It has its own day (April 30) but what the heck is Viognier (Vee-on-yay)?
Historically it comes from France. Of course! you say, because wine and France are like cheese and crackers, Bert and Ernie, Thelma and Louise.
Historically from Condrieu in the Northern Rhône viognier vines were planed on steep slopes making it exceedingly difficult to work with these vines and total plantings had dropped to less than 25 acres in the 1960s. By 2016 plantings were up to 40,000 acres in wine growing countries all over the world!
So, what is the deal?
Perfumed and lush, viognier can produce a full-bodied wine with some lovely aromas of peach, pear, apricot, blossom, honeysuckle and a steely minerality. But BEWARE the winemaker! Depending on winemaking techniques these lovely aromas can fade away. The use of barrel ageing, which allows low levels of oxygen to come into contact with the wine requires a high level of skill when working with viognier.
Viognier wants a long warm growing season to ripen and develop those lovely aromatics, but not so hot it develops too much sugar.
J.V. Fleury 2019 Côtes du Rhône
It calls itself Côtes du Rhône, so to know the grape you need to know what regions are allowed to grow what grapes! Thanks France for making wine drinking a guessing game!
Medium lemon in color this wine has some unexpected citrus happening on the nose, Pear, peach and apricot also but a lovely buttery, brioche and toast encompassing the overall aroma. A quick check of the label and they aged sur lies* in tank for six months. *sur lies “sir lee” means all the yeast from the winemaking is left in contact with the wine before filtering and bottling. If you like that toasty, buttery brioche on your wine look for wines aged sur lies.
On the palate (in my mouth!) It’s creamy, thank you sur lies aging. It has a lovely acidity just enough to be refreshing, which is a nice surprise in a naturally low acid grape.
My tasting partner wants this with a lovely fish in a ver blanc sauce (a whole lot of cream and butter folks) We had cheese instead. A lovely creamy Italian cows milk cheese called Crucolo.
Vento Teso 2020 Viognier – Toscana
Italian viognier? I thought they were into Pinot Grigio? That and about 350 official wine varieties. But I digress.
This wine is a lovely medium lemon color with an explosion of aromas. Ripe peach, honeysuckle, citrus – lemon and personally I smell key lime (anyone for pie?), orange blossom and apricot. My mind was blown with how complex this wine was and how many things we could smell. This is a wine I put in my Nose Love category – you just can’t stop smelling it.
On the palate all of those lovely aromas came through for the win, it’s medium minus on the acid, but still very much refreshing. Ripe orange and limestone minerality make this a pondering wine. Where was it grown? Who made it? What love went into its production? All good questions to ponder while laying on a picnic blanket after visiting a farmers’ market at the height of summer. Don’t mind me while I bite into a ripe peach and let the juice drip down my face.
Are we going to talk about Virginia Viognier?
Why yes, thanks for asking. In 2011 viognier was named Virginia’s signature white grape and in 2015 it was the fifth most grown grape in Virginia. Not surprising when it likes a nice warm growing region.
While a number of people are baffled on how to even pronounce viognier (Vee-on-yay) Virginians know what’s what. With that I have to admit the Virginian viognier originally in my lineup was from a historical powerhouse for producing high quality Judgement of Paris viogniers. But… the color was off – practically orange gold and overly oxidized. I am afraid that bottle had to put a bag over its head and go and sit in the corner to think about what it had done wrong. My tasting partner (drinking buddy – who never spits out a wine) struggled to grab my spit cup in time. With that I knew I needed an alternate Virginia viognier that would stand up to those Europeans.
Blenheim Vineyards 2018 Viognier – Virginia
On the palate it has a weightiness a full-bodied creaminess. All the fruit comes through beautifully in a way that can trick you into thinking this wine is sweet, It’s not. If you like a sweet wine, try a floral one instead. The acidity is spot on, making this incredibly refreshing without being astringent.
The winemaker notes they age 36% aged in French and Hungarian oak barrels for 5 months, not a single aromatic is lost in this wine, so I raise a glass to a highly skilled winemaker, Kirsty Harmon!
If you’re in Virginia, make a reservation, go sit outside and stare at the vines. Or get some oysters and have a backyard party. Recommended with a firepit on cold nights with some twinkle lights to set the mood.
What are some of your favorite viogniers? Never tried one, go and taste my friend!
