Georges Vernay is the reason Viognier survived at all. He began working these vineyards alongside his father in 1944, at a moment when Condrieu's brutally steep, terraced slopes were being abandoned wholesale for easier, flatter land, and the appellation had shrunk to barely seven hectares by 1960, essentially the entire global planting of the grape. Over three decades as president of the local growers' association, Vernay personally led the campaign to reclaim those terraces and replant Viognier, turning a nearly extinct variety into one of the world's great aromatic whites. Since his passing in 2017, his daughter Christine has run the estate, pushing farming further into biodynamics and bringing a freshness and mineral precision to these wines that few Condrieu producers can match.

"Les Terrasses de l'Empire," grown on granite-terraced vines just alongside the domaine's famed Coteau de Vernon, is the house's benchmark expression of the appellation. The 2024 opens with pronounced lemon flesh, red apple, spring blossom, and apricot, a medium-bodied wine with the classic Vernay signature: Viognier's natural richness kept in check by a vertical, mineral-driven line of acidity that few other producers in Condrieu manage to achieve.

Why You'll Love It

• Ripe citrus and orange blossom lead the nose, layered with white flowers and a core of apricot.
• The palate is medium-bodied and textural, with lemon flesh and red apple carrying through to a long, mineral-inflected finish.
• A vertical thread of acidity keeps all that Viognier richness honest, never blowsy or overblown.
• Made from 40-year-old vines and raised mainly in large 2000L neutral oak casks, giving texture without adding oak flavor.
• A wine built to evolve: drink it now for its aromatics, or hold it several years to let the mineral core fully unfold.

How To Serve It

• Serve chilled, around 50-55°F, cool but not ice-cold, so the aromatics stay open.
• No decanting necessary, though a few minutes of air in the glass doesn't hurt.
• Pour into all-purpose stems to let the floral and citrus notes fully express themselves.
• Pair it with seared scallops in brown butter and hazelnuts, or other richer seafood and poultry dishes that can stand up to Viognier's weight without overwhelming its acidity.