Walls’ hidden gems: Domaine François Merlin & 12 wines tasted

I cannot tell you just how tempting it is to describe François Merlin as a magician in the cellar. But this would be lazy. Not to mention inaccurate. There’s no trickery here – just decades of determination, raw talent and hard graft.

As Merlin approaches retirement, his domaine can now be considered among the top tier of northern Rhône producers. This is an extraordinary achievement, as he started out with nothing. In Côte-Rôtie and Condrieu, his might prove to be the last generation of winemakers to achieve this feat.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores for 12 wines from Domaine François Merlin

Early years

Tasting with Merlin tends to be swift. He’s always in a hurry, speaks loudly, and you get the feeling he doesn’t suffer fools gladly. Behind his round black spectacles, his weathered features tell a story of a life lived in sun and wind.

After completing a year’s national service in the army, he was aimless, so spent time shepherding a farmer’s herd of goats in Condrieu. It was his love for working outdoors, rather than wine specifically, that led to his next job – tending vines for a winemaker in Ampuis. And not just any winemaker, but the great René Rostaing.

Merlin started working for Rostaing in 1985, and he quickly developed an interest in wine. In 1987, he bought just under a hectare of Condrieu vines (from the goat farmer) and he sold the first bottles under his own name in 1990. In 1999, he quit his job as head of viticulture for Rostaing in order to concentrate on his own production.

From Condrieu to Côte-Rotie

Bit by bit, his estate developed. In 2000, he bought more parcels of Condrieu and rented his first parcel of St-Joseph. It wasn’t until 2005 that he could afford to rent some Côte-Rôtie, 1.2ha of lieu-dit Cumelle. ‘I took what I could get,’ he says. ‘It was hard to find land back then. And it’s even harder now.’

At the time, south-facing sites in Condrieu were prized and the hardest to obtain; he had to put up with east-facing plots. As the climate has warmed up, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. And the parcels were in exceptional lieux-dits: Chanson, Côte Chatillon, Poncin and Jeanraude, which borders Château-Grillet.

His aim is to avoid ‘hot and heavy’ Condrieu, so climate change is a worry. Some winemakers suggest blocking malolactic fermentation, but not Merlin: ‘Cutting malo is not the answer,’ he says; ‘you lose minerality and depth.’

The St-Joseph Les Grands Ducs (named after the eagle owls that nest there) is also a favourable terroir – a sunny vineyard of granite and schist in St-Pierre-de-Boeuf. The first vintage they made had to be bottled under IGP Collines Rhodaniennes as the vines were so young. We tried it for fun; remarkably, it’s still offering pleasure and interest 10 years on.

It was his eldest son, Laurent, that planted the site in 2010. He studied viticulture and winemaking at college, rejoining his father at the estate in 2013. Now Laurent is in charge of winemaking and viticulture, and his father looks after the commercial side.

Last of the Mohicans

Laurent is fortunate that his father bought land when he did. In Côte-Rôtie, the price of vineyard land has ballooned to €1,250,000 per hectare (an increase of 13% over the last five years), with Condrieu around half that. Merlin belongs to the last generation who could build an estate here from scratch.

It’s gratifying for locals that these vineyards are now held in the esteem they deserve. But it feels like the end of an era now that local people will have such difficulty gaining a foothold in these ancient vineyards. No wonder Merlin is so often in a rush; he got in just as the door was closing.

See notes and scores for 12 wines from Domaine François Merlin

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