I initially tried this at the Artisans Cellar Door and bought a couple of bottles. Biodynamic/organic practices, natural fermentation and no filtration, fruit sourced from their single vineyard of the variety. Only 150 dozen made. Sees some French oak and is bottle aged for about 12months, it weighs in at around 13.7% alc.
Light golden in colour with hints of green on the outer edges. On the nose there is pineapple, cream nougat, peach, touches of lemon and mango it is one of those wines you can quite happily sit and savour the aromas emanating from the glass. It is almost chardonnay like in its texture, a real oily sensation as it slides around your mouth. Tropical fruits abound, peaches, rockmelon, musk, cashew and some oak along the line as it moves through your palate.
There is a real persistence to the wine, with it having an almost tannic structure as you lick your teeth and work your mouth around to savour more of the flavours – this is a big wine, not overblown by any means, the type of wine you’d happily sup on its own, the acid keeps it in check providing you do as mentioned below.
What I did notice is it is very sensitive to heat, once it warmed up a bit you found the acid goes wandering and it thickens up a bit. So especially during summer, I’d keep on popping it back in the fridge just to freshen it up a bit, it literally becomes a different wine.
At $34 a bottle, I’d be happy putting up against the likes of Clonakilla Viognier and the Yalumba Virgilius, if anything for the stylistic differences showcasing Australian Viognier. Great alternative to a premium chardonnay.
