Sometimes a last name tells you everything. Yann Menager—literally “to manage,” “to husband,” or “to nurse,” in French—spent 20 years as Yves Cuilleron's vineyard chief, learning every granite outcrop and schist vein in the Northern Rhône's most prestigious sites.

In 2011, fate intervened. An elderly grower in Malleval couldn't work his Condrieu vines anymore. His son had attempted one vintage but quit when faced with the reality of farming 45-degree slopes in Mediterranean heat. The fruit hung unpicked.

Menager saw opportunity where others saw only backbreaking labor. He approached Cuilleron not as an employee, but as someone ready to strike out on his own. Cuilleron's response revealed the esteem he had for his friend: instead of grabbing prime Condrieu parcels for himself, he helped finance his long-time vineyard manager's independence.

For the first few years, Cuilleron even helped make the wines. You can taste it—the same precision, the same understanding of Viognier's tendency toward flabbiness if not handled perfectly. 

The winery sits in Champailler at 798 meters—so high that only sheep and goats share the neighborhood. The vineyards themselves cling to leucocratic migmatite soils, a specific granite-like formation that keeps Viognier's natural opulence in check. Everything is organic, hand-picked, naturally fermented. When you've spent two decades making someone else's Grand Vin, you don't cut corners on your own.

Why You'll Love It

• Master technique, apprentice prices: This is Cuilleron-level winemaking without Cuilleron pricing. Same slopes, same methods, same 35 HL/ha yields. Just without the premium that comes with a better-known name.
  

• Killer Condrieu Value: At $50 per bottle on 6-packs, you're paying 41% less than full retail for one of France's rarest, greatest white wine appellations.
  

• The allocation restaurants hoard: With only 3,000 bottles produced, Lyon's Michelin-starred tables grab what they can. Menager doesn't chase scores or reviews—he doesn't need to when the wine already sells itself.

How to Serve It

• Serve at 48-52°F in a larger white wine glass to let these gorgeous stone fruit, marzipan, and verveine aromas blossom in the glass.
  

• Drink now through 2026—Condrieu's window of perfection is narrower than most whites.
  

• This has the weight for grilled lobster but the precision for scallop sashimi. The gastronome’s pairing? Roast tarragon chicken with apricot mostarda.