About this WINE
Domaine Rene Rostaing
Pierre Rostaing is now firmly in charge of this domaine and running it very successfully, working by hand and mostly organically. His holdings in Côte-Rôtie now count 30 parcels across 11 hectares. In the winery, Pierre continues to use predominantly whole-bunch fermentation and the wines are matured in both demi-muids and Burgundy barrels. He keeps the barrels for ten years, electing to use only 10-15% new oak on average. This perfectly complements the domaine’s style, which beautifully showcases the terroir and makes for extremely dark, rich and long-lived wines.
Rostaing’s parcels saw significant damage this year in the April frost with the worst being up to 80% loss on his La Viaillère plot. As such, he was not able to vinify this separately in 2021 but the benefit is that the fruit has, once again, gone into his brilliant Ampodium cuvée. Pierre talks about how 2021 is more like a vintage of twenty years ago and when you taste wines like ʼ21 Ampodium with its fine, crunchy fruit, black pepper freshness and only 12% alcohol, you can see why. With its restraint, purity and freshness, this is the style of Syrah that we fell in love with when we first discovered Côte-Rôtie.
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.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
Buying options
Add to wishlist
Description
From a plot right at the top of the hill, Rostaing has just over one hectare in Condrieu. Their Viognier flourishes on the granite soil, developing rich flavours while maintaining all-important acidity. A beautifully floral nose is framed by ripe apricot fruit. The wine sees no new oak, allowing a focus on the purity and complexity of flavour. The palate is cool and well-measured with a hint of ginger and a slight salinity on the long and concentrated finish.
Oliver Barton, Buying Assistant
wine at a glance
Delivery and quality guarantee