TN: Jaffurs Viognier '05...(short/boring)

This was a btl in the stash of marginal wines I gave Susan. She’s not nearly as picky about wines as I:

  1. Jaffurs Viognier SBC (14.5%) 2005: Med.dark gold color; rather nutty/toasted hazelnuts/bit oxidative some Viog/ripe pear some pencilly/smokey/Fr.oak beautiful complex nose; bit soft rich/lush rather toasted hazelnuts/nutty/oxidative some ripe pear/peach/Viog some pencilly/smokey/Fr.oak quite complex beautiful mature flavor; very long/lingering rich/lush soft fairly oxidative/toasted hazelnuts/nutty/honeyed some Viog/pear/ripe peach/floral smokey/pencilly/Fr.oak complex/honeyed finish; still has some ripe Viog fruit but plenty of oxidative character in a good way & no bitterness you oft find in oxidized wines; who says Calif Viogs can’t age well?

A wee BloodyPulpit:

  1. When this was released, it had huge Viog fruit, soft/rich/lush, and four-square in the DollyParton Viog camp. So I was very confident that this wine was totally dead/gone, so I put it in my stash of fading wines for Susan. It’s not that I don’t love my girlfriend…but her standards are somewhat lower than mine.
    So I was quite surprised when I opened this btl, purloined from her stash, and found it so amazingly good. Cause we all know that DollyParton Viogs don’t age well…we do know that, don’t we??

  1. Oxidation: We all know that oxidation in a (white) wine is bad. We do know that, don’t we?? But it always amazes how so many Rhone whites (Viog/Rouss/Marsanne) take on this oxidative toasted hazelnuts/honeyed. Some people do not care for this (bad) oxidative character in old Rhone whites. Oxidation is “bad”…end of discussion.
    I first encountered this character some 30 yrs ago when I attended a tasting by JackVesey of old Chave Hermitage and Ch.Rayas Blanc (Grenache Blanc), some as old as 25 yrs. It was further reinforced by a vertical tasting of Ch.Beaucastel Roussanne ViellesVignes at HdR some yrs ago. I recall the first time BobLindquist served me an old Qupe Marsanne…there it was…that same nutty/honeyed flavor I like so much. His Marsannes, usually underwhelming on release, reliably develop that character w/ age. I often find it in old Esprit de Beaucastel/Tablas Blancs as well. It may just be an acquired taste…or maybe I’m just weird??
    Tom

You’re not weird. Love that nutty, honeyed, oxidative ar9ma and taste.

Tom: I remember that tasting at H du Rhone and loved the wines. I’m pretty sure it was in 1998. Too bad the wines are so expensive now and need aging.

Tom, that’s obvious by the company she keeps! champagne.gif

Good to “see” your notes again!

Touché, Marshall!!
Tom