Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Viognier - The Perfect White Wine?

In Oz Clark's Grapes and Wines he says that Viognier (VEE-ON-YAY) filled the consumer demand for a white wine with "weight and softness of an oaky Chardonnay without the oak". For me Viognier is currently my favorite white because it combines the crispness of a Sauvginon Blanc with the fruity profile of a Riesling and spares us from the high acid levels of either. For me oak doesn't enter in to the discussion and to bring it up is a bit misleading. The other thing that I really enjoy about Viognier is that it pairs well with so many of the foods I enjoy such as sushi, salads, fish, chicken and my current perfect pairing with Cambodian Spring Rolls.

Viognier is a very aromatic wine with lots of floweriness in the nose and winemakers often blend it in with their red wines for this reason. A couple great examples are Storybook Mountain's Napa Estate, Eastern Exposures Zinfandel 2006 and Spring Mountain Winery's 2007 Syrah Co-Ferment where they crush and ferment the Syrah and Viognier grapes together instead of blending them after fermentation as is done with most wine blends. But I stray...

The first Viognier that caught my eye (palate) was Bridlewood's Reserve Viogner which for me is a nice light introduction to the grape. It's a bit on the drier side but still very aromatic and lots of fruit character. Priced at around $13 (bevmo.com) it was included in their 5 cents promotion earlier in the year so I purchased 2 bottles for less that 15 bucks after tax. That's right at the current high volume sales price of $6.99/bottle.


The second one that really caught my attention is the Copain Viognier "Tous Ensemble" Mendocino County. This is my current favorite as it is the perfect balance of fruit and crispness to make a bright yet subtle white wine with a lot of complexity. This may be the perfect white as it complements the crisp high acid foods (lemon chicken, cranberry vinaigrette salad) and contrasts well with rich creamy dishes (butternut squash risotto, grilled sea bass, deep fried egg roll). What is great about pairing a bright wine like this with rich dishes is that it gives your palate a refreshment between bites so future tastes will be just like the first one, special. With all pairings you will find this wine will bring out the sweetness in foods you didn't expect and the foods will bring out the apricot and citrus notes from this wonderful wine. At $20 I think this a great buy for a truely great wine.

Another fine Viognier is
2008 Darioush Viognier Signature a less subtle crisper white which has high unripe fruit character for a wine in this category. It paired well with the Cambodian Spring Rolls bringing out the crisp minty character of the roll and accentuating the sweetness of the lettuce. I think this is a great wine but it's price point ($40) may take it out of many peoples recession budget.

Cheers to all you Rhone Rangers!