Condrieu (; from the French ''coin de ruisseau,'' , )K. MacNeil ''The Wine Bible'' pp. 235–240 Workman Publishing 2001 is a French wine-growing ''

Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée In France, the ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (, ; abbr. AOC ) is a label that identifies an agricultural product whose stages of production and processing are carried out in a defined geographical area – the ''terroir'' – and using ...

'' (AOC) located in the northern

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...

, near Vienne and to the south of the Côte-Rôtie AOC. The vineyards are situated in the seven communes of Limony, Chavanay, Malleval, Saint-Michel-sur-Rhône, Saint-Pierre-de Boeuf, Vérin, and Condrieu. These communes are in the French departments of

Ardèche Ardèche (; , ; ) is a Departments of France, department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche (river), Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.Rhône The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...

and

Loire The Loire ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône. It rises in the so ...

on the steep slopes of the foothills of the Massif Central on the right bank of the

. The four southernmost communes can also produce wine under the Saint-Joseph AOC. The wines made in this AOC are exclusively

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, from the Viognier

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

, which may have originated in the region. The smaller AOC of Château-Grillet is

enclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is so ...

d within Condrieu and produces wines that are also 100% Viognier. The Condrieu AOC was officially created in 1940.

History

Viticulture Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...

in the area around Condrieu has existed since at least Roman times and it is possible that the area was first cultivated by the native

Allobroges The Allobroges (Gaulish language, Gaulish: *''Allobrogis'', 'foreigner, exiled'; ) were a Gauls, Gallic people dwelling in a large territory between the Rhône river and the Alps during the Iron Age Europe, Iron Age and the Roman period. The Allob ...

tribe.H. Johnson ''Vintage: The Story of Wine'' pg 89 Simon and Schuster 1989 In the 18th century, Condrieu enjoyed a period of popularity as it gained access to the lucrative

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

ian market. The wine was transported north by land to the city of

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

where the

would carry the wine to the Canal de Briare and then to Paris. During periods of peace between

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

, Condrieu would find its way to the London market.H. Johnson ''Vintage: The Story of Wine'' pg 283 & 299 Simon and Schuster 1989 For most of the 20th century before the early 1970s, the only northern Rhône wine well-known far from the region was Hermitage, and there was little demand on the export market for Rhône wines. Producing wine from hillside vineyards requires more labour than on flat vineyards, and is therefore economically difficult when demand and prices are low. This was particularly felt by some Rhône appellations in the early post-World War II era, including Condrieu and its neighbour Côte-Rôtie, with the 1950s and 1960s a particularly difficult time. Rhône wines in general started to be more in demand from the early 1970s, and stronger so from the late 1970s/early 1980s. From this time, the négociant business of Marcel Guigal at Ampuis helped expand the market for Condrieu wines. Guigal primarily made his name with his Côte-Rôtie wines which then paved the way for his bottlings from other appellations, which also includes a significant portion of white wine. Guigal's Condrieu was sourced from small growers in the appellation. The increase in demand led to new plantations inside the appellation's border, which at the time was far from fully exploited and at one stage included many abandoned vineyards. The area under vine was less than in the 1960s, in 1982, at the end of the century and in 2005.H. Johnson & J. Robinson ''The World Atlas of Wine'' pg 132 Mitchell Beazley Publishing 2005

Climate and geography

As in much of Northern Rhone, the climate of Condrieu is continental and characterized by cold wet winters and hot summers. Ideally situated vineyards are planted on

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

soils and face south, which aids growth during the cool months of late spring and early autumn. The well-drained granite soil retains heat during the day and reflects it back to the vines at night. In some areas the soil includes a fine layer of decomposed

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

and

mica Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into fragile elastic plates. This characteristic is described as ''perfect basal cleavage''. Mica is co ...

which is known in the region as ''arzelle''.T. Stevenson ''The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia'' pp. 215–216 Dorling Kindersley 2005 The best vineyards have some natural shelter from the fierce northern winds that blow through the region and wreak havoc during flowering. The steep incline of many vineyards exposes them to

soil erosion Soil erosion is the denudation or wearing away of the Topsoil, upper layer of soil. It is a form of soil degradation. This natural process is caused by the dynamic activity of erosive agents, that is, water, ice (glaciers), snow, Atmosphere of Ea ...

.J. Robinson (ed) ''The Oxford Companion to Wine'' Third Edition p. 192 Oxford University Press 2006 The Condrieu AOC covers more than 500 acres (202 ha)J. Molesworth '
Vintage Analysis: Northern Rhône 2003 and 2004
"'' Wine Spectator December 06, 2005 of hilly terrain located along a 12 miles (19 km) stretch of the Rhône.E. McCarthy & M. Ewing-Mulligan ''"French Wine for Dummies"'' pp. 132–133 Wiley Publishing 2001 The AOC region begins at the town of Condrieu and extends south along the west bank of the river to the town of Limony. Within the AOC is 8.5 acres (3.4 ha) of Château-Grillet, which has its own micro-appellation.

Wine

The only wine that can be sold under the Condrieu AOC is a white wine made entirely from Viognier. The clone of Viognier grown in Condrieu produces low yields of small berries and is less productive than the clones planted in other regions of France, such as the '' vin de pays'' wine of the neighboring

Ardèche Ardèche (; , ; ) is a Departments of France, department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche (river), Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019. In the early to mid 20th century, Condrieu producers tended to make wines that were off-dry to sweet but by the end of the century the trend was to produce mostly dry wines. In particularly favourable vintages, some producers will make a sweet late harvest wine. Condrieu wine is often characterised by delicate aromatics of

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and Agriculture, cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called necta ...

es,

dried fruit Dried fruit is fruit from which the majority of the original water content has been removed prior to cooking or being eaten on its own. Drying may occur either naturally, by sun, through the use of industrial dehydrators, or by freeze drying. ...

and white flowers. Some examples also have notes of anise, star fruit and melons. Often the wine is full bodied and rich in a style that is texturally similarly to Chardonnay. Normally the wine is made dry but the fruitiness and perfume of the bouquet can suggest sweetness. The Viognier grape is naturally low in acidity, which challenges growers and winemakers to keep the wine from becoming flabby and bleak. Some winemakers in the region use malolactic fermentation and some do not. The delicate flavors of the wine can be overwhelmed by too much oak during the

winemaking Winemaking, wine-making, or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its Ethanol fermentation, fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over ...

process.

Aging

The ability of Condrieu to age is much discussed in the wine industry and opinions differ. Some experts like Master of Wine Mary Ewing-Mulligan believe that it is best consumed within three years of

harvest Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...

. '' The Oxford Companion to Wine'' describes Condrieu as one of the few luxury wines that is meant to be consumed young, typically within two to four years. Wine writer Tom Stevenson recommends drinking Condrieu within four to eight years of harvest and notes that its freshness and purity can be lost as the wine ages. James Molesworth of '' Wine Spectator'' notes that some vintages of Condrieu, such as the 2004, will produce more intense, concentrated wines that will age gracefully.

Appellation regulations

The Condrieu AOC can only be used for still white wines made from Viognier. The planting density must be at least 6 500 vines per hectare, and the base yield is 41 hectoliter per hectare. The grape must reach a maturity giving at least 178 g/L sugar in the must (corresponding to 10.5 per cent potential alcohol) and the finished wines must have at least 11.5 per cent alcohol by volume, but no more than 14 per cent after any chaptalisation. If the wine has more than 45 grams per liter of sugar (only applicable for rare sweet Condrieu wines), it must not have been chaptalised to reach that sugar level.Appellation regulations, version of October 28, 2009
on Légifrance

References

Cotes du Rhone Wines Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Condrieu Aoc Rhône wine AOCs 1940s establishments in France