viognier tasting. lots of whites and some shiraz/viognier blends. dessert wines. long!

WINE TALK
1

Trying to run a tasting group can be difficult. i sent out an email with no real theme for the next tasting. noone was much help on a theme or even if they could make it. add in a trip to disney, and things werent looking good for my group. four days before the tasting i announced the theme and had about 3 people confirmed. little did i know what would happen on monday night…

everyone showed up…and brought a shit-ton of wine. i love it!

the theme was viognier and we got to sample it in many forms, styles, and price ranges. lots of wines so my notes will be short.

2006 les salices - oak aged, honey, peachy nose. simple but pleasant and a touch of bitterness on the finish.

2007 shinas estate ‘the innocent’ - this wine is still fantastic. lemon, honey, orange peel, with an oily mouthfeel and tropical fruits. so good!

2006 st cosme condrieu - stoney with lemon peel, honey, and pineapple. oaky with a white pepper finish. delicious. im a big fan of st cosme wines, this keeps me as a fan

2007 triennes viognier - the owners of dujac and romanee conte are partners in this winery. sweet lemon nose with orange peel and minerals. lean but tasty. i enjoyed this more the last time i had it, but still good.

2008 chrysalis - one of virginias finest. hints of caramel with lemons and oak. a bit simple but very elegant in style.

2008 cono sur - floral and citrus blossom, hazlenut, red apple skin and cinnamon. shows a little heat, but not bad for $10

2007 fox gordon - rich body but not much flavorful, shows heat. not sure how much this costs, but it isnt worth it

on to some reds with viognier blended in

2007 d’arenberg laughing magpie shz/viog - juicy, spicy, jammy nose. cherry, black raspberry and the viognier rounds it out nicely. with time out came smoke and tobacco with some grip

2007 clonakilla shz/viog - blackberry syrup, smells sweet and oaky. touch of green. P-A-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S. this is now banned from my house

2005 sons of eden shz/viog - never heard of it, but a big hit. easy to drink. olive and spicy nose, black cherry. rounded out with air and was very gulpable

2005 yering station shz/viog - floral and blackberry nose with black pepper. well balanced and complex. i liked this one

2000 guigal cote rotie - dirty and funky on the nose, black cherry and plums, big and complex. drinking pretty well and based on this bottle, no need to age it much longer

1999 guigal hermitage - no viognier, but who cares? smoky blackberry nose, orange peel, savory scents with hints of tobacco. also drinking well that night

2006 stillman syrah clone 877 - a big hit of the night, unknown to all but the guy who brought it. oaky and a hint of alcohol at first, but sweet black cherry fruit and smoky. really tasty and a pretty good value around $30.

some sweets to finish up with

2006 calera dessert viognier - honey and baking spices on the nose with apricot and red apple skin. long spicy finish. low acid the first night, which didnt bother me, but many noted that. the second night showed more acidy and less flashy fruit. damn tasty

2004 mer soliel - spicy botritis apricot nose with orange peel and honey, lemon curd, and higher acid than the calera. kind of a short finish to me, but most preferred this to the calera

all in all a fun night and a crowded apartment with many fallen soldiers. there were a few other wines as well but i didnt take notes. nothing super notable honestly

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Shame the 2007 Clonakilla shiraz viognier didn’t work for you in that tasting there Mike - it is a stunning wine in my experience.

FWIW, the ‘green’ you noted is part of the (ripe) stalk and stem profile Tim Kirk goes for - the fruit load on these blocks in 2007 was very light after frost, so there was good flavour concentration and no problems at all with ripening.

Or as per one review here:
“Vivid colour; it is hard to imagine how more flavour could be generated at this alcohol, even if it is only 1 tonne to the acre; a perfumed bouquet and an Arabian night of dark berry flavours; the tannins show masterly winemaking at work; only 150 dozen made.” 14%alc.

Not taking issue with your experience or anything - just another opinion.

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Hey Paul,
Thank you for weighing in. Many others at the tasting loved the Clonakilla, I was probably in the minority. My preference is towards less ripe wines, and this was a little over the top for my palate, but clearly well made. I heard that there was a very small crop and they didn’t make certain higher end blends so much of the top juice got declassified into this? Is this correct?
I am generally not a fan of Australian Shiraz though a recent bottle of 98 Wynn’s Michael was stunning!

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There were two Clonakilla shiraz viognier wines made from the 2007 vintage (which was frost-impacted for many producers in the Canberra District).

There was a very, very small amount made of the ‘estate’ wine - the flagship Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier. There was also the first release of a new Clonakilla shiraz viognier wine - the O’Riada shiraz. The O’Riada is made from non-estate but still Canberra District fruit - including some from where I help out at Quarry Hill.

There is a frost/ultra low crop concentration effect in the 2007 estate wine (which I missed out on buying in the time it took for a mail redirect to reach my mailbox), though I did get the O’Riada.

Clonakilla is not a mainstream-Australian producer - very much cool-climate, reasonable alcohol, canny use of co-fermentation and bunch tannins, aiming for wines of texture and layered spice.