Château-Grillet

Down to a quirk of history, this tiny estate situated in the heart of Condrieu has its own appellation. And its history is long – château records date the property back to the early 1600s. Its fame has waxed and waned, and over the past century its wines ranged from fantastic to forgettable. From 1827 to 2011 it was owned by the Neyret-Gachet family, then it was bought by Artémis Domaines.

It might cover just 3.5ha, but it’s clearly a fabulous terroir – a steep, south-facing granite amphitheatre made up of small terraces, the Viognier vines (they only grow one variety here) are all trained on wooden stakes known as échalas.

The new owners promptly restructured the vineyards, converted the estate to biodynamics, refurbished the cellar and introduced a second wine, bottled under AOC Côtes-du-Rhône. More recently they purchased a few rows at the top of the amphitheatre that border the estate in AOC Condrieu, which is bottled separately under the name La Carthery.

It took a few years for the effects of these changes to be felt, but from the 2014 vintage the wines have been reliably excellent. The grand vin, known simply as Château-Grillet, is akin to the Condrieu wines made by neighbouring estates, but tends to be notably tense and mineral in style, and can be long lived.