WTN: Cuilleron LaPetiteCote Condrieu '16...(short/boring)

Tried this ystrday w/ my Reuben:
1. YvesCuilleron LaPetiteCote AC: Condrieu (13%; NealRosenthal Imprts) 2016: Med.gold color; pleasant peach/pear/Viog slight stony/mineral/perfumed talc rather quiet/low-key nose; rather soft veru quiet/low-key light pear/peach/Viog very slight mineral/perfumed talc flavor; med.short light pear/peach/Viog slight chalky finish; speaks of Viog w/ a whisper but nothing of Condrieu; dozens of Calif Viog, not necessarily in the DollyParton style are much better than this; utterly disappointing; way overpriced at $31.50/hlf (KK)
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. As most of you have noticed, French Condrieu is frightfully expensive. So I try a lot of Calif Viognier. But about once a yr, I splurge for a French Condrieu to remind myself how special the mother home of Viog really is. Alas, this Cuilleron was not that reminder I was looking for. Dreadfully quotidian. Guess I gotta spend more.
Tom

Condrieu was hideously expensive even before the tariff war started.

-Paul W.

Condrieu was hideously expensive even before the tariff war started.
-Paul W.

ButButBut.... Paul. When I first fell in love w/ Viog/Condrieu it was not. You could get the regular Guigal Condrieu for $20 or less. The Doriane was about $30 or a bit more. Grillet, underperforming, was around $50. Cuilleron & Gangloff didn't exist yet. Condrieu was a relatively unknown Rhone wine, save for Grillet. But then folks discovered the glories of Condrieu and the prices started to climb dramatically. Especially as more Viog was coming out of Calif. But my purchases of Condrieu dwindled. Now the regular Guigal is near $100 and the Doriane nearly twice that.
Youth has its advantages...but there is something to be said for old age as well.
Tom

You're right--in the 1980s Condrieu and Cornas were both inexpensive and easy to find. Then the northern Rhone got Parkerized and those wines became expensive and hard to find. In the day I was very fond of Georges Vernay's single-vineyard Condrieus. I still have some of his Cote-Rotie from the late 1990s.

-Paul W.

You're right--in the 1980s Condrieu and Cornas were both inexpensive and easy to find. Then the northern Rhone got Parkerized and those wines became expensive and hard to find. In the day I was very fond of Georges Vernay's single-vineyard Condrieus. I still have some of his Cote-Rotie from the late 1990s.
-Paul W.

Yup, Paul... the Vernays were about the very best. And so was his C-R... as good as any of them. Haven't had a Vernay in yrs.
Tom