We tasted tonight (10/22/14) some White Rhones from the Archives:
1. Qupe Marsanne LosOlivosVnyd/SBC TW 1989: Deep gold/burnished bronze color; quite honeyed/
toasted hazelnuts/nutty slight herbal some smokey/pencilly/pungent quite complex nose; bit tart
beautiful honeyed/nitty/toasted hazelnuts quite smokey/pungent smooth/velvety very complex
flavor; very long/lingering nutty/toasted hazelnuts quite smokey/pungent smooth rich very complex
finish w/ trace of oxidation far in the backtaste; a beautiful example of an aged Marsanne. $14.00
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2. CedarvilleVnyd {Viognier} ElDorado (EB/EG; 14.4%; 130/135 cs) 2008: Med.light gold color; pleasant
appley/earthy rather simple light pear/floral/Viog nose; rather soft/fat light pear/Viog/floral/spicy slight
smokey/perfumed talc flavor; med.short soft/fat rich/lush quiet pear/Viog/floral light earthy finish;
bit too soft/fat on the palate and most of the effusive Viog fruit has left leaving a wine that just
sort whispers of Viog; a quiet/low-key Viog that's going nowhere. $18.50
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3. CedarvilleVnyd {Viognier} EB/ElDorado (14.4%; http://www.CedarvilleVineyard.com; 185 cs) 2006: Med.light gold color;
slight reduced/H2S that clears out to very light floral/Viog/pear bit earthy very quiet nose; soft/fat/lush/
glycerined light caramel/butterscotch/cotton candy very light pear/Viog very quiet flavor; med.short light
cotton candy/pepperminty/caramel very light Viog/pear finish; such a quiet Viog that you can barely hear it.
$22.00
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4. Cedarville {Viognier} ElDorado (EB; 14.4%; http://www.CedarVilleVineyard.com; 170 cs) 2005: Med.gold color; much
stronger floral/pear/peach/Viog/spicy light earthy/pepperminty nose; slightly tarter soft/lush light minty/
floral/pear/peach/Viog bit caramel/butterscotchy/cotton candy flavor; short light pear/peach/Viog slight minty/
caramel bit earthy finish; a pretty/quiet sort of Viog but just that & not showing much evolution. $20.50
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5. Dom.Sainte-Anne AC: CdR-Villages (MeBaD; 100% Viognier; 13%) SainteAnne "LesCellettes"
SaintGervais/Gard 1988: Med.gold color; low-key/quiet light spicy/floral/pear/Viog some earthy/dusty
lightly perfumed still healthy nose; slightly tart very light/low-key bright pear/Viog bit earthy slightly
complex flavor; med.long delicate/light slight pear/Viog bit earthy/dusty bit complex finish; still healthy
and alive w/ no signs of oxidation but speaks w/ a very quiet/almost whisper of a voice. $8.95 (SWC)
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6. JosephPhelps Viognier Vin du Mistral NapaVlly (13%) 1989: Med.gold color; rather pungent/earthy/ozone/metallic
slight pear/Viog/honeyed lightly fragrant interesting nose; fairly tart bit lean/eviscerated light pear/Viog/
floral/peach slight tangy/metallic slight honeyed/butterscotchy light toasty/pungent interesting flavor; med.
long light/delicate bit tangy/metallic/honeyed/butterscotchy very light pear/Viog finish; still very much alive
and no oxidation but little Viog character and a mildly intertesting wine that speaks quietly.
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7. Calera Viognier SanBenitoCnty TW (Planted in 1984) 1989: Dark gold/burnished bronze color; rather nutty/toasted
hazelnuts light ripe/peach/pear/Viog some smokey/pencilly slightly honeyed some complex nose; soft/lush ripe/
peach/pear/Viog rather nutty/toasted hazelnuts quite honeyed/caramel some smokey/pencilly fairly complex flavor;
very long smokey/pencilly/toasted hazelnuts/nutty light ripe peach/Viog light honeyed/caramel some complex
finish; developed nicely into a fairly interesting old Viog; best of the Calif Viogs.
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8. LaJotaVnydCo Viognier HowellMtn/NapaVlly (13.0%) Angwin 1989: Med.dark gold color; light some earthy/dusty
light honeyed/smokey/nutty very slight peach/pear/Viog slight complex nose; fairly tart/earthy/dusty some
smokey/honeyed very light pear/Viog/floral flavor; med.long earthy/dusty some honeyed/nutty/caramel very slight
pear/Viog finish; a rather low-key, mildly interesting wine but the HowellMtn terroir seems to trump most
everything else.
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9. PierreGaillard Viognier "Clos de Cuminaille" AC: CdR (MeBalP; 13%) Malleval 1989: Med.dark gold color; some
smokey/nutty some peach/Viog/pear rather perfumed/honeyed slight mineral/stony quite complex rather perfumed
nose; soft/lush/ripe slightly bitter/metallic some smokey/pencilly/nutty rather ripe/peach/pear/Viog fairly
complex flavor; very long/lingering slight nutty/toasted hazelnuts/quite honeyed some ripe peach/pear/Viog/floral
slightly metallic/bitter quite complex finish; a lovely example of what Condrieu can mature into. $27.50 (SWC)
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10. J-Y Multier AC: Condrieu (MeBaC; 12.5%) Ch.duRozay/Condrieu 1988: Med.gold color; light smokey/honeyed some
mineral/Condrieu ripe peach/pear/Viog slight earthy very complex nose w/ hint of oxidation; bit tart some
Condrieu/mineral fairly ripe peach/pear/Viog some smokey/nutty/honeyed complex old Condrieu flavor; very long/
lingering ripe peach/pear/Viog bit nutty/toasted slight mineral/Condrieu hazelnuts/honeyed smooth/lush quite
complex finish; a lovely example of a mature Condrieu; my favorite of the older Viogs.
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11. GeorgesVernay Coteau de Vernon AC: Condrieu (14%; T Elenteny Imports) 2012: Med.light gold color; slight
toasty/smokey/oak quite perfumed/aromatic ripe/peach/pear/Viog/very spicy some earthy/mineral beautiful nose;
bit tarter/leaner more structured some earthy/mineral/stony very perfumed/fragrant spicy/ripe peach/pear/Viog
flavor; very long/lingering some mineral/stony/earthy very bright/very spicy/ripe peach/pear/Viog/floral quite
perfumed/aromatic finish; classic great Condrieu in every sense of the word. $199.00 (AV)
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More inane babblings from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. AgedWhiteRhones: Back in the late '70's, I attended a JackVesey tasting of old Chave HermitageBlancs
and was blown away by how good most of them were, some as old as 20 yrs. I've been a big fan of older
white Rhones since then.
We are told, of course, by all the wine authorities, that Viogniers don't age well and you should drink them
young when all of that effusive Viog fruit is there. That seems to go along w/ much of my experience w/
Calif Viog. The effusive fruit just seems to quietly fade into the sunset and only sometimes do they
develop that nutty/honeyed character of old white Rhones. OTOH, the two old Condrieus had withstood
magnificantly the test of time and turned into lovely old bones. What really struck me about all these
Viogs in the tasting is that they were still alive & healthy and none had gone over-the-hill. Amazing.
OTOH, my experience w/ aged Marsanne/Roussanne is much better. This Qupe was a prime example of how well
Marsanne can age. Some of Bob's Roussannes are marvelous agers as well. So probably Marsanne/Roussanne are
better candidates for old bones than Viog. Not sure yet about GrenacheBlanc.
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2. Vernay: This was the high-end Vernay Condrieu that showed up recently at ArroyoVino. We had the lesser
($163) l'Enfer last week & it was a Condrieu that nearly brought me to tears. I think I prefer the l'Enfer
for its greater intensity of pure Viog fruit. The Vernon strikes me as more acidity & structure, more mineral,
a bit more complexity, and perhaps a better Condrieu w/ some age on it. Both are pretty amazing Condrieus,
though clearly on the pricey side.
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3. Phelps: Phelps was one of the early Calif pioneers of Viog. The wines were always on the leaner/more acidic
side and did not show much of the fragrance & power that Viog can have in Calif. I always thought they might
age into something good. This is a somewhat interesting white that seems to just be fading quietly into
the sunset w/ nary a whimper.
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4. LaJota: BillSmith was another pioneer in Calif of Viog. He grafted a few Cabernet vines over to Viog, using
cuttings he brought back from GeorgeVernay. He played around a lot w/ the variety, making a number of different
styles...barrel-fermented, SS cold-fermented, dessert Viog. Finally, he gave up on the variety. The LoJota
Viogs always seemed to have a rustic/clunky/coarse character to them and seldom showed that powerful perfume
you like from Viog. Don't know if it was the HowellMtn terroir that was interfering or maybe that it was
too hot on HM for Viog. Bill's Viog vines were the source for the Peay's Viog planting up in Annapolis.
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5. Villa StHelena: DonMcGrath was also an early pioneer of Viog in Calif. Again, his Viogs never did move me
very much. Again, maybe too warm a location for Viog. It then morphed into Arger-Martucci Wnry, which I
understand is now closed.
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6. Ch.duRozay: This used to be one of my favorite Condrieus back in the '70's-'80's. Very flamboyant in style,
bordering on DollyParton in style. Made from very old vines in Condrieu. Alas, it was not very profitable
for Jean-Yves Multier and he shut down production in 2003. I understand his Viog now goes to Chapoutier.
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7. Cedarville: I've always liked Susan&Jonathan's Viogniers....in their youth. Lots of ripe/effusive Viog
fruit. I've found, oftentimes, they've been on the soft/fat side, which may be why these three haven't
aged particularly well. They weren't tired & worn out or anything, showed no signs of oxidation....just
hadn't evolved into anything particularly interesting. The last two Cedarville Viogs I've had seemed to have
more acidity and be much fresher in character. The '13's are on the way.
Tom