Gaillard’s Condrieu is drawn from four parcels grown on the terraced slopes of Côte Bellay, Les Patasses (Malleval), Boissey (Chavanay) and La Caille (Condrieu). Each of these sites has soils of fine, decomposing granite. In 2020, the vines here yielded 30 hl/ha of vibrant Viognier fruit, and the wine spent seven months in oak, of which 10% was new. One of our favourite aspects of Gaillard’s whites is their ability to combine intense aromatics and ripe, hedonistic textures with bright mineral refreshment, and this is a textbook example of that paradox. It’s a classically alluring, richly textured Condrieu with scents and flavours of honeysuckle and juicy, macerated peach and spice. It combines the year’s flesh and generosity with juicy buoyancy, great length and a very long, stony finish.

Biodynamic. Dry. In Alsace, the term Pinot Blanc is used to describe varietal wines or blends containing any percentage of Auxerrois. Weinbach’s Pinot Blanc is a blend of 70% Auxerrois and 30% Pinot Blanc. For fellow nerds, recent DNA studies indicate Auxerrois is a cross between Gouais Blanc and Pinot Noir. Weinbach’s blend comes from Clos des Capucins (with 45-year-old vines) and a plot from the limestone/clay soils at the foot of the Altenbourg vineyard. As with the dry Rieslings, the Pinot Blanc was pressed as whole bunches and raised over eight months in large-format wood (previous vintages were raised in tank). It's a far more layered and complex wine than you might expect from these varieties. It’s fleshy and mouth-filling with orchard fruits, white blossom and chamomile flavours and a textural core threaded through with punchy freshness. As with all these 2022s, it’s very hard to drink slowly!