JOHN ROZENTALS finds a viognier very much to his taste.
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Heather Fraser, winemaker responsible for Yalumba’s 2017 Y Series Viognier, has been ideally mentored for the task.
Her boss, Louisa Rose, the company’s chief winemaker, is undoubtedly Australia’s most experienced hand with this often-difficult white variety.
Especially since creating the Yalumba white flagship, The Virgilius Viogner, Rose’s name has become virtually synonymous with the variety in this country.
Fraser, who had graduated in chemistry and marine biology before being bitten by the winemaking bug, has obviously learned well.
I must admit to not being the world’s greatest viognier fan.
Too often, I simply find the variety’s hallmark perfumes just too overwhelming.
But this wine I found both complex and intriguing, delivering a range of flavours and not at all dominated by any simple perfume.
The winemaker’s notes mention orange blossom, ginger, fresh pineapple, honeysuckle and dried figs.
I can’t disagree with any of those descriptors, neither with the food-matching suggestion of harissa chicken.
At $15, this is a great introduction to viognier, which in the Rhone Valley and Australia is also sometimes blended in small amounts with shiraz to create an alluring dry red, but then that’s a completely different story all together.