Today marks our second Condrieu offering since we opened.
There's no point in dancing around the fact that Condrieu and Viognier in general are often maligned for being flabby and uninteresting. While you can find many examples of this, it's far from the whole story. We present Bénetière's Condrieu as a counter example. It's shockingly impressive.
As you can guess, we're very picky with our Condrieu and Viognier. But over the years we've had some stunning bottles that have made us believers. We've had very impressive bottles of Georges Vernay's Condrieu and Château-Grillet from the 60s and 70s that have convinced us there is potential for near greatness. It's not an accident that Curnonsky, a famous 20th Century Parisian gourmet known as the "Prince of Gastronomes," included the wines of Château-Grillet among "the five great white wines of France," along with Montrachet and Yquem.
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For us, Condrieu gets into its zone when the lavish textures are tempered by a steely mineral core and an impression of levity and finesse. Bénetière delivers both of these in a very compelling way.
Bénetière's Condrieu is primarily sourced from the steep terraced vineyard lieux-dit of Le Tinal, which is located just above the famed Chateau Grillet.
Along with 2010, the 2013 vintage in the Northern Rhône is one of our favorite recent vintages. This is especially true of the whites.
The 2013 Bénetière Condrieu possesses an energetic elegance and class that marries beautifully with textural presence and complexity. There’s immense depth and grandeur that's elevated by gorgeous freshness and finesse. It flaunts a fascinating spectrum of stone and citrus fruit, smoke, honey, minerals and flowers.
Bénetière only has 2ha in Condieu, which means that it's not easy to find the wine in quantity. Currently, there's just three other listings in the U.S. Bénetière's Condrieu is one of the most captivating expressions of Viognier that we know of, and the 2013 is brilliant. This is certainly the vintage to check this wine out. Please give us your ideal order and we’ll do our best.
To order, email offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Joe Salamone
Wine Buyer
Crush Wine & Spirits