The Aussie Viognier Quest - Part 1
I discovered Viognier while studying WSET 3 when we tasted a Condrieu, and immediately fell in love with the variety. This led to my ambition to taste Condrieu in Condrieu – which was fulfilled in 2023 when I cycle down the banks of the Rhone from Geneva to the Camargue.
As a small amount of Viognier is often blended into Syrah in the Northern Rhone – think Cote Rotie, Hermitage etc – to give the Syrah some floral aromatics as well as a rounder body, you would think that another well known Syrah/Shiraz-growing countries, such as Australia, would also produce good single variety Viogniers. Unfortunately the quest to find an Australian Viognier that is reminiscent of those from Condrieu has been elusive. Most of them have been picked too early and do not have that abundant floral and tropical fruit aromas and flavours or the viscous round mouthfeel.
Along with four very good friends who are also into wine, I conducted a Viognier ‘taste-off’ with two wines from Condrieu and the other three from Australia. We started with one of the Condrieu to set the benchmark.
Maison Les Alexandrins Condrieu 2023
While it was my most reasonably priced Condrieu of the night, it ended up being everyone’s favourite wine of the evening.
The first thing that we noticed was the aromatic nose on this wine – just what we were expecting from a Viognier. This followed through on the palate and we got white peach, yellow apple and yellow florals including gardenia. This wine had a round, smooth mouthfeel with a touch of opulence. Butterscotch followed through on a long finish.
It is a pity that I cannot source another bottle of this as it was fabulous.
Rating: Bloody Delish Price: AUD 80
Yalumba The Virgilius Viognier 2023
I had tried this wine before and had only rated is as a Meh (see my 9 June 2026 blog). It was good to get my friends’ feedback on this wine. The aromas were muted, there was little discernible fruit although we got whiffs of white peaches and apricot, it was lacking in intensity – think watery – and it was really quite dry. It tasted like the grapes had been picked (too) early. It was also lacking the roundness on the palate that I expect from a good Viognier. Disappointed and will not be buying another bottle of this wine. We all rated this our least favourite wine of the night. In summary, disappointing.
Rating: Meh Price: AUD 55
Kaesler Love Child 2025 Viognier
This wine was definitely a step up from the Yalumba. This wine gave us notes of apricot and peach with a dominate flavour of honeydew melon. It had a semi-dried herbal, slightly bitter green note on the back palate. It still did not give us the round fruit characters that we were looking for, and again, the grapes had been picked too early and vinified as a very dry wine.
Rating: Okay Price: AUD 55
Clonakilla Viognier 2025
The first thing that struck us was the fabulous florals on the nose. This wine was on the right track for what we were looking for. Peach, grape, yellow florals including gardenia, and a touch of ginger. There was a long white peach finish but it did fall away as it became very warm. While not as concentrated as the Maison Les Alexandrins Condrieu 2023 it was the closest Australian wine to a Condrieu on the night.
Would pair beautifully with lobster.
Rating: Delish Price: AUD 61
Ogier Condrieu Les Vieilles Vignes de Jacques Vernay 2019
Another wine from my 9 June 2026 blog on Viognier – the bottle that came home with me. This wine was quite textural and took a while to open up. Linden flower, lemon and lime came through before the stone fruits came out to play. Compared to the Maison Les Alexandrins Condrieu 2023, it was not as round in the mouth or as aromatic. Our second favourite Condrieu of the night and was ranked just below the Clonakilla.
Rating: Delish Price: AUD 191
The quest is still on and two days prior to this tasting, I tasted another Australian Viognier which impressed me – the Tim Smith Viognier 2025 (see 6 July 2026 blog – A Barossa Small Vineyard Long Lunch). I couldn’t get a bottle in time for this Aussie Viognier taste-off, so…….. watch this space as a second taste-off is to come.