Winemaker Notes
Saint Cosme Condrieu shows classic aromas and flavors of dried apricot, peach, and orange blossom with fennel, anise, and elderflower. Twelve months of aging on its fine lees in used Burgundian pièce brings texture to the palate. This is a classic Condrieu.
Viognier aged in neutral barrels has a full body and rich texture with medium acidity. It is easily paired with dishes that feature creamy sauces, mild white fish, and roasted pork or chicken.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
A beautifully sophisticated meld of sweet florals and ripe orchard fruit. This wine bursts with overripe white peach, apricot, star fruit, Korean pear, geraniums, and acacia honey. The aromas are lush and some delicate, exuding an exacting refinement. The palate is linear with warm sweet baking spices leading the runway before giving room to pure and elegant orchard fruit that lingers endlessly. Freshly washed white mushroom and wet stone round out the finish, adding depth. Round yet elegant, with an exceptionally long finish—this wine is simply too pretty to put down.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Bottled just a few weeks prior to this tasting, the 2022 Condrieu is straight-up terrific, with classic Condrieu notes of ripe peach, orange blossom, and tangerine in its medium to full-bodied, fresh, focused, mineral-laced profile. It has everything you could want from a top Condrieu.
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Wine Spectator
Shows impressive balance between its flattering ripe fruit and savory herb and mineral dimensions, with white tea tannins giving an upright posture to alluring notes of orange cream and peach. Dried sage, smoke and chrysanthemum details add complexity to the almost oily palate, which is lined with crushed flint and wet rocks. Excellent. Drink now through 2030. 90 cases imported.
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James Suckling
Focused, poised and voluptuous white from Condrieu. Aromatic nose of baked lemons, apricots, baked peaches, warm spices and flowers. Medium-bodied with so much volume on the mid-palate. Well rounded and well driven. Precise, flavorful and delicious.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Tasted just prior to bottling last year, the 2022 Condrieu combines lovely perfumed florals with hints of apricot, pineapple and lychee. It's medium to full-bodied, silky-textured and expansive on the palate. Barrel Sample: (91-93)
Full-figured and charmingly floral, Viognier is one of the most important white grapes of the northern Rhône where it is used both to produce single varietal wines and as an important blending grape. Look for great New World examples from California, Oregon, Washington and cooler parts of Australia. Somm Secret—Viognier plays a surprisingly important role in the red wines of Côte Rôtie in the northern Rhône. About 5% Viognier is typically co-fermented with the Syrah in order to stabilize the color, and as an added benefit, add a subtle perfume.
As the source of some of the most vibrant and powerful white wines in France, Condrieu is uniquely situated in one of the northern outposts of the Rhone River. It is the original Viognier appellation with a wine growing history reaching back well over two thousand years. Like most of the wine regions of the Northern Rhone, Condrieu’s vines grow on extremely steep and narrow granite terraces. But what makes the region unique is a topsoil, locally called, “arzelle,” made of decomposed mica. This and a sheltering of the harsh northern winds, make optimal sites to produce opulent and brilliant Viognier. It is a tiny zone with no room for expansion and produces miniscule amounts of wine each year, contributing to its allure.
A fine Condrieu will have aromas and flavors suggestive of ripe stone fruit, lime peel, green almond, ginger, white flowers and toasted nuts. A honeyed smell may mislead you to think the wine will be sweet but the modern style favors totally dry on the palate. Its texture will be full and soft but a touch of mineral will provide great balance.