I thank Ben Moroney from Intwines for sourcing this and sending it up to me
http://intwines.wordpress.com/
I was having a little whinge about finding this wine in Brisbane (it seems I’m prone to the odd whinge on this point) and Ben kindly offered to send a bottle he had. Which reminds me, I better fix him up after this note…
The wine is a lively light golden yellow in the glass. A very promising start. On the nose it’s got white flowers, apricot flesh and kernels, assorted stone fruit, unripe pear, ginger, honey and musk along with an intriguing touch of earthy cumin.
And on the palate, we have a winner. A Viognier that is affordable and excellent. Very complex as well as being structured by a good line of acidity allowing the honeyed sweetness of the wine to tighten on a dry and lengthy finish. The unripe pear adds a tart balance to the musky mid palate with some intoxicating spiced honey near the end. The cumin and ginger notes are delightful, making this everything I could want from a “varietally correct” Viognier. And that is what Yalumba does so very well. I attempted to purchase the 2008 Virgilius just yesterday but sadly it does not sell well in Brisbane retail. Apparently people come in and say “Oh, you have the new Virgilius?” in admiring tones then leave the store without buying any. And that’s probably why we have so much 2007 Eden Valley & Virgilius Viognier sitting in poor conditions on the shelves of the retail duopoly here, whilst you have to get the 2008s ordered in.
So, after this wine re-affirmed my love of the possibilities of Viognier (and indeed, it is currently mishandled more often than not) I think I’ll keep banging on about the grape. But first I should save some money and order some of the 08 Virgilius or this, to share with friends. I can’t guarantee they’ll like it, but in terms of a Platonically correct Viognier, it’s probably the place to start.
Winery Website- http://www.yalumba.com/