Coufis
⏳ Drinking Window
Typically best enjoyed within 3 to 10 years of the vintage, though well-stored bottles can develop complex honeyed and nutty notes for over a decade.
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Fruit tarts, blue cheese, foie gras
✨ Technical Specifications
M. Chapoutier's "Coufis" is a rare and luscious sweet white wine that pays homage to the ancient local tradition of passerillage—the natural air-drying of grapes to concentrate their sugars and flavors. The name "Coufis" derives from the local dialect meaning "confit" or "shriveled," describing the state of the grapes at harvest. Crafted in the Ardèche region, this wine is made from late-harvest Viognier grapes that are left on the vine to achieve a rich concentration of honeyed apricot, peach, and exotic spice notes. Chapoutier's commitment to biodynamic principles and minimal intervention allows the pure, sun-drenched character of the Ardèche terroir to shine through, balanced by a vibrant acidity that prevents the intense sweetness from becoming cloying.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 1808 in Tain-l'Hermitage, Maison M. Chapoutier was transformed into a global benchmark for terroir-driven viticulture after Michel Chapoutier took charge in 1990. Operating on the motto 'Fac & Spera' (Do and Hope), the estate became an early, outspoken pioneer of biodynamic farming in 1991 across its extensive estate vineyards. Rooted along the granite terraces, fluvioglacial alluvial soils, and limestone outcrops of the northern and southern Rhône Valley, Chapoutier crafts transparent, single-vineyard bottlings (sélections parcellaires) alongside international ventures in regions like Portugal's Douro Valley. Winemaking favors indigenous yeasts, gentle extraction, and minimal intervention to preserve purity of origin, often eschewing new wood in favor of neutral oak casks or concrete vats. Benchmark cuvées—famed for their tactile Braille labeling introduced in 1994—include Hermitage icons such as Le Méal Blanc, De l'Orée, Les Greffieux, and Côte-Rôtie's La Mordorée, epitomizing tension, minerality, and structural longevity.
🍇 Grapes
Viognier
🍷 ABV
11.5-12.5%