Christophe Blanc, Viognier 'Les Galets' Vin de France 2019

Living on the terraced slope, literally 50m away from some of his vines, Christophe can cherish them and pick grapes at the precise 'bon moment', retaining much more freshness than the norm in Condrieu. This prime granitic terroir, intersected by veins of limestone, ensures minerals and salt whilst the relatively young vines help to give more acidity, and so Christophe is able to push the ripeness of 10% of the grapes to bring complexity from noble rot.

Christophe is physically allergic to sulphur – it causes his throat to swell up, so he looks to use the minimum possible, bottling with a total of 30 to 40 mg/l (less than half the norm used in the appellation). His wines are raised in a mix of new to 4yo futs and demi-muids.

Nowadays Christophe Blanc farms a bit less than 5ha with vines in St Joseph and Cote-Rotie. It all started in Condrieu when (in 2005) he planted 1.6ha high up (at 340m altitude) on the vertiginous shoulder of the hillside, in St-Michel-sur-Rhone, an extreme physical work even for a well-built rugby player! At the time Christophe also worked for Francois Villard for a couple of years, and has continued to help out there when needed. They are good friends and exchange lots of ideas on wine.