Viognier IGP 2023

A fragrant Viognier, just as one would expect from the variety, but with a distinctly cool edge. Jasmine, broom, acacia blossom, honeysuckle and clover open the nose, followed by beeswax, peach and apricot. The altitude brings lemon zest and lemongrass, wrapped in pineapple, vanilla and wood. Medium straw yellow in the glass.

Chêne Bleu is located on Mont Ventoux in the southern Rhône, on the estate of the 600-year-old monastery Domaine de la Verrière, which Xavier and Nicole Rolet have been reviving since 1993. The Viognier vines stand at 550 metres with a north-facing orientation, the soil is very stony and shaped by clay and limestone. Mediterranean warmth by day, cool nights: this extends ripening and preserves freshness.

Pure varietal Viognier from 20-year-old vines. After gentle pressing, the musts ferment spontaneously, and ageing takes eight months in demi-muids. In the cellar, Jean-Louis Gallucci brings experience from the Loire and Italy.

Immensely charming, a wine of velvet and silk. The ripe acidity carries it, the fullness coats the palate without becoming heavy or fat. Alongside blossom and stone fruit come vanilla, pear, almonds and lily of the valley.

Pairs well with cured salmon trout with fennel salad, with chicken in apricot-saffron jus and with rice with roasted cauliflower and almonds. Asian dishes with lemongrass also work well.

The estate deliberately forgoes the AOC and bottles as IGP Méditerranée. Vinification takes place in a cellar hewn twelve metres deep into the rock; biodynamics has shaped the work from the very start, right down to the bees, which Xavier Rolet tends himself.