2019 Condrieu Les Terroirs
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Tasting notes
Sourced from three plots averaging 30 years in age, François Merlin’s Terroirs is a fine and fresh Condrieu. The nose offers all the exoticism you’d expect of the variety – with ripe peach, pineapple and even a touch of lychee. But this wine offers much more precision and freshness – with a honeysuckle delicacy and wonderful saline, mineral line that runs through the palate, holding things together. It’s deliciously viscous in texture, but with plenty of juicy acidity to cut through the sheer weight of fruit. The oak (around a third new, a mixture of larger foudres and barriques) is beautifully judged.
Critic scores
Alistair Cooper MW, jancisrobinson.com
More reviews and scores
100% Viognier. Twelve months in 220- and 500-litre oak barrels. Barrel sample. Tasted blind. Expressive vibrant nose – slatey white peach and honeysuckle. Rounded palate that has a marmalade note, pear and peach alongside a good sense of salinity and minerality. A long and structured finish. (AC)
About the producer
François Merlin is one of the most exciting names in the Northern Rhône today, producing elegant Syrah and Viognier.