niero spent 13 years working in a bank before marrying the late Jean Pinchon`s daughter and thus inheriting holdings in some of Condrieu's most illustrious vineyards. He made further purchases and now has just under 6 hectares of vineyards. .
The Syrah grape variety, from which Côte Rôtie is made, is cultivated in the community of Ampuis in La Vallière (0.60ha) and Semons in Coteau de Bassenon (1.20ha).
Since 1994 Robert has vinified separately the Viogner grapes from his holdings in the Coteau de Chery and La Roncharde vineyards (the latter goes into Condrieu Les Ravines). The average vine age in the Coteau de Chery is high (30-50 years old) and the wines are powerful, well-structured and often exotically rich.
His son Rémi joined the domain in 2004.
Viognier
A white grape variety originating in the Northern Rhône and which in the last ten years has been increasingly planted in the Southern Rhône and the Languedoc.
It is a poor-yielding grape that is notoriously fickle to grow, being susceptible to a whole gamut of pests and diseases. Crucially it must be picked at optimum ripeness - if harvested too early and under-ripe the resulting wine can be thin, dilute and unbalanced, while if picked too late then the wine will lack the grape's distinctive peach and honeysuckle aroma. It is most successfully grown in the tiny appellations of Château-Grillet and Condrieu where it thrives on the distinctive arzelle granite-rich soils. It is also grown in Côte Rôtie where it lends aromatic richness to the wines when blended with Syrah.
Viognier has been on the charge in the Southern Rhône and the Languedoc throughout the 1990s and is now a key component of many white Côtes du Rhône. In Languedoc and Rousillon it is increasingly being bottled unblended and with notable success with richly fragrant wines redolent of overripe apricots and peaches and selling at a fraction of the price of their Northern Rhône cousins.
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Description
From the famous panoramic Chéry vineyard, which overlooks the village in stark granitic splendour, this is an unctuous and richly textured Condrieu, the notes of vanillin and peach nicely tempered by a nérvosité which ensures harmonious balance. Poised in a balletic manner à la Degas, no easy achievement given its inherent weight.
Simon Field MW, BBR Buyer, February 2012
The hand-over from Robert to Rémi is technically complete, but Robert shows no sign of retiring and it is always good to see him when we go to taste the wines. His temperament is such, however, that his presence can only be positive, as he surveys the resumption of good work which he started, taking advantage of very good plots in both Condrieu, where they own 6 hectares, and Côte Rôtie (3 hectares) and transforming the Domaine from a merely very good one to one of the key references.
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