Francois Villard did not start out to be a wine maker. At first, François Villard worked in the wine and food industry in a restaurant. After considering a career as a sommelier, luckily for us, he turned to wine making. Francois Villard began planting vines in 1989, with the help of Yves Cuilleron.
By 1991, Francois Villard made the jump to becoming a full-time winemaker, producing wine from a combination of his own vineyards and purchasing grapes. Once he got started, he never looked back. From that point on, Francois Villard has continued expanding his vineyards and the wines he produces. Villard is currently producing close to 30 different wines from a myriad of different Northern Rhone Valley appellations.
Francois Villard Cote Rotie Vineyards, Wines, and Winemaking
Francois Villard produces two Cote Rotie wines. His first wines were sold under the name Francois Villard Cote Rotie. That wine is no longer produced.
Francois Villard La Brocarde is made from vines planted on the Cote Blonde with up to 13% Viognier in the blend. The wine takes its name from the La Brocarde lieu-dit. The berries are whole cluster fermented, and up to 30% of the grapes are destemmed. The wine is aged in between 80% new French oak barrels and 100% new, oak barrels, depending on the character of the vintage. The wine spends close to 18 months in a barrel before bottling. The production is quite small, as only 100 cases are produced in an average year.
Francois Villard Le Gallet Blanc got its inspiration for the wine and its name from two growers that Francois Villard purchases grapes from, Mr. Gallet and Mr. Blanc. The wine is produced from mostly Syrah and just a dollop of Viognier, perhaps 1% or 2% of the blend. The grapes are planted in the lieux-dits of; Cote Bodin, Le Grand Taillis, Fontjean, Le Plomb, Montlys, and Servonniere on a steep granite and schist hillside terroir. The berries are whole-cluster fermented, and up to 30% of the grapes are destemmed. The wine is then aged in an average of 50% new, French oak barrels for up to 18 months before bottling. The production is sizable for Cote Rotie, at close to 1,625 cases per vintage.
