PCC Wine Circle Int Wine Course 5

1. Intermediate Wine
Course: V
13 June 2012
Viognier
Copyright © Brian Jamieson

3. Characteristics
 Makes aromatic, floral white wines.
 The colour and the aroma of the wine
suggest a sweet wine, but Viognier wines
are predominantly dry.
 Most are intended to be consumed young.
 Some, especially those from old vines and
the late-harvest wines, are suitable for
aging.

4. Primary aromas
 Floral:
 orange blossom, acacia, violet, honey
 Fruit:
 apricot, mango, pineapple, guava, kiwi,
tangerine
 Spice:
 anise, mint
 Herbal:
 mown hay, tobacco

5. Secondary aromas
 Malolactic:
 butter, cream.
 Oak (light):
 vanilla, sweet wood.
 Oak (heavy):
 oak, smoke, toast.

6. Food matching
 The highly aromatic and fruit forward
nature of the grape allows Viognier to pair
well with spicy foods such as Thai cuisine.

7. Today’s Viogniers
 Chile – Colchagua Valley
 South Africa - Robertson, Western Cape
 South Australia - McLaren Vale
 South Australia - Eden Valley
 France - Coteaux de l’Ardèche
 France – Condrieu
 South Australia - Wrattenbully

8. 1. Cono Sur Bicycle Viognier 2010
 Colchagua Valley, Central Chile
 Cool nights and foggy mornings
 Hand picked April 2010
 Ageing:
 8 months - 5% in oak barrels; 95% in stainless steel
 Bottled December 2010

9. Cono Sur Bicycle range
 Why bicycle?

12. 1. Cono Sur Bicycle Viognier 2010
 Appearance:
 Medium golden colour characteristic of this variety.
 Nose:
 Sweet fruity notes of apricots, citrus and peaches
combine with pleasant oak aromas.
 Taste:
 Fresh and lively in mouth with concentrated stone
fruits; fresh tasty, full and savoury.
 Residual sugar: 7.5g/l (Off-dry)

13. Back from verge of extinction!
 By 1965, only about 30 acres of Viognier
vines remained in France, and the variety
was nearly extinct
 Viognier has been planted much more
extensively around the world since the early
1990s, notably in:
 California
 Chile
 Argentina
 Australia

14. France
 Chateau Grillet and Condrieu appellations
in Nth Rhone.
 Basically Syrah red wine territory!

15. France
Wine producing areas

16. 2. Graham Beck Viognier 2009
 From Robertson vineyards in Western
Cape
 Hand-picked and hand-selected grapes
 20% fermented in oak; 80% in stainless
steel

17. 2. Graham Beck Viognier 2009
 Appearance:
 A hue of fresh baled straw with green apple highlights
 Nose:
 Rich with peaches, pears and honeysuckle.
 Taste:
 Tinned pears supported by nougat nuttiness on the
palate. Crisp apple acidity with orange rind, peaches
and apricot complete the circle for a long lingering
finish.
 Residual sugar: 3.16 g/l (Dry-very dry)

18. Viognier in Australia
 The original vine source material was imported into
Australia from Montpellier in 1968 and in 1980 Yalumba
planted 1.2 hectares on a vineyard in Eden Valley,
marking the first significant planting of the variety in
Australia.
 The slightly elevated slopes of Eden Valley, overlooking
the Barossa, were considered an ideal site.
 At the time Viognier was virtually unknown outside
France.

19. Yalumba
 In the late 1990s Yalumba collaborated with other great
Viognier makers around the world and took cuttings
from their best vines to begin a clonal development
program at the Yalumba Vine Nursery.
 These vines, from California and the Northern Rhone
appellations of Condrieu and Cote Rotie, have produced
their first wines with the 2007 vintage.
 Yalumba has the most significant Viognier clonal
resource in the Southern Hemisphere and has earned a
reputation as a pioneer and specialist producer, with
Viognier wines featuring throughout the Yalumba
portfolio.

20. Yalumba
 Yalumba makes four Viognier wines:
1. The fresh and citrusy Y Series Viognier.
2. The Eden Valley Viognier which is made in an up-front style
with immediate varietal expression.
3. The Virgilius is Yalumba's 'super Viognier', a benchmark wine
utilizing grapes from the older vines with the ability to benefit
from some bottle maturation.
4. Yalumba Hand Picked Botrytis Viognier combines the intense
flavours of Viognier with the richness of botrytis.

21. 3. Hastwell & Lightfoot Viognier,
2010
 McLaren Vale, South Australia.
 Hastwell & Lightfoot families in 1988 converted a from bare
paddock to a 13 acre planted, trellised and irrigated vineyard.
 1990 total crop was 3/4 tonne of Cabernet Sauvignon.
 Presently, 43 acres of vineyard planted with Cabernet Sauvignon,
Cabernet Franc, Shiraz, Tempranillo, Barbera, Chardonnay and
Viognier.

22. 3. Hastwell & Lightfoot Viognier,
2010
 Appearance:
 Brilliant deep straw with green hues.
 Nose:
 Fresh lemon & lime fruit aromas with slight hint of dried apricots
in the background.
 Taste:
 A sophisticated flavour profile of fresh citrus in the foreground,
leading to slightly more developed honey-like characters with hints
of vanillin oak in the mid palate which then transpose into very
long lasting flavours of dried apricot and pears.
 Residual sugar: ???

23. 4. Yalumba Eden Valley Viognier
2009
 Slightly elevated slopes of Eden Valley were considered the ideal
site for planting Viognier becoming Australia’s first significant
Viognier vineyard.
 60% fermented & matured for 10 months in older French oak
barriques; 40% in stainless steel.

24. Yalumba
Winery
Angaston,
Eden Valley

25. 4. Yalumba Eden Valley Viognier
2009
 Appearance:
 Nose:
 Perfumed and luscious. Pure aromas of apricot nectar, lifted
honeysuckle and orange oil perfume.
 Taste:
 Long, rich and luscious, with intense stone fruit - particularly
apricots - finishing with an aromatic citrus freshness. It will
continue to grow and develop in the bottle firstly showing
enhanced apricots and spice, then after a couple of years
developing honey flavours and toast.
 Residual sugar 0.8 g/L (Very dry)

26. 5. M. Chapoutier Mirabel Viognier
de l'Ardèche 2010
 Chapoutier: A big name in Rhone wines, red & white,
since 1808.
 Family-owned operation.
 Since 1995 Chapoutier have developed new plantings in
the Ardeche foothills, mineral-rich rich volcanic soils.
 Vin de Pays appellation – Coteaux de l’Ardeche.
 Not so far from Condrieu and River Rhone.

27. 5. M. Chapoutier Mirabel Viognier
de l'Ardèche 2010
 Appearance:
 Yellow-green
 Nose:
 Fine apricot, pear and orange marmalade.
 Taste:
 Honey, buttered toast, a hint of minerals and ripe yellow fruit on
the nose and the palate, refreshing acidity, good balance, but
quite ripe (slight hint of botrytis?); a touch of bitterness in the
aftertaste.
 Residual sugar: ??

28. France
Wine producing areas

29. 5. M. Chapoutier Mirabel Viognier
de l'Ardèche 2010
 A critic’s view:
 Rich, overblown style, with very ripe peach and
apricot characters, an exotic floral/nutty edge and a
whack of buttery malolactic character. Can’t fault the
intensity, but even though it does slightly calm down
with time, it’s still just too big for its own boots, with
the alcohol showing on the finish.’

30. 6. M. Chapoutier Invitare AOC
Condrieu 2009
 A classic Condrieu, the top of the range.
 !00% Viognier
 Hand-picked on steep SE-facing slopes above the Rhone,
near Vienne.
 Part-ageing in oak casks The ageing is short, about 8
months, on lees in order to preserve the freshness and
the varietal character of the grape variety.
 Wine Circle will be visiting Chapoutier’s main Winery in
Tain l’Hermitage in August.

31. 6. M. Chapoutier Invitare AOC
Condrieu 2009
 Appearance:
 Deep gold, golden yellow with a greenish tint.
 Nose:
 Very fruity, exotic fruit (pineapple, lychee) and acacia flower and
a hint of smoke brought by the oak.
 Taste:
 Very well balanced, full, with minerality and freshness which
give a great elegance to this wine.
 Residual sugar: ??

32. Michel Chapoutier’s tips
 Aperitif.
 Soft goat's cheese
 Goes perfectly with oriental and Asian
food...
 but is very pleasant on its own!

33. 7. Yalumba Handpicked FSW8B
Botrytis Viognier 2009
 During Autumn in Wrattonbully, fruit has ripened naturally with high
sugar and flavours from the warm Summer. Then dewy mornings
and sunny days initiate and sustain the growth of the Botrytis
fungus to create the golden nectar that becomes FSW8B.
 Botrytis metabolises in the berries desiccating them, increasing the
sugar concentration and contributing its unique flavour.

34. Botrytised
grapes

35. Wrattonbully 35

36. Wrattonbully
 In Limestone Coast wine region of South Australia, close
to Coonawarra.
 Cool maritime climate like Bordeaux.
 For sweet wines - autumnal morning fogs followed by
sunshine promote growth of Botrytis.
 Many good Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz.
 The next popular name in Australia?

37. 7. Yalumba Handpicked FSW8B
Botrytis Viognier 2009
 Appearance:
 Golden
 Nose:
 Taste:
 Opulent flavours of apricots, peaches and spice.
Exotic, luscious, long and elegant, this is an
experience to be shared.
 Residual sugar 161 g/L (Dessert wine)

38. Today’s wines
1. Cono Sur (Bicycle) Viognier 2010 , Chile £7.35 W
2. Graham Beck Viognier 2009, Sth Africa £9.95 S
3. Hastwell & Lightfoot Viognier, 2010, McLaren Vale £19.50 OZ
4. Yalumba Eden Valley Viognier 2009 £12.10 S
5. M. Chapoutier Mirabel Viognier de l'Ardèche 2010 £13.50 S
6. M.Chapoutier Invitare Condrieu AOC, 2009 £34.00 *
7. Yalumba Handpicked FSW8B Botrytis Viognier 2009
£11.95 S
* Majestic S Slurp.co.uk w Waitrose OZ OZ Wines

39. Best value
 Which of today’s range offers best value?

40. Blind tasting
 Using WSET Systematic Approach to Tasting
Wine®, analyse the unknown red wine.
 Have a go at each element of the profile.
 Not interested in precise identification, rather
general properties.
 Work in pairs.
 Up to 15 minutes.

41. Blind tasting
Conclusions

42. Blind tasting
 A mature red wine that needs to be drunk up now.
 Complex, aromatic nose: vegetal and maturity elements
dominate: some fruit – plums.....
 Balanced tannin/acid/fruit.
 Complex flavours, including:
 Fruit – blackcurrants, red berries, plums
 Oak
 Tertiary: herbs, spices (black peppers), wood,
tobacco, leather
 A quality Old World blend (Claret?), past its best

43. Chateau Gloria, St Julien
 A Cru bourgeois from the St Julien appellation of
the Haut Medoc – left bank downstream from
Bordeaux.
 The vineyards of Château Gloria are about 48
hectares in all, with a fairly typical left bank
planting scheme:
 Cabernet Sauvignon (65%)
 Merlot (25%)
 5% each of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.

44. France
Wine producing areas

45. Chateau Gloria 2001: the critics
 ‘Closed on the nose. Full, sweet, less impact than the 2000.
Doesn't have the same texture. Plenty of tannin though.
Showing very little on this tasting but has potential. Needs six
years. 15+/20.‘ [May 2004]
 ‘Garnet appearing at the rim. Mineral driven kirsch, cedar and
tobacco aromas. Starting to age on the nose. Fresh acid of a
cooler vintage, fully integrated tannins, Black cherry and
leather upfront transition to some mocha notes on the
medium length finish. Real solid wine. Light weight but
packing enough punch to satisfy.’ [7/4/2009]

46. Chateau Gloria 2001: the critics
 ‘Nice fruit (blueberry, blackberry), graphite, slight cedar,
slight earth/ tobacco/ leather. Well integrated with nice
acidity. Nice finish. Popped & poured but seemed to
need an hour or so to open. Really enjoyable.’
[22/9/2011]
 ‘Really enjoyed this. Drinking great right now. Thought
this would be past its prime but it's just beginning.’
[19/4/2012]

47. Blind tasting
Thanks for your
participation!

48. Next session
Wednesday 18 July 2012
at 2.30pm
Vertical Tasting