2013 Condrieu, Vertige, Yves Cuilleron, Rhône

2013 Condrieu, Vertige, Yves Cuilleron, Rhône

Product: 20138024341
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2013 Condrieu, Vertige, Yves Cuilleron, Rhône

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Description

From precipitous south-facing vines in the famous commune of Vernon, this well-named cuvée is aged for 18 months in barrique and is released almost a year after Yves’s other whites. This lavish élevage is reflected in a rich and spicy wine, with mirabelle plum and honeysuckle complemented by notes of brioche, vanillin and white tobacco.
Simon Field MW - Rhône Buyer

Dynamic and energetic, Yves sometimes gives the impression of trying too hard: there is so much activity and so many wines, why can’t the message be clearer? Well, my message is clear and it underlines the overall quality of the range, proved once again by a recent (late 2014) Decanter tasting which put M Cuilleron's Côte Rôtie on its own at the very top of the tree. Pragmatism over the hot topic of destemming and a general inclination to harvest late are cited as two cornerstones of the Cuilleron philosophy. Yves praises the equilibrium of his 2013 whites, and is pleased with both the colour and the tannic structure of his reds.

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About this WINE

Domaine Yves Cuilleron

Domaine Yves Cuilleron

Founded by his grandfather in 1920, Yves is the third generation of Cuilleron vignerons. Since taking over in 1987, he has grown the vineyard area to 75 hectares, spanning the length of the Northern Rhône. Based in Chavanay, just south of the town of Condrieu, he makes over 40 cuvées from the range of appellations: half red, half white. The domaine is converting to organic certification, aiming to complete in 2025. In addition to the time spent in his vines and cellar, Yves is passionate about the research and revival of traditional, indigenous varieties.

We will offer two of Yves’s top Condrieu cuvées, Vernon and Verlieu. These single vineyard offerings are made like red wines, seeing 18 months ageing in demi-muids (a portion of which is new wood) and lees stirring, to be differentiated only by their vineyard - and notably the type of granite on which they grow. Complex and age-worthy, Yves cautions to drink them within seven years of vintage or to wait a further five to 10 (at risk of finding them in a closed spell).

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Condrieu

Condrieu

Until you’ve tasted Viognier grown in Condrieu, you’ve never truly experienced the grape’s majesty. In the same way that winemakers the world over have planted Pinot Noir in the hope of emulating red Burgundy, so too they’ve planted Viognier in the hope of achieving the unique balance of exotic perfume, weight and freshness for which Condrieu is famed. Few succeed. Traditionally, winemakers here have used relatively inert, large wooden vessels vinification and élevage are in relatively inert, large, wooden vessels, but the new generation of winemakers are increasingly interested in the qualities of new oak.

Plantings have expanded beyond the core of the AOC, around the village itself, to 140 hectares from the low of eight hectares in the 1960s. The vineyards pick up where Côte-Rôtie leaves off, the slope continues, but the schist of the north begins to give way to a little more granite and a topsoil of decomposed mica. Today the appellation is characterised by energy and creativity, and demand for the wines from this diminutive region is soaring.

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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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