Condrieu "Verchery" Domaine Clusel Roch (2018)

TASTING NOTE:

Beautiful, fresh fruit blossom scents suggest a bright wine picked on freshness more than ripeness. The palate has a creaminess, a small nod to a warmer vintage, but those delicate clear white peach and citrus fruit notes remain. Hints of violet and acacia complete the picture. Fully ripe but entrancingly light-touch Condrieu. Glorious. A wonderful Condrieu from a vineyard between Chery and Vernon.

ABOUT THE WINE:

Aged for 1 year in used oak barrels and Stainless steel tanks with malolactic fermentation completed. Production is always small as Clusel Roch holdings amount to a mere 0.5ha, yielding rarely more than 2,000 bottles a year.

ABOUT THE PRODUCER:

This small artisanal Domaine, run by Brigitte Roch, Gilbert Clusel and their son Guillaume, only employs organic methods to work its vineyards and for some time have consistently had some of the lowest yields in the region. Such low yields and excellent vineyard sites help to produce excellent wines that are made in a gentle, pure and refined style. There is little new oak; depending on the vintage a large proportion of whole bunches may be included in fermentations and extractions are soft resulting in elegant, refined and characterful Côte Rôtie that age seamlessly. The standard cuvée is aged in one- and two-year-old barriques for a year, whilst wine from the old vines of Les Grandes Places require ageing in a proportion of new oak barriques, rarely more than 30-40%.

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