Domaine Jean-Michel Gérin - Condrieu La Loye 2024

The 2024 Condrieu La Loye, now certified organic, was pressed as whole clusters in a horizontal press, then aged in 500-liter demi-muids, without new oak. It reveals a fresh, floral bouquet with notes of honeysuckle and pear. Medium- to full-bodied, round, and fleshy, it displays lovely complexity with an enveloping fruity core, while remaining precise and well-balanced. Prioritizing tension over raw power, it finishes with a lovely, lingering aftertaste. This is a classic and very well-crafted Condrieu.

The Jean-Michel Gerin estate was founded in 1983 with the purchase of a vineyard plot in Côte-Rôtie. Jean-Michel comes from a family that has been settled in the region for six generations. The estate’s first vintage was released in 1987, following the incorporation of the family’s vineyards (those of Marcel and Alfred Guerin) into the Jean-Michel Gerin estate. In 1988, the estate carried out its first separate vinification, first from the “Les Grandes Places” vineyard, then in 1996 with grapes from the “La Landonne” plot. The winemaker undertook renovations in the early 1990s; the Jean-Michel Gerin estate was then equipped with a fermentation room and a barrel cellar. The vineyard expanded in 2003, when planting began on the “La Viallière” plot in Côte-Rôtie, on slopes ranging from 40% to 60%. The first vintages were produced in 2009. Michaël and Alexis Gerin later joined the Jean-Michel Gerin estate, which had expanded to about a dozen hectares by the 2010s.