François Villard

  • Northern Rhône, Rhône, France
François Villard
  • I have a hard time thinking of a northern Rhône producer whose wine has evolved as dramatically and positively over the last two decades than those of François Villard. Upon launching his domaine in 1989, Villard quickly built a reputation for producing assertively perfumed and flavored, opulent, even flamboyant wines, often with plenty of new oak influence, as was the fashion in the region at the time. But over the years his style evolved, especially during the last decade. Today his wines, which are often made with a significant amount of whole clusters and almost always a minimal use of new oak, are distinctly in the elegant camp of northern Rhône wines. That’s not to say that his wines are restrained, a point that he readily acknowledges. “You can get intensity of flavor without weight, too much ripeness and too much oak,” he told me. “It isn’t as easy and it takes a lot of work in farming, selection and attention in the cellar but it’s worth it. Plus, the wines age better when they are balanced and not monsters.”

    —Vinous, July 2019.

  • Readers familiar with Villard’s recent moves toward making wines that favor elegance over richness will notice that in the hot 2018 and 2017s vintages he has pulled off the neat trick of capturing the opulence of the fruit while retaining energy. If anything, I might be more impressed by the progress that he has made with his white wines over that past decade than his reds, which are still consistently superb, by the way.” 

    —Josh Raynolds, Vinous

Francois Villard was not born into wine; he started out his career as a chef. He grew up between Vienne and Grenoble, in the French countryside. He made his first Condrieu in 1991, a whopping 400 bottles. Today, makes wine from 64 hectares, of which he owns 40 hectares, purchasing fruit from the balance. He makes wine from Côte-Rôtie down to Saint Peray, and a little of everything between: four Condrieu, five Saint-Joseph (red and white), three Crozes-Hermitage, a Cornas, and four Vin de France (Marsanne-Roussanne, Viognier, and two Syrah).

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’s working with spontaneous fermentations and he’s begun experiments with making wine with very minimal sulfur during vinification and it’s gone well, so he’ll expand on that in the coming years. He has no intention of eliminating sulfur altogether and plans to continue to use a minimum amount of sulfur at bottling. He filters the wines if he needs too, but tries to avoid it.

In terms of style, Villard tends to harvest later than his neighbors, optimizing ripeness. He uses whole clusters during vinification as the stems give freshness to the wine. For his Condrieu, he likes to work with botrytis if possible, but he will only wait if the potential alcohol does not get too high, balance being the key. Villard never chaptalizes his whites (and very rarely the reds) and will make several passes in the vineyards to wait for the fruit to ripen. He’s using barrels and foudres for aging, some new depending on the cuvée. The whites are bounding with succulent fruit, a rich texture, and have a deft balance. The reds strike a nice harmony between red fruit notes and spicy earth, classic Northern Rhône. —Michele Peters, French Portfolio Manager

Image Producer PRODUCT Description Country / Region

DB3116-22
Sustainable
François Villard Viognier “Contours de Deponcins”
2022
Viognier
A young-vine Viognier from two villages known for Condrieu, Saint-Michel-sur-Rhône and Verin. The soil is sandy granite and mica. Fermented...
France

DB3108-20
WS:92
François Villard Syrah "L'Appel des Sereines" VdF
2020
Syrah
A young vine Syrah from several villages Chavanay, Ardoix, Saint-Michel-sur-Rhône, and Verin, all with a decomposed granite soil. Twelve...
France

DB3108-21
François Villard Syrah "L'Appel des Sereines" VdF
2021
Syrah
A young vine Syrah from several villages Chavanay, Ardoix, Saint-Michel-sur-Rhône, and Verin, all with a decomposed granite soil. Twelve...
France

DB3113-21
Sustainable
François Villard Saint-Joseph Rouge “Poivre et Sol”
2021
Syrah
A blend from several steep parcels with east and south east exposure (Ardoix, Chavanay, Saint-Pierre-de-Boeuf). From 20 year-old vines...
France

DB3112-21
Sustainable
François Villard Saint Peray “Version”
2021
While blend (mostly Marsanne)
Saint-Péray is a unique appellation, south of Cornas, that is planted entirely to white grapes, mainly Roussanne and Marsanne. Wines from...
France

DB3913-19
WS:94 VFTC:90
François Villard Saint Joseph Blanc Fruit d’Avilleran
2019
Marsanne
New! 100% Marsanne aged on the fine lees for eleven months in oak, 10% new. 70% of the vines are forty years-old and the balance are ten...
France

DB3913-20
WS:92
François Villard Saint Joseph Blanc Fruit d’Avilleran
2020
Marsanne
New! 100% Marsanne aged on the fine lees for eleven months in oak, 10% new. 70% of the vines are forty years-old and the balance are ten...
France

DB3115-21
Sustainable
François Villard Crozes-Hermitage Rouge “Certitude”
2021
Syrah
From three sites on the Plateau de Chassis in the village of Mercurol. In the shadow of Hermitage, the land opens up here and there are...
France

DB3114-20
Sustainable
WS: 94 VM:95
François Villard Côte-Rôtie "Le Gallet Blanc"
2020
100% Syrah from Ampuis and Saint-Cyr, with an “emphasis on the schist areas from the Brune up towards Verenay” (Livingstone-Learmonth, ... France

DB3111-21
Sustainable
François Villard Condrieu “Terrasses du Palat”
2021
Viognier
100% Viognier from Chavanay and Vérin, with decomposed granite and quartz terroir. Twenty-five-year-old vines. Low temperature fermentation...
France

DB3213-21
François Villard Condrieu "Grand Vallons"
2021
Viognier
The Grand Vallon comes from a parcel named, Grand Val in the village Saint-Pierre-de-Boeuf. The vines are 20 years-old vines and have east...
France