2021 Andre Perret Coteau du Chery Condrieu, Northern Rhone

Condrieu is the epicenter of Viognier, the best ones are made in this small, Northern Rhone appellation. Perret makes a super example: fully aromatic and lush but with minerals and acidity to balance. Single-vineyard bottling, from the Coteau de Chery, which is one of the appellation's most prized vineyards

Perret’s approach to winegrowing is classic: respect each individual terroir—he produces several single-vineyard wines—and work the soil to avoid the need for chemical treatments. His goal is to make fresh, structured wines, in “a sort of Burgundian style” as he says, but without too much wood; wines that aren’t too worked over and will age well. His Condrieu bottlings are reference points for the entire appellation. In 1995 André built a new cellar, but he has never expanded beyond the very best terroirs and keeps the estate small so he can maintain his standards of manual labor in the vineyards and individual attention to all of his wines.