by Tom Hill

A self-admitted wine geek, Tom lives in Northern New Mexico and works as a computational physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory doing numerical neutron transport & large scale code development. He has been tasting wines since 1971, participates locally with a couple of large tasting groups in his area, and is practically a fixture at most California wine festivals, such as the Hospice du Rhône, Rhône Rangers, and ZAP. Other interests: Tom is heavily into competitive sport fencing (foil & epee), biking, cooking, basketball, skiing, backpacking, mountain climbing.

 

California Viognier
We tasted this week a set of Calif Viogniers:
Phelps Napa Valley Viognier (14.1%) '95: Med.gold color; fragrant peachy/Viognier slight oaked low-key light minerally nose; tart lean bit earthy crisp bit metallic light pear/peach/Viognier flavor; med.long lean/hard bit metallic slight oaked light pear/Viognier light stoney almost Chard-like finish; rather lean & hard & needs a bit of age; low-key Viognier w/ bit of minerally Condrieu character.
Phelps Napa Valley Viognier (14.1%) '96: Med.gold color; strong fragrant/peachy/ Viognier aromatic fairly lush slight minerally nose; soft lush ripe/peachy/ Viognier/pears/floral/lychee slight minerally flavor; very long lush pear/peach/ Viognier slight minerally/stoney finish; good balance & structure; a big & rich/lush Viognier w/ slight Condrieu character; best Phelps Viognier yet.
Iron Horse Alexander Valley T-Bar-T Ranch (14.0%) Viognier '97: Med.light color; fragrant spicy/pear/peachy/Viognier bit smokey nose; soft light/bright fragrant pear/peach/Viognier slight spicy/cinammon flavor; long/lush/soft very spicy/ cinammon/cloves peachy/pear/Viognier slight smokey finish; a lovely/elegant very spicy very well-made Viognier at a great price. $15.40
La Jota Napa Valley Howell Mountain Viognier (Cold Fermented; 14.5%) '94: Med.gold color; bit oxidized/H2S/smokey/pungent/earthy low fruit nose; rather sour/earthy/ bit oxidized pungent/smokey rather Chard-like no Viognier flavor; med.long hard/earthy/sour/pungent little Viognier finish; a rather earthy/clunky/no fruit Chard-like wine.
La Jota Napa Valley Howell Mountain Viognier (Cold Frmtd; 15.5%) '96: Light gold color; slight oxidized/earthy/stoney no fruit slight insecticide-like/fragrance some dusty nose; soft bit oxidized/pungent/metallic/stoney/earthy weak fruit flavor; med.long soft/sour/earthy/dusty/stoney/metallic little fruit finish; a rather metallic/earthy/clunky no-fruit slightly oxidized Viognier.
La Jota Napa Valley Howell Mountain Viognier (Barrel Frmtd; 15.5%) '96: Light gold color; light oaked/pungent light butterscotchy/caramel little fruit nose; softer bit pungent/oaked/caramel/butterscotchy bit bitter/oxidized flavor; med.long some oaked/pungent/caramel slight bitter no fruit bit oxidized finish; a rather clunky/earthy little fruit Viognier.
Zaca Mesa Santa Barbara Cnty Viognier (Misty Ridge Vnyd; 13.5%) '96: Light gold color; bit SO2/pungent nose clears to light fragrant/honeysuckle/pear/Viognier light earthy elegant nose; soft light/elegant pear/pineapply/Viognier light earthy bit lean/narrow flavor; med.long ripe/honeysuckle light pear/peach/ floral/Viognier/pineapple finish; more on the restrained/elegant part of the spectrum w/ some SB/pineapply/Chard character.
Cold Heaven Santa Ynez Valley Viognier (13.5%) '97: Med.light gold color; slight volatile/EA/aromatic very spicy/pear/Viognier/perfumed some minerally/Condrieu nose; soft fat very lush pear/peachy/Viognier perfumed very spicy/cinammon flavor; very long lush fat ripe pear/peach/Viognier fragrant/perfumed finish; a lovely lush opulent Viognier at a great price. $18.00
Cold Heaven Santa Barbara County Viognier Sanford & Benedict Vnyd (13.5%) '96: Med. gold color; rather toasty/Fr.oaked/smokey some pear/Viognier nose; soft fat slight bretty some toasty/pungent/Fr.oaked rather Chard/pineapply some pear/ Viognier flavor; long toasty/pungent/Fr.oaked/pencilly light pear/Viognier finish; rather noticible toasty/Fr.oaked that makes it seem more like Chard than Viognier; interesting wine.
Cold Heaven Edna Valley Alban Vnyd Viognier (13.5%) '97: Med.gold color; beautiful fragrant some minerally/Condrieu-like bright/aromatic/pear/peachy/Viognier floral nose; tart rich lush peachy/Viognier spicy/cinammon some minerally/ hair-oil/lychee complex flavor; very long ripe/tart/lush very spicy pear/ Viognier/peachy some minerally/cinammon complex finish; terrific Viognier w/ lots of lush fruit but tart & structured; almost as good as John Alban's version.
Calera Mt.Harlan Viognier (20'th Anniversary Vintage; 14.5%) '95: Med.gold color; light oaked light pear/Viognier some spicy/cinammon nose; soft lush rich ripe pear/Viognier opulent/DollyParton up-front fruit flavor; very long lush ripe rich mouthfilling spicy/cinammon/floral/pear/Viognier finish; a classic Calera Dolly Parton Viognier that's showing no signs of aging.
Calera Mt.Harlan Viognier (14.5%) '96: Med.gold color; very intense peachy/ pear/Viognier slight oaked/appley/cinammon/spicy nose; rich lush opulent very spicy/pear/Viognier/peachy bit leaner/minerally/structured flavor; tart rich lush spicy/pear/peach/Viognier bit minerally/structured finish; another classic Calera/DollyParton Viognier w/ less silicone & more structure than usual.
Zaca Mesa Santa Barbara County Late Harvest Viognier (14%; SaH: 32.5%; RS: 8.74%) '95: Med.dark gold color; intense botrytis/rotted apple bit volatile slight oxidized very ripe fruit little Viognier nose; very sweet bit honey/mead/oxidized intense botrytis/rotted apple flavor; very long intense botrytis/peachy/rotted apple very ripe fruit very sweet finish; little Viognier character but a very ripe lush dessert wine.

And the usual mental detritis delivered from the bloody pulpit:
I have always liked the Phelps Viogniers. They don't have the usual, big, up-front/blowsey/Dolly Parton style that many Calif Viogniers have. They tend to have more acid & structure than most, sometimes to the point of being on the hard & lean style. They have a more restrained character, more elegance to them than most do. And often a bit of that slightly minerally character you find in Alban Viognier and Condrieu. The '96 & '97 (not tasted here) are easily Craig William's best Viogniers yet.
Try as I might, I've never found much to like in the LaJota Viogniers. Don't quite understand it because I love their reds. But the Viogniers, one of the first on the market in Calif, have always seemed to be lacking in fruit and more towards the Chard part of the spectrum; just not the usual Viognier opulence I like in that grape. Maybe it's the Howell Mountain terrior. I've always wondered what the grapes could give in another winemaker's hands. We'll probably never get to know.... supposedly they've grafted over all the Viognier and are no longer making it. 'tis a pity, I think.
Cold Heaven's Morgan Torel (her husband, Jim Clendennan, also knows a bit about making wine I hear tell) has been making very good Viognier right from the starting gate. These '97's are even better than her very good '96's; her best wines yet. Worth seeking out.