Domaine Martin Clerc, Condrieu 2018

94 points Jeb Dunnuck
"Honeyed limes, tangerine, and sappy floral notes all emerge from the 2018 Condrieu, which is brilliantly balanced, has integrated acidity, and a great finish. This beautiful Condrieu ranks with some of the top wines in the vintage in 2018."

93 points Vinous
"Limpid, green-tinged straw. Ripe peach, honeydew melon, tangerine, smoky minerals and exotic flowers on the deeply perfumed nose. Juicy and deeply concentrated, offering sappy orchard, pit fruit and orange zest flavors that are sharpened by a building, smoky mineral quality. Spicy and very subtly sweet on the impressively persistent finish, which echoes the pit fruit and floral notes."

Vinous Reverie Notes
The estate was created in 1991 by Louis Clerc, Martin Clerc's father. The first bottles are produced in the early 2000s. Born in Tupin-et-Semons, a small village just north of Condrieu, Louis Clerc always knew he wanted to work in wine. He came however from a family of agriculturists who specialized not in grapes but fruits, vegetables, herbs, and other marketable forms of produce. He went to school for agronomy and began his professional life working with fruit trees, where he stayed for many decades. However the dream of becoming a winemaker never left him. Finally in 1991, after much research and deliberation, he decided it was time, and he purchased hectarage in both the Condrieu and Cote Rotie appellations. In 2000 Clerc entirely overhauled his facility, which sits right on the Rhone River in Chonas l’Amballan. He invested in totally modern equipment including inox cuves with temperature control. It was shortly thereafter that his wife Monique and son Martin began working with him and learning the trade with their own burgeoning passion.