A Stunning Wine

2005 Condrieu
Yves Cuilleron "Les Chaillets"
$74.95
Jen’s Notes

My goal was to spend $75 on one good bottle of wine. This is, of course, always a worthy goal, but even more fun this time because it was essentially free money for participating in a market research focus group.

Shane said I should have free rein, so naturally, I went for the rare and ethereal Viognier of the Northern Rhone. Condrieu.

This was an absolutely beautiful, stunning wine. It was intensely fruity on the nose, with a hint of exotic spices. On the palate, it was both complex and concentrated, giving pretty much everything I want in a high-class white: elegance, florals (I would say honeysuckle), interesting fruit (guava, anyone?), hints of sweet spices, burnt caramel and vanilla, all culminating in a nearly endless finish with a little zing.