Viognier: Two Flavor Profiles from our Cellar

Things are slowly ramping up here in the cellar. A vast majority of our time is now focusing on bottling the 2019 vintage. The March bottling will be all 2019 vintage wines! I won’t spoil the entire line up, but I will say the 2019 Albariño is a showstopper. The aromatics are tropical and fresh with the palate being a perfect balance of fruitiness and acidity. I hope everyone will enjoy them as much we do.

After bottling, the fun does not stop. We have already begun planning the April bottling as well. This bottling will be a little more technical for the production team. Jenni, Jason, and I will be spending extensive time on our Viognier blend. As I mentioned in the October newsletter, a fair portion of our Viognier is wild fermented. Meaning, we did not inoculate the wine with commercial yeast. Instead, we allowed ambient yeast floating in the air or any already present in the juice to ferment the Viognier. This really pushes this wine to new heights.

We don’t stop at the wild fermentation though. Our Viognier is fermented in neutral oak so that it receives a small amount of oxygen integration. A weekly regime of battonage (yeast stirring) is part of the equation also. We also have a portion of our Viognier that was fermented with commercial yeast  lending it to have a more traditional profile. The technical part I previously mentioned comes through in the blending trials. Presently, our wild fermented Viognier has strong aromatics of tropical fruit, cantaloupe, and faint hints of white flowers. Our other Viognier yields balanced aromatics and flavor giving us notes of mango, tangerine, and honeysuckle.

To make the most of this Viognier vintage it is going to take some talented blending. We do this by tasting through each of the barrels and making notes. We Assess quality, aromatics, and flavors; all the while asking ourselves questions like: "Does wild fermented Viognier barrel “A” have the ideal profile we are looking for?” “Does the traditionally fermented Viognier barrel “B” have notes of oranges?" "Would these two barrels marry well?" We will taste through many different blends and work with Jenni McCloud to bring you the perfect 2019 Viognier.