White Rhone wines and more
I remember when just hearing the phrase ”Rhone wine” would get me salivating. The reds would perhaps get me going more than the whites but I used to love the white ones as well. Those were in the day when France to some extent still was synonymous with QUALITY wine. Slowly but surely, however, France’s grip on me, and many others, loosened and I started to enjoy the Rhone Viogniers (basically the only white Rhone wine I used to go for) more and more infrequently.
The last really memorable occasion was probably six or seven years ago when a friend, after a couple of drinks at a dinner party, casually opened a Chateau Grillet and generously poured it into any glass that happened to be close by. It was unfortunately not chilled enough but was still a beautiful wine, probably around 4-5 years old, and all that you would expect from a wine with such a famous name.
Then there was a lull when I did not drink, or hear much of Viognier for a couple of years. As with most other things in life nowadays we get bored faster and faster and need to with ever shorter intervals find the new, new grape (and perhaps more importantly, triumphantly introduce them to our less knowledgeable friends). Today if I am looking for a delicious Viognier I will most likely go for a wine from California or perhaps Spain. Compared to the French ones I find them generally more refreshing and certainly a lot better value for money. In Aragon, Spain you have Venta d’Aubert, an interesting wine after 7 months under oak. My personal favourite is from Lodi, California where Clay Station is making an excellent varietal Viognier with delicious hints of citrus and apricot, and at a good price at that.
Fredrik
June 15th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Sounds like you had as much fun with your German Riesling as I did on this Wine Blogging Wednesday!