Domaine François Villard

2021 Collines Rhodaniennes IGP Seul en Scène

This is an extremely important wine, a flag planted in a new terroir and a wildly successful one at that. Seul en Scène, meaning Alone on Stage, is from a vineyard on the opposite bank, the left bank, from Côte-Rôtie in the northernmost reaches of the Rhône’s growing area. The site is called Seyssuel and it was historically considered as fine as Côte-Rôtie but was left behind by phylloxera and two world wars. The Seul en Scène is an important champion for putting Seyssuel back on the map. Villard’s cuvée comes entirely from the lieu-dit Pelissonnes. Cross the to the east side of the Rhône and drive 15 minutes North from Ampuis (at the heart of Côte-Rôtie) to Vienne. From there proceed ten more minutes south as the river turns and banks back the other direction, and you will find the Seyssuel slope, shaped something like Côte-Rôtie and Hermitage split the difference. Its exposure curves from south to southwest, and the soils are decomposed schist and quartz. The wines of Seyssuel show a more lifted, mineral driven, nervy character than those of Côte-Rôtie. Villard’s vines here are 20 years old and planted at 8,000 vines per hectare. The wine is fermented 100% whole cluster in open wood and stainless then racked to oak for 18 months (20% new). 12.5% ABV. Only 3,000 bottles are made, of which we received only 24! Cellaring potential: 15 years.