Having already tried one from Calif, I decided to try three Viogniers
from elsewhere. This was fun!
I have listed these wines in order of preference. One additional note;
the Yalumba was under screwcap, the other two were under natural cork.

2002 Viognier de Pennautier Vin de Pays d'Oc (from Languedoc) - fairly
bold honey color, oak and citrus nose, lime and grapefruit flavors with
a limey/nutty finish. Rather impressive at US$11.99 (Pennsylvania)
which makes me wonder which region of France produces the best
Viognier.

2004 Yalumba South Australia Viognier - pale gold color, fairly oakey
bouquet with somewhat bittersweet grapefruit flavor dominating.
Vanilla/nut finish. Good QPR at US$9.99 .

2004 Don Miguel Gascon Viognier Mendoza Argentina - very light
green/yellow color, mild oak/citrus aroma, lemon/grapefruit/lime
flavors and a fairly short lime/nut finish. Good on its own merits at
US$11.99, but not as good a value next to the above two.

Overall, I didn't find a huge difference in flavor between these wines
or the one from Calif (made by McDowell of Mendocino). All of these
wines were unmistakably Viognier.

Dan-O

In article .com,
Dan The Man wrote:

2002 Viognier de Pennautier Vin de Pays d'Oc (from Languedoc) - fairly
bold honey color, oak and citrus nose, lime and grapefruit flavors with
a limey/nutty finish. Rather impressive at US$11.99 (Pennsylvania)
which makes me wonder which region of France produces the best
Viognier.


No need to wonder. The best in the world is from Condrieu.


Dimitri

In article .com,
says...

Having already tried one from Calif, I decided to try three Viogniers
from elsewhere. This was fun!
I have listed these wines in order of preference. One additional note;
the Yalumba was under screwcap, the other two were under natural cork.

2002 Viognier de Pennautier Vin de Pays d'Oc (from Languedoc) - fairly
bold honey color, oak and citrus nose, lime and grapefruit flavors with
a limey/nutty finish. Rather impressive at US$11.99 (Pennsylvania)
which makes me wonder which region of France produces the best
Viognier.

Condrieu. There are several to choose from (AZ/US), but all are very nice. I
find the FR Viogniers to be far more subtle (not much of a surprise here),
than new world ones. That said, however, there are some excellent producers of
NW versions that I really like. I don know this producer, but it sounds like a
good one.


2004 Yalumba South Australia Viognier - pale gold color, fairly oakey
bouquet with somewhat bittersweet grapefruit flavor dominating.
Vanilla/nut finish. Good QPR at US$9.99.

I've had this one on a few occasions, but was underwhelmed. OK, and the QPR
was fairly good. However, I'd spend more $ for more bang.


2004 Don Miguel Gascon Viognier Mendoza Argentina - very light
green/yellow color, mild oak/citrus aroma, lemon/grapefruit/lime
flavors and a fairly short lime/nut finish. Good on its own merits at
US$11.99, but not as good a value next to the above two.

Never had an Argentinian Viognier. Unfairly, I think of Mendoza as pure
Malbec. I'd better broaden my though process.


Overall, I didn't find a huge difference in flavor between these wines
or the one from Calif (made by McDowell of Mendocino). All of these
wines were unmistakably Viognier.

Dan-O

Dan, two US Viogniers that I have really liked are the Gregory Graham, Napa,
and the Joseph Phelps (Napa, I think, but I've drained all my bottles, so I
can't be sure right now - besides, the winery is Napa, but the grapes may be
sourced from other sub-AVAs). Both may be difficult to find outside of the N
CA/US areas, but well worth the efforts, just like the various Condrieus.

Hunt

In article , says...

In article .com,
says...
[SNIP]

Dan, two US Viogniers that I have really liked are the Gregory Graham, Napa,
and the Joseph Phelps (Napa, I think, but I've drained all my bottles, so I
can't be sure right now - besides, the winery is Napa, but the grapes may be
sourced from other sub-AVAs). Both may be difficult to find outside of the N
CA/US areas, but well worth the efforts, just like the various Condrieus.

Hunt

Dan, a PS to the last reply: just had Dick Arrowood's US Viognier. Another
keeper, though it seemed very sensitive to the serving temp. Too cool, and it
was austere. When it warmed a bit, it offered up aroma and taste, but once it
passed a fairly narrow band of temp, it got a bit hot.

Hunt

In article , Hunt wrote:

Dan, two US Viogniers that I have really liked are the Gregory Graham, Napa,
and the Joseph Phelps (Napa, I think, but I've drained all my bottles, so I
can't be sure right now - besides, the winery is Napa, but the grapes may be
sourced from other sub-AVAs). Both may be difficult to find outside of the N
CA/US areas, but well worth the efforts, just like the various Condrieus.


Cold Heaven (Morgan Clendenen) makes a blend called 'Deux C'. Half the
of blend is from Santa Rita Hills in CA and the other half is from
Condrieu (Cuilleron). It's a very nice "California" viognier. Cold Heaven
has a few other viognier bottlings as well.


By the way, another famous viognier appellation in France is Chateau-Grillet.
It consists of just a single estate. Character is similar to Condrieu.


Dimitri

In article , says
....

In article , Hunt wrote:

Dan, two US Viogniers that I have really liked are the Gregory Graham, Napa,
and the Joseph Phelps (Napa, I think, but I've drained all my bottles, so I
can't be sure right now - besides, the winery is Napa, but the grapes may be
sourced from other sub-AVAs). Both may be difficult to find outside of the N
CA/US areas, but well worth the efforts, just like the various Condrieus.


Cold Heaven (Morgan Clendenen) makes a blend called 'Deux C'. Half the
of blend is from Santa Rita Hills in CA and the other half is from
Condrieu (Cuilleron). It's a very nice "California" viognier. Cold Heaven
has a few other viognier bottlings as well.


By the way, another famous viognier appellation in France is Chateau-Grillet.
It consists of just a single estate. Character is similar to Condrieu.


Dimitri

Thanks for the reminder for Chateau Grillet. Unfortunately, they are rarely
seen in AZ/US, though we do manage several Condrieu (plural also?), or
Condrieus. I seem to have a tendency to forget, what I don't get often.

Hunt

"Dan The Man" wrote in message
oups.com...

snip

2004 Yalumba South Australia Viognier - pale gold color, fairly oakey
bouquet with somewhat bittersweet grapefruit flavor dominating.
Vanilla/nut finish. Good QPR at US$9.99 .

/snip

Was this the Virgilius or the "Eden Valley" Viognier? The "second" wine the
"Eden Valley" is definitely quite grapefruity / apricot. The "Virgilius" is
however in a completely different class. Definitely work seeking out if you
can find it. Probably the benchmark viognier from Australia.

Adrian B wrote:
"Dan The Man" wrote in message
oups.com...

snip

2004 Yalumba South Australia Viognier - pale gold color, fairly oakey
bouquet with somewhat bittersweet grapefruit flavor dominating.
Vanilla/nut finish. Good QPR at US$9.99 .

/snip

Was this the Virgilius or the "Eden Valley" Viognier? The "second" wine the
"Eden Valley" is definitely quite grapefruity / apricot. The "Virgilius" is
however in a completely different class. Definitely work seeking out if you
can find it. Probably the benchmark viognier from Australia.

Greetings Adrian,
"Eden Valley Rd" is mentioned in the address at the bottom of the front
label - the name "Virgilius" doesn't appear anywhere, so this one must
be an Eden Valley.

Dan-O

Thanks to everyone for the recommendations - my shopping list just got
a little longer! :-)

Dan-O (have corkscrew, will travel)