Viognier La Bonne Étoile, Domaine Barou 2022

The Barou family took full advantage of the possibilities when the Condrieu appellation was extended southward and they were among the first to plant.

The family began farming in an environmentally friendly way in the early seventies, making them pioneers of such agriculture in the valley and they are now certified organic. They began as fruit farmers and cherries, apricots and peaches are still grown commercially on the domaine and sold to organic wholesalers. In 1997 Emmanuel Barou took over the family farm and began to focus on winemaking, planting new parcels of vines, investing in the conversion of a farm building into a winery and purchasing new equipment. His well-equipped cellars seem at odds with the intensely rural surrounds.

They now make Saint-Joseph and Condrieu appellation wines and a Vin de Pays des Collines Rhodaniennes from plantings of syrah, marsanne and viognier planted over 9 hectares on weathered granite, often in places where the underlying rock is so close to the surface that the vines can barely get any purchase. This is not fertile topsoil. The low level of nutrients, allied to careful work in the vineyard, keeps yields low and fruit quality high. At the moment Emmanuel is more famous for his white wines but there is much promise here all round. His wines are all meticulously well made.