14 Christophe Blanc ‘les Vallins’ [Condrieu] 14% abv. I haven’t heard of this producer but decided to finally try this Rimmerman offering after purchasing a few years ago. It’s very good – a nose of lychees, apricots, and honey. Full bodied but enough zip to go with food. On the first night we had it with salads and omelots, and the balance (!) is the apertif for the next night. Normally Condrieu’s do not survive a dinner with my wife and I, as we love this AOC. And its a special treat to have something like this midweek but she’s meeting up with family this wknd w/o me, so this normally Saturday night wine got switched to a midweek call of duty. I love the balance here - the tension between fruit and spine are well lined up. No one would accuse this of being crisp, but for my tastes, it is good stuff. Not sure what the vineyard designation means. An A- in my ledger.
Sounds, delicious, my wife and I also enjoy Condrieu but aside from Guigal and Chapoutier it’s not easy to find them locally.
I’m also partial to Hermitage Blanc, but my wife is still not entirely convinced.
Btw my stash of the ‘15 Guigal Blanc seems to be performing better than yours as ours are still nicely vibrant.
2014 was such a nice vintage for Condrieu IMO
Last bottle of this 14 Christophe Blanc ‘Les Vallins’ [Condrieu] yesterday with Thai food. Maybe slightly fleshier than the prior example, but its still drinking great at age 6. This producer manages to get the balance between a full bodied wine and the acidity to keep it fresh very well. That seems very hard to do, as so many white Rhone taste too flabby to me. Great floral notes here too.
Other than garagiste, I haven’t seen this carried elsewhere.