Yves Cuilleron's Les Chaillets Viognier comes from the estate's oldest vines on south-facing granite terraces above Chavanay, spontaneously fermented to capture the minerality of biotite-rich soils. The result is textured and poised. Condrieu without the baroque flourish, letting stone and ripe stone fruit speak for themselves.
Winemaker Notes
The Les Chaillets Condrieu consists of the best and oldest Viognier vines on the estate, on south/southeast-facing terraces overlooking Chavanay. Les Chaillets is not a district but the local name for the aforementioned terraces. Planted on biotite-rich granite soils, the Le Chaillets is fermented spontaneously using native yeasts. Malolactic fermentation is done in barrels and big casks that are temperature controlled. The wine spends an additional nine months on the lees (no battonage and no racking) in barrel and large casks before bottling.
About the Producer
The Cuilleron family domaine, located in the hamlet of Verlieu (part of the town of Chavanay) was founded several generations ago (1920). Yves Cuilleron’s grandfather was the first to bottle wine for commercial purposes in 1947. Antoine Cuilleron, the uncle and immediate predecessor of Yves, assumed control of the domaine in 1960 and significantly increased the percentage of wine bottled at the estate and extended the scope of the domaine.
