‘Pope’ of Condrieu dies

Georges Vernay, the man credited with saving Viognier from extinction, has died at the age of 92.

Georges Vernay and his daughter Christine

Vernay passed away late last week and was hailed as a “pioneer” and “guide” by producers in Condrieu.

Vernay famously helped rescue Viognier from the brink of extinction in the 1960s. Ravaged by phylloxera and gradually abandoned after the war because the steep terraces that suit it so well were difficult and expensive to work and maintain, plantings of Viognier had shrunk to (at most) a total of 14 hectares; all at the Vernay estate.

Convinced of its character and potential however, Vernay did not abandon the variety, husbanded these last plots and set about planting more. Alongside fellow vignerons Pierre Perret, Alfred Gerin and Edmond Duclaux, he was a driving force in Viognier’s rehabilitation; earning himself the nickname the ‘Pope of Condrieu’ in the process.

Today Condrieu covers around 180ha and Viognier has caught on around the world with many hundreds if not thousands of hectares planted in the Languedoc, the US, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Canada and even Greece and Japan.

Vernay was president of the appellation for 30 years and the running of the eponymous domaine was handed over to his daughter, Christine, in 1996.