viognier

today is my birthday. so i think i’ll focus on wine. (wine not?) i’ve listed a few favorites in the sidebar. these are wines that i consistently buy and love to have on hand.

the wine i’ve recently gotten into is viognier. it’s a cranky wine and hard to grow. it apparently originates from the dalmatian region in croatia and was brought to italy and then on to condrieu in the northern rhone in france. while it also appears in the u.s. and parts of canada, australia is now one of the biggest producers of the grape.

it grows best in rocky soil. but in terms of yielding a good crop, it seems to be more like the high maintenance trophy wife than the practical librarian of the wine world. you have to pick it just right otherwise it craps out.

i won’t pretend to be a sommelier by any stretch of the imagination. i am no wine guru. but i can tell you what i like and why.

viognier is a fun wine to drink. it’s light. it’s fruity. it pairs well with light dishes but has enough backbone to stand up to spicy ones. it’s easy to drink. it’s not too heavy or overpowering but has a solid depth to it. it’s something a little bit different than your average over-marketed bland sauvignon blanc or a horribly over-oaked chardonnay. and it doesn’t need to be chilled beyond recognition to make it drinkable.

(on that note, i think it’s all too often that white wine is chilled to arctic blast and treated like lemonade. one good backyard barbecue after another and you’ll see your neighbors stumbling home from the 13% alcohol because the viognier was served as just another cold drink. the more the weather heats up, the colder the wine.)

enjoy trying these labels. they pair well with spicy dishes from chicken to fish to chinese take-out. some are pure viognier and others are blends with other varietals:

la campagne viognier/chardonnay 2006
yalumba botrytis viognier 2006
cantarelles viognier 2006
grange des rouquette marsanne viognier 2006

next time, we'll talk rosé.