Condrieu AOC - History

History

Viticulture in the area around Condrieu has existed since at least Roman times and it is possible that the area was first cultivated by the native Allobroges tribe. In the 18th century, Condrieu enjoyed a period of popularity as it gained access to the lucrative Parisian market. The wine was transported north by land to the city of Saint-Étienne where the Loire River would carry the wine to the Canal de Briare and then to Paris. During periods of peace between France and Great Britain, Condrieu would find its way to the London market.

For most of the 20th century before the early 1970s, the only northern Rhône wine well-known far from the region was Hermitage, and there was little demand on the export market for Rhône wines. Producing wine from hillside vineyards requires more labour than on flat vineyards, and is therefore economically difficult when demand and prices are low. This was particularly felt by some Rhône appellations in the early post-World War II era, including Condrieu and its neighbour Côte-Rôtie, with the 1950s and 1960s a particularly difficult time. Rhône wines in general started to be more in demand from the early 1970s, and stronger so from the late 1970s/early 1980s. From this time, the négociant business of Marcel Guigal at Ampuis was important in expanding the market for Condrieu wines. Guigal primarily made his name with his Côte-Rôtie wines which then paved the way for his bottlings from other appellations, which also includes a significant portion of white wine. Guigal's Condrieu was sourced from small growers in the appellation.

The increase in demand led to new plantations inside the appellation's border, which was far from fully exploited and at one stage included many abandoned vineyards. The area under wine was less than 12 hectares (30 acres) in the 1960s, 14 hectares (35 acres) in 1982, 98 hectares (240 acres) at the end of the century and 135 hectares (330 acres) in 2005.