Region: France - Rhone Valley - Cote-Rotie
Grapes: Syrah
Alcohol: 14.5%
Notes on the Wine
Dark fruits, oriental spices, smoke, liquorice, cigar-boxes, chocolate, black pepper… This Côte-Rôtie launched by Christine has sealed the Estate’s reputation, as much as Vernon: from mature Syrah vines in the Maison Rouge locality, it has an incomparable class! Structured, perfectly balanced, it is as sensuous and full-bodied, as it is spicy and enchanting. The tannins are assertive, but the mastery of its vinification creates an exceptionally silky, velvety palate. Intensity, elegance, harmony, sensuality.
Notes on the Producer
The Estate is a family estate where successive generations have served the land since 1940. Christine Vernay is the third generation of the family to manage it. Francis creates the Estate in Condrieu and plants his first vines in the locality of Coteau de Vernon. He launches the now legendary 1st cuvée, the famous “Coteau de Vernon”. Georges takes over from his father. Invested and committed, he is recognised for having “saved” the Condrieu appellation. He becomes the leader of an entire generation that after him would make this terroir one of the most recognised in the world. After Vernon, Georges creates the Estate's second Condrieu in 1992: Les Chaillées de l’Enfer. Christine takes over the Estate. In terms of whites, she is responsible for the Terrasses de l’Empire, which she created in 1998, but she also made the Estate famous for its reds, launching in particular its famous Côte-Rôtie cuvées: Maison Rouge which she re-launched and vinified in 1997 and La Blonde du Seigneur, created in 1998. Today, the Estate is internationally renowned for both these wines as well as the Condrieu appellations. Le Guide Vert 2020 by the Revue du Vin de France awards 3 stars, its highest distinction, to Christine Vernay, for all her wines. Today, the Estate extends over 24 hectares, planted and worked. Seventeen hectares are on steep slopes divided between 3 appellations: Condrieu (10 ha), Côte-Rôtie (6 ha) and Saint-Joseph (2 ha), and 2 Syrah and Viognier PGI (6 ha). Certified for organic viticulture, through careful winemaking, regular planting and plants replaced using the sélection massale process to maintain the vineyard’s health and diversity, Christine Vernay has raised the vineyard to the highest standards. She is also recognised for being an outstanding winemaker and some of her wines have been awarded the famous 100/100.
