When you open the bottle you are confronted with a synthetic cork, which I personally find absolutely anti-erotic.
The colour is pale gold, a first sign of the fact that this Pays d’Oc IGT wine is a less rich expression of the grape than the Viognier produced in the Condrieu AOC, which tend to display a deep golden colour.
On the nose peach, chamomile and hazelnut. In the mouth neither much taste nor a finish worth mentioning.
I bought this bottle at Coop for 11.50 CHF. Not expensive, but considering the drinking experience I judge it overpriced.
Viognier is a white grape variety indigenous of the northern Rhône Valley that delivers aromatic wines. Like Chardonnay it can be made in many styles.
As a consequence of the fact that it is a difficult grape to grow, prone to diseases and unpredictable in its yield, in the late 1960s 14 hectares of Viognier vines were all that remained in the entire world. All located in the vineyards of Condrieu, where this grape variety was already cultivated under the Roman Empire.
In the 1980s interest in Viognier reawakened and since the turn of the Millennium the grape is having a remarkable renaissance. It now grows worldwide on over 10’000 hectares, reaching as far as Japan. The grape is popular in the Languedoc region, flows into the white Côtes du Rhône wines and also does very well in California. Nevertheless, there are still only two all Viognier appellation in the world: Condrieu and the single-property Château-Grillet, just south of it.
Aigle Noir is produced by Gérard Bertrand, one of those remarkable personalities in the wine world, who have been leaving a mark by becoming ambassador of their region and building an empire.
Since he took over responsibility in running his family’s Villemajou Estate (after his father died in an accident in 1987) Gérard Bertrand has been expanding his holdings and promoting the wines of Languedoc-Roussillon around the world.
Nowadays Gérard Bertrand runs a wine empire offering wines and labels that meet the varied expectations of consumers around the world.
I first got to know about Gérard Bertrand in 2016, while exploring the Languedoc-Roussillon wine region with my, back then, 6 years old son. By chance, we ended up staying next to Château l’Hospitalet, in the La Clape natural park, between the ancient Roman city of Narbonne and the Mediterranean Sea. A property Gérard Bertrand acquired in 2002 and that greatly expanded his holdings, giving him a whole new dimension.
I profited by the fact that I was sleeping nearby and I went dining at Château l’Hospitalet’s restaurant, where I got delighted by the formula they were offering on the wine: a full range of 24 bottles available for self-service.
The consumer could choose among three all-you-can-drink options, with increasing choice, quality and price, depending on the range that he wanted to choose: L’Air du Temps (8 wines from the basic range), Les Vins des Propriétés (8 midrange wines) and Les Grand Vins (8 among Gérard Bertrand’s premium production). I obviously went for the full package and tasted most of the 24 wines available!
Country: France
Region: Languedoc-Roussillon
Grapes: Viognier
Type: White
Vintage: 2016
Producer: Gérard Bertrand
Price range: Economic (<15 US$)
Pascal’s Enjoyment Index: 2/5