François Villard Saint-Joseph ‘Mairlant’ 2020

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

Name of vineyards: Ardoix, Chavanay et Saint Pierre de Bœuf

Grape varieties: 100% Syrah

Soil composition: Decomposed granite

Aging: Matured ~18 months in old oak barrels (2 to 7 years old)

About François Villard

Francois Villard was not born into wine; he started out his career as a chef. He grew up between Vienne and Grenoble, in the French countryside.

His love of wine grew very quickly and he came to realize that what he really wanted was to farm vineyards and produce wine of his own. Having no proper training wine wine production much of his knowledge has come from two of his good friends, Yves Cuilleron & Pierre Gaillard, with whom he has worked alongside. Yves has been more of a mentor to François, as well as being a good friend; and François worked several harvests with Pierre to gain knowledge and experience in the farming side of things. He did eventually obtain a “Professional Agricultural Certificate” with a focus on viticulture and oenology from the School de Davayé.

In 1989 he planted his first vineyard in Condrieu, with the assistance Yves Cuilleron. In 1992 he bottled his first wine, just 400 bottles of Condrieu.

Today, makes wine from 64 hectares, of which he owns 40 hectares, purchasing fruit from the balance. He makes wine from Côte-Rôtie down to Saint Peray, and a little of everything between: four Condrieu, five Saint-Joseph (red and white), three Crozes-Hermitage, a Cornas, and four Vin de France (Marsanne-Roussanne, Viognier, and two Syrah).

Early on in his career he accumulated a fair amount of attention and praise from the critics for both his Viognier wines from Condrieu as well as his Syrah’s. These early bottling were very much in line with the times, focused more on extraction of fruit and use of new oak that showcasing a riper, more rich style of wine. Over the years François has honed his style and the wines these days are far more restrained than they once were. The whites, in much the same manner there is an increased sense of grace and elegance to the wines while not losing the opulent fruit and texture that makes the wines so unique.

François is making wines of incredible personality. Exploring Côte-Rôtie, there are, like any region, different styles. The 2 most significant spectrums are 1. Modern & Oaky vs Grape First & Restrained Oak, and, 2. Whole Bunch vs 100% destemmed.

François sits on the Grape First & Restrained Oak (clearly made with detail, no spoilage issue, oxidation or sulphide) with loads of whole bunches in the reds. The high whole bunch use can make the wines edgy at the low end of the mix. The fruit and tannin quality at the high end making for wines of great composure and harmony.

The whites, in much the same manner have an increased sense of grace and elegance to the wines while not losing the opulent fruit and texture that makes the wines so unique.

Both red and white have excellent freshness and energy.

Trying his wines amongst those of his peers Cuilleron (more modern, a minority portion of whole bunch) and Gallard (more rustic with no whole bunch) was a revelation.

In the Vineyard

Villard farms sustainably working toward being certified organic. He works his soils and uses organic fertilizers and organic treatments for disease as needed. He’s working with spontaneous fermentations and he’s begun experiments with making wine with very minimal sulfur during vinification and it’s gone well, so he’ll expand on that in the coming years. He has no intention of eliminating sulfur altogether and plans to continue to use a minimum amount of sulfur at bottling. He filters the wines if he needs too, but tries to avoid it.

In the Winery

Each wine has the right to be different, each wine has the right to be unique

François Villard

He’s working with spontaneous fermentations and he’s begun experiments with making wine with very minimal sulfur during vinification and it’s gone well, so he’ll expand on that in the coming years. He has no intention of eliminating sulfur altogether and plans to continue to use a minimum amount of sulfur at bottling. He filters the wines if he needs too, but tries to avoid it.

Whites

François makes white from Viognier, Marsanne and Roussane.

Fruit is pressed and cold settled for 24-48 hours prior to racking for temperature controlled fermentation in wood and tank. The wines are aged on fine lees with bâtonnage according to the wine for around 6 months.

Reds

The reds are fermented with most of the grapes a whole bunches. Temperature controlled fermentation takes place in either stainless steel of wooden cuves for 8-15 days.

François believes working whole bunches limits extraction. From 2010 he ceased perfoming pigeage/punch downs and now uses gentle pumpovers that he feels are less aggressive.

Reds are aged for 15 to 20 months prior to bottling.

Domaine François Villard is yet another domaine that has been steadily but also dramatically shifting its style of wines from extroverted and oak-driven to elegant and even restrained, especially regarding barrel regimens. A little over a decade ago, François Villard’s wines were poster children for the modern Rhône wine style: ripe, weighty and heavily oaked. Today, the wines are typically focused and energetic. Villard has backed off new barrels and has begun using more whole cluster fruit, making the wines more perfumed and spicier. Most of today’s wines would be unrecognizable to somebody who last drank them 10 or 12 years ago. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Villard’s 2020s are the strongest overall set of wines I have had here.

Josh Raynolds, Vinous

Where in the World is Côte-Rôtie?

Today’s wines all hail from the Northern part of the Rhône Valley between Vienne and Valence.

Côte-Rôtie itself is split into to main sub-regions, the Côte Blonde and the Côte Brune. Hermitage is some 50km further South down the Rhône River.

If you face the hill from the Château d’Ampuis itself to the South you find the Côte Blonde, where soils are heavy with granite and produce elegance feminine wines.

To the North lies the Côte Brune, here the soils comprise mica schists and clay, yielding more masculine, structured wines.

Like Burgundy, individual vineyards in Côte-Rôtie have been identified, named, and, clear boundaries established.

Where Hermitage is dominated by 4 main producers, including Guigal, Côte-Rôtie, now has around 100 producers making wine from it’s 550acres of plantings.

Villard’s Vineyards

Villard’s Vineyards

Villard has vineyards spread throughout the Northern Rhône Valley. This wine comes from the villages of Ardoix, Chavanay et Saint Pierre de Bœuf within the appellation Saint-Joseph, a 50km long strip on the left bank of the Rhône River running from Valence up to the southern border of Condrieu.