Château-Grillet

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The vineyard is nestled at the very heart of the Condrieu controlled appellation of origin, approximately forty kilometres south of Lyon and one kilometre south of Condrieu.
• The Primary-era geological substrate offers essentially granitic sand soils, identical to those of the Condrieu vineyard, more or less enriched with fine particles in the few parcels situated below the château.
• The vines are terraced between 150 and 250 metres in altitude on the south face of a promontory perpendicular to the Rhône valley, offering a warm, sunny mesoclimate well sheltered from northerly winds.
• In this amphitheatre-like landscape of steep slopes, the vines are trained on individual stakes and planted on narrow terraces known as 'cheys', whose soil is held in place by small walls, or 'chaillées'.
• Viognier, the only permitted variety, is planted at the northern limit of its cultivation zone, and the fissured subsoil allows the plant to draw easily on water and mineral elements.

• The appellation, among the smallest controlled appellations of origin, received its AOC recognition on 8 December 1936, among the first to do so.
• The wine is sold exclusively in elongated brown glass bottles of the 'Vin du Rhin' type, also known as the 'Alsace flute', reserved by Decree No. 55-673 of 20 May 1955 for eight controlled appellations of origin.
• The grape variety complement consists exclusively of Viognier, whose DNA analysis carried out in 2004 by researchers from the University of Davis and INRA Montpellier revealed a kinship with Freisa and Nebbiolo, two dark-skinned varieties from Piedmont.
• The name of the appellation may derive from the hillsides 'grillées', or scorched by the sun, that originally dominated the château.

• The wine is aged partly in oak barrels for at least 18 months and displays a golden-yellow colour with bright, luminous golden highlights.
• The nose reveals aromas of violet and apricot, followed after aeration by notes of marzipan, honey, peach, and white flowers, while Wikipedia also evokes notes reminiscent of apricot and peach.
• It is a great wine for cellaring that requires several years of ageing before reaching maturity, between 10 and 30 years depending on the vintage, and tends to be austere in its youth.
• The appellation ranks among the smallest controlled appellations of origin by surface area, with fewer than 3.50 hectares in production.

• The mesoclimate associated with the steep slopes on a due-south-facing granitic promontory offers Viognier optimal ripening conditions and allows the expression of a particular minerality that brings freshness to the aromatic structure of yellow fruit.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in France

Sources

• Product specification (BO Agri, PDF) — approved 4 juillet 2024 publié au JORF du 6 juillet 2024, JORF 6 juillet 2024
• Official INAO text (show_texte)
• INAO product entry
• Official trade body site — Inter Rhône