Jenise buys eight Viogniers, like two
By Jenise Stone

“It smells like a dead old lady” I muttered glumly into my first-ever glass of viognier. That was over fifteen years ago, and I haven’t changed my mind about viognier since. This grape has a tendency to be a bit on the sweet side, low in acidity and sport a heavy floral nose, none of which I personally find appealing.

That’s why in my fairly extensive personal cellar, there’s exactly one bottle of viognier. It’s from a high end California producer and was on sale for half it's usual $50 price (at Compass Wines in Anacortes) and which I bought for much the same reason I once bought a pair of purple high heels--if I ever NEEDED purple high heels, I'd never be able to find them again, so….

Over the years, I’ll admit that here and there I’ve been impressed with a few bottles friends have opened, bottles that had the kind of fresh acidity and minerality I do enjoy. La Frenz in British Columbia, Renaissance from California’s Amador County and Sonoma-based Miner Family Winery have all made viogniers that put the fruit in front of the flowers and made me nod with surprise. Not enough to buy them, but enough to open the possibility that out there somewhere might be the viognier that could turn it all around.

Well, this month an internet website I hang out on is focusing on viognier, so I decided to give this grape an earnest try. An SOS to my pal Randy Buckner, who writes about wine for the Tacoma Tribune, turned up recommendations for McCrea, Cayuse, Whitman and Rulo. I gave the list to Gabe, the friendly wine guy at Haggen Ferndale, who I was pleased was able to procure even one of them (not all wines are available through conventional distribution), the Whitman. He had three other viogniers on hand, of which I bought the two from our state. Another Haggen had just two viogniers, both Californians, and Cost Cutter in Blaine had about six, but just one Washington that was different than those I’d already bought. (By comparison, each store had about 50 chardonnays which tells you something about the relative popularity of the two grapes.)

So I supplemented the four WA wines with two Californians, one Idahoan, and one from South Africa, and invited some friends over for a viognier tasting. The chilled wines were served blind (in brown bags and randomly ordered) to make sure we tasted without prejudice.

The results? I liked two. In fact, one of them—the Whitman--I truly loved: indeed, it was the epiphany I didn’t believe possible. I liked it so much I’m going to order more. And there’s good news about the other one that stood out from the crowd, too: it was the least expensive!

THE BEST
Very, very attractive nose, sweet and exotic but not cloying or strange. Banana, green gauge plum, pear, white pepper, chalky minerality, and a hint of diesel. Great delineation and balance, hypnotically complex. Just brilliant. 2004 Whitman Winery (Columbia Valley). $23.

Bright yellow. Very recognizable viognier nose but not stuffy. Sunny flavors of ripe pears and star fruit, some lavendar and lemon, nice acidity. 2005 McManis, California, $8 and BEST VALUE.

THE REST
Green-gold. Soft, pleasant flavors of citrus peel, pineapple and green apple. 2004 Jewel, California, $12.

Floral, honey, heavy perfume, a bit sweet, oily finish, light acidity. 2004 Mt. Baker Vineyards (WA), $11.

Extra pale. Bretty, rotting cabbage-field nose, minerals, good acid, dry limeade finish. 2003 Terra Blanca, WA, $17.

Pineapple sherbet and brie rind nose, very bright acidity, clean , crisp, limeade finish, but with a bitter heat from 14.5% alcohol. All the others were about 13.5%. 2005 Foundry, South Africa, $20.

Light gold. Big brett nose, sweetness overwhelms the acidity, simple, candied syrup flavor. 2004 Maryhill, WA, $13.

A junior version of the Terra Blanca with a cheesy, overripe nose. The spud’s a dud--2003 Sawtooth Viognier, Idaho, $9.

An interesting tasting with two winners and too many disappointments. And those in spite of a pretty dogged search for good examples of the grape! Which in itself is telling: the paucity of viognier options suggests that retailers believe there's little demand for it, but no wonder there's little demand when the available examples are potentially as poor as some of these.

(7-24-2006)

Jenise Stone is a wine enthusiast and avid foodie who lives in Birch Bay, Washington. She can be reached by emailing jenise@tasteofwhatcom.com.

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