2019 Condrieu Les Terroirs

Sourced from three plots averaging 30 years in age, François Merlin’s Terroirs is a fine and fresh Condrieu. The nose offers all the exoticism you’d expect of the variety – with ripe peach, pineapple and even a touch of lychee. But this wine offers much more precision and freshness – with a honeysuckle delicacy and wonderful saline, mineral line that runs through the palate, holding things together. It’s deliciously viscous in texture, but with plenty of juicy acidity to cut through the sheer weight of fruit. The oak (around a third new, a mixture of larger foudres and barriques) is beautifully judged.