The Aussie Viognier Quest - Part 2
I have held off finalising my quest to find a good Australian Viognier which is in a similar style to those from Condrieu as I knew that I would be going to a select tasting from one of Australia’s top winemakers and a Viognier would be featured. Having tasted their Viognier, I am happy to announce the results of my quest.
The contenders, in alphabetical order, were:
· Clonakilla Viognier 2025
· Kaesler Love Child Viognier 2025
· Tim Smith Viognier 2025
· Yalumba The Virgilius Viognier 2023
· Yarra Yering Carrodus Viognier 2020
All of these wines were beautifully made, so it comes down to personal preference as to what you are looking for in a Viognier. It has been interesting talking with top winemakers about this quest and their approach to making Viognier. The common threads are:
· Viognier is an ‘unknown’ grape for most consumers and therefore it is a harder sell than Riesling, Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc.
· Australians like dry white wines with a clear acidic line and not overtly floral in aromatics, therefore commercially, if you want to sell your wine, it needs to be dry. In contrast, a lot of Viognier from Condrieu and Southern France is off-dry, very round in the mouth, a touch oily in texture, with overt flavours and aromas of very ripe stone fruit, white and yellow florals, citrus and beeswax. Less well-made ones can be flabby.
· Viognier is not a highly acidic grape and loses its acidity quickly when it ripens to the level of displaying big juicy aromatic stone fruit characteristics. Therefore ‘early’ picking is the norm for Australian growers to retain the acidity.
· Viognier is not used in Australia to the same extent as in the Rhone for adding aromatics, florals and roundness to Shiraz/Syrah. Australian Shiraz/Syrah tends to have more fruit brightness, offsetting the need to use / use as much Viognier.
Of this list, the Australian Viognier closest to the style of a typical Condrieu is: Tim Smith Viognier 2025 from Eden Valley.
This wine is already sold out if buying directly from Tim Smith; however friends have found it on other websites and in some stores.