2017 Viognier
Not Rated Yet
Viognier is a white wine grape variety. Its origin is not known but it is thought to be an ancient grape, possibly originating in what is now present-day Croatia and brought to the Rhône region by the Romans in 281 A.D. Viognier is an inherently low-yielding grape and is not widely grown by most commercial vineyards for economic reasons. Unique to this varietal, Viognier can be used to enhance the color, nose and flavor of a red wine when co-fermented. This is commonly used in old European techniques when making Syrah and Tempranillo.
We harvested these grapes at 23 brix and immediately de-stemmed, crushed and pressed the juice to prevent overexposure to oxygen. We used dry ice pellets to dissipate the oxygen throughout the process. A clay slurry was used to fine the juice and drop the suspended particles during a slow, cold and temperature-controlled fermentation. The wine was racked off and put into neutral French barrels to age for 3 months. It was then cold-stabilized in a stainless-steel tank. After racking off the tartaric crystals that formed during stabilization, the wine was filtered at .65 microns and bottled.