When we get asked about why we planted Viognier, the response is often – why not? Its such a versatile, aromatic wine, and can be used to soften our reds (when we blend someday) or made into its own beautiful slightly oaked white wine. More gold in color in that latter instance, its a wine that surprised with its scent, its flavor and the way it touches your heart. A quick overview from Wikipedia will reveal that:

Viognier wines are well-known for their floral aromas, due to terpenes, which are also found in Muscat and Riesling wines. There are also many other powerful flower and fruit aromas which can be perceived in these wines depending on where they were grown, the weather conditions and how old the vines were. Although some of these wines, especially those from old vines and the late-harvest wines, are suitable for aging, most are intended to be consumed young. Viogniers more than three years old tend to lose many of the floral aromas that make this wine unique. Aging these wines will often yield a very crisp drinking wine which is almost completely flat in the nose. The color and the aroma of the wine suggest a sweet wine but Viognier wines are predominantly dry, although sweet late-harvest dessert wines have been made. It is a grape with low acidity; it is sometimes used to soften wines made predominantly with the red Syrah grape. In addition to its softening qualities the grape also adds a stabilizing agent and enhanced perfume to the red wine.

Nice. A quick dig on the Web and you will discover there is a website dedicated entirely to the varietal, called Enjoying Viognier . A small bit of information from the informative site gives us this:

Viognier is a remarkably difficult grape to grow. It is prone to mildew, produces notoriously low and unpredictable yields, and needs to be picked when fully ripe. If it is picked too early it fails to develop its classic aromas and rich tastes. But despite, or perhaps because of, this precariousness it has the most amazing clear, golden colour and the aroma of flowers and fruits at their freshest. Many talk of being surprised by the taste; the colour and nose hinting at something sweeter but the actually taste being dry with a variety of nuances both on the tongue and afterward.

In appreciating the surprising dryness of this wine don’t miss out on the few bottles of late harvested, dessert wines that escape from places like Condrieu.

So all in all, another difficult choice of vineyard to grow successfully. Luckily, we believe so deeply in our Terroir that we aren’t really that phased by the whole “worry” thing.