2009 Copain Viognier Tous Ensemble- USA, California, North Coast, Mendocino County (1/13/2012)
P-n-P. The wine was initially served too cold, however the nose never really became all that expressive over the life of the open bottle. There were hints of stone fruit and honey, with the subtle nuance of sweet spice, if in fact these were more pronounced it would have been nice. The wine itself again, like the nose, seemed to be holding back. The fruit was never bursting forth trying to show its presence. The wine had very nice acidity, making it very food friendly. The bottle also lacked the viscosity I have come to expect from white Rhones. Overall, I found this bottle to be a food friendly white, but lacking much of the fruit profile and typicity of a viognier.
50+4+11+15+4 (84 pts.)
One of the reasons i enjoyed this wine was its acid and elegance. Sometimes Cali Viognier can be a little over the top for me. At 13.4% I can drink more than just one glass as well.
I also agree with Dan’s sentiment. No, this isn’t what I would consider typical Viognier, but I would suggest that maybe it should be typical of what more producers are trying to do with it. I probably agree with your score. I don’t use points, but I would put this in the upper end of “good”, almost “very good”, which is what 84 would indicate. For me, the price I pay, being on their list, is fair. I don’t think I can get this experience for less money or a better version of this experience for the same money. I have seen people mistake this for Sauv Blanc blind, and I can understand wanting a different style of Viognier. I dislike almost all New World Viogniers that I’ve had.
I have the same impression with this wine. I guess overall I am not crazy about the “viogner spice” that shows up in some other California versions, Alban for instance.
Copains wine has very little of this spice and I love the acidity and elegance as well. Think I will pop one tonight in fact.
I personally, am looking for the glycerol and weight you see from good CA examples and definitely from the Rhone. Question though, can you have viscosity and acidity simultaneously? That would make it an excellent food-friendly wine.
Calling Tom Hill and his ‘Dolly Parton’ comments . . . .
Howard, that is a very good question, and one that I’m exploring myself. I made my first viognier last year, and though I like a touch of viscousness in this variety, I do not like it to be so thick and viscous that it becomes almost dessert-like.
The viscousness, AFAIK, comes from two sources - the grape itself and the use of oak. The newer the oak, and the more battonage is used, the greater the potential for ‘viscousness’ will occur. The other, and probably more important, factor with regards to viscousness is the pH of the wine. As viognier sits on the vine and ripens more and more, or in warmer climates, the pH will rise, thus giving the resultant wine a ‘fatter’ texture. Of course, there is usually an inverse relationship between pH and acid - the higher the pH the lower the acid in general (though not always). So it is a bit tricky to find that ‘spot’ that can produce grapes that have low enough pH’s to avoid the overblown ‘fat’ wine syndrome but still have enough acidity to give the wine zip and make it more food friendly.
Hope that helps . . .
Cheers!
I haven’t tried this wine yet, but it seems in my wheelhouse for