Cuvee l'Efrontée, 2022

Viognier from the hills above Condrieu, made by a grower who spent seven years learning there. White flowers and fresh apricot, generous without getting heavy.

Simon Gastrein spent seven years working alongside André Perret in Condrieu before starting his own label at Hameau Toucheboeuf, a small hillside estate at about 450 metres in Bessey, just south of Condrieu. L'Effrontée — 'the cheeky one' — is his white: mostly Viognier with Marsanne and Roussanne, the classic northern Rhône trio. In the 2022 glass, white flowers and fresh apricot, with the round, fleshy texture Viognier brings and enough freshness to keep it moving.