Taking the world one wine at a time.
Grapes 80% Viognier (VEE-ohn-yay), 13% Marsanne, 5% Grenache Blanc, 2% Roussanne Facts After just getting back from my time spent in Texas, and tasting a few Viogniers that the wineries had to offer, I was reminded how much I love this grape! I’ve always found that Viognier has a tendency to be forgotten about by the vast amount of the wine drinking public (me included), but truth-be-told it’s probably my favorite white grape…when it’s…
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Wine: WaterbrookPlace: Columbia Valley, Washington StateGrapes: 95% Chardonnay, 5% ViognierPrice: $14-15
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Grape 100% Viognier [Vee-ohn-yay] Facts I’ve never felt that Viognier gets the attention it deserves, both in retail stores or restaurants. What first needs to be understood is that it shouldn’t be compared to any other grape, and so if you’ve grown weary of the “usual suspect” white wines, you might want to pay attention to this review! In 1980 Yalumba planted 1.2 hectares of Viognier in the Barossa Valley, this was Australia’s first…
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According to a new study, the wine industry in Virginia is now worth almost three-quarters of a billion dollars. What’s even more impressive is that the figure has more than doubled in the last five years, from $362 million to $747 million, this whilst the country has faced one of its worst economic recessions. While unemployment soared nationally, in Virginia, the number of wine industry jobs increased from 3,162 to 4,753 between 2005 and 2010….
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Grape Syrah 65%, Mourvedre 32%, Viognier 3% – often referred to as a “Rhone-blend”. Facts Boekenhoutskloof, pronounced book-n-howeds-kloof, has always been one of my favorite wineries to say! Established in 1776, Boekenhoutskloof means "ravine of the Boekenhout". A Boekenhout is an indigenous South African tree generally prized for furniture making. Syrah brings the power, spice and dark fruit, Mourvedre brings red fruit and earthy notes, and Viognier (white grape) mellows the wine out and…
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Grapes Carignane, Zinfandel, Syrah, Petite Sirah, Grenache and Viognier (probably in that order, %’s unknown). The term “Synchronicity” refers to a “meaningful mix of seemingly unrelated events resulting in a significant sum”, which was the inspiration for this red wine blend of grapes which aren’t commonly seen together. Facts Quite unbelievably, Sting is actually hand-harvesting all the grapes himself from this “Synchronicity-blend”. He also serves as winemaker; and can regularly be seen in the…
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Following on from my previous post, this is the second part of my Virginia Viognier tasting. Barboursville Vineyards Viognier General Tasting Notes: No oak, but they leave this one in contact with the lees (dead yeast cells) in order to give the wine added complexity. Medium in body, the standard Viognier notes of peach and apricot are certainly there, backed a little sourdough and a decent amount of acidity; to give the Barboursville…
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This last Thursday (7/14/11), I was given the the unique opportunity to participate in a wine tasting unlike anything else I’ve ever been involved with before. The tasting itself actually ties in quite nicely with my coming trip to this years Wine Bloggers Conference in Charlottesville (details to follow). All the wines were indeed from the great state of Virginia. Now I don’t know about you, but for me Virginia, when I think about it…
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Grapes 72% Viognier 28% Marsanne Facts You’re excused if you haven’t seen this kind of blend before, Viognier and Marsanne are more commonly found blended together in the Southern Rhone region of France. D’Arenberg is certainly one of the most recognized wineries in Southern Australia. The company was established back in 1912 by Joseph Osborn after he purchased land in what has now become the McLaren Vale. Interesting thing to note is that Joseph…
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It’s been far too long since I’ve featured a food and wine pairing! I find that pairing with food is one of my favorite ways of analyzing a wine. So many New World wines seem to be more suited for stand-alone drinking, with food seeming to be an after-thought. It’s therefore always nice to see how these wines stand up to certain cuisines.
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On Saturday October 2nd I drove down to Orlando to attend the Conundrum wine blending seminar with winemaker Jon Bolta, the Epcot Food and Wine Fest and the Party for the Senses, ALL IN ONE DAY! Needless to say, I was exhausted by the end of it all, but I did manage to catch 5 minutes with Conundrum winemaker Jon Bolta… Kris Chislett: How long have you been with Conundrum? Jon Bolta: About 30 years….
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