Aromas of violets, macerated currants, and mixed cherries accompany notes of leather, charcoal and black licorice. Medium plus in body, the wine shows tangy black currant, ripe red currant and black cherry fruit balanced with stony minerality, soil, and hints of orange peel, tobacco and charcoal. It is a savory style perfect for connoisseurs and food and wine enthusiasts.
WINE INFORMATION
Villard farms sustainably and hopes to be certified organic by 2022. He works his soils and uses organic fertilizers and organic treatments for disease as needed. He also works with spontaneous fermentations and limits his usage of sulfur during vinification. Furthermore, he filters the wines if necessary, but tries to avoid so doing. In terms of style, Villard tends to harvest later than his neighbors, aiming for optimum grape ripeness. He uses whole clusters during vinification to add freshness to the wine. For his Condrieu, he prefers to work with botrytis when possible. Villard never chaptalizes his whites (and very rarely the reds) and uses barrels and foudres for aging (some new depending on the cuvee).
The Syrah grapes used to make Villard’s L’appel Des Sereines (which translates to “the call of the mermaids”) come from young vines from several villages – Chavanay, Ardoix, Saint-Michel-sur-Rhône, and Verin – all of which feature decomposed granite soil. Grapes for the wine undergo a twelve day maceration with twenty-five percent whole clusters in open-top wood tronconique vats followed by eleven months of aging, half in the vat and half in neutral barrels.
Charcuterie, Cheese, Duck, Grilled preparations, Ham, Hearty stew, Lamb, Mushrooms, Pork, Red Meat, Roasted Root Vegetables, Tomato Sauce, Wild Game