2007 Condrieu, La Loye, Domaine Jean-Michel Gerin, Rhône
Critics reviews
(Robert Parker - Wine Advocate - Apr-2009)
(Robert Parker - Wine Advocate - Apr-2009)
About this WINE
Domaine Jean-Michel Gerin
Farming an outstanding plot of 10 hectares in Côte-Rôtie and another of a similar size (and quality) in Condrieu, Jean-Michel Gerin is one of the acknowledged masters of the region, imbuing Syrah with a wonderful purity and bringing out the full richness of Viognier. He is not only one of the great characters, but also one of the greatest winemakers in the Northern Rhône.
Gerin's winemaking methods aim for fragrance and sumptuous texture, with the wines' substance based on fruit rather than tannic mass. He employs copious use of wood, yet his wines seem to integrate it in a remarkable way, a model for subtly oaked fruit purity.
In addition to his appellation sites, he also makes excellent and well-priced Vins de Pays, and, to demonstrate both his passion and his pioneering spirit, he also has a vineyard in Priorat, a highly successful joint venture with Laurent Combier of Crozes-Hermitage.
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.
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
Viognier is famously capricious; it likes the steep granite slopes of Condrieu more than anywhere else in the world. There is no dispute here, but should proof be required, this example provides it with real aplomb!
Jean-Michel manages to combine elegance and concentration in his Condrieu, La Loye cuvée. Notes of spring flowers, honeysuckle and dried apricots are complemented perfectly by a firm and flinty streak of mineral acidity which lends structure and shape.
Jean-Michel Gerin is one of the great characters of the Northern Rhône. His father was the mayor of Ampuis and helped to put the steep slopes of Côte Rôtie on the vinous map, along with a certain M Guigal. Jean Michel has continued the good work, farming some of the most dramatic and beautiful vineyards in Europe. His Condrieu vineyards are located to the north of the appellation, and therefore benefit from the famous biotite granite, which engenders wines which combine the viscosity for which the region is famous and an extraordinarily rich mineral finish, which adds grip and structure, but never at the expense of elegance.
(Simon Field MW, BBR Buyer)
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