2012 Condrieu, Les Chaillets, Domaine Yves Cuilleron

2012 Condrieu, Les Chaillets, Domaine Yves Cuilleron

Product: 17023
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2012 Condrieu, Les Chaillets, Domaine Yves Cuilleron

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Description

This old-vine cuvée has been aged in 25% new oak and rejoices in notes of plums, apricots and ripe pears allied to spice and stone fruit. The distinctive character of the wine comes from the biotite granite which dominates these vineyards which are located close to the Cuilleron HQ in Chavanay.
Simon Field MW, Rhône Wine Buyer 

Yves Cuilleron compares 2012 to 2011; for him the vintage has more concentration and power than its immediate forebear. His house philosophy, whether by accident or design, mirrors the current fashions for later harvests and the addition of a varying degree of stems. Both engender structure and complexity when treated with due respect. Given that there is not the remotest sign of the green on the one hand or the over-ripe on the other, we can infer conspicuous success in these wines.

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Critics reviews

Wine Advocate92/100
Slightly richer, with more texture, the 2012 Condrieu les Chaillets offers beautiful notes of ripe peaches, citrus, vanilla bean and hints of cream. Coming from the oldest vines of the estate and barrel fermented and aged, it flows onto the palate with medium-bodied richness and depth, beautiful purity and a big finish.

Yves releases two cuvees from Cornas, and I found the quality consistent in 2012, yet preferred the Vires release by a fair margin in 2011. There are three Saint Joseph cuvees in red: the Les Pierres Seches, which comes from sand and granite soils around the town of Chavanay; the L'Amarybelle, which comes from high density, terraced plantings of older vines; and lastly, the Les Serines, which comes from the oldest vines of the estate and is the only cuvee to see new oak.
Jeb Dunnuck - Wine Advocate #210, Dec 2013 Read more

About this WINE

Viognier

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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