Tasting the Viognier

Staring at the computer working on projects can make your eyes cross, so between number crunching and feedback on marketing projects, I took a winemaking break and headed to the lab to taste the Viognier.

The last time we tasted the Viognier we thought we would need to add a little acid to round out the mouth feel, but after a few months of sur-lie aging the wine balanced itself out. No need to add anything! Sur-lie aging is wine sitting on the yeast and traditionally it was done to protect the color of the wine. Today it is most commonly used to add creaminess and weight to the wine; however, many winemakers choose not to use this process because it takes 4 months or more to achieve the desired wine style. So after 5 months of the Viognier sur-lie aging we tasted the wine.

The nose has a peachy pear aroma which is also present in the flavor, and just as we expected, there is a creamy-richness and weight on the palate – exactly what sur-lie aging accomplishes! One thing I noticed is “spritziness” in the wine which is normal during the winemaking process.  “Spritziness” is C02 left over from the primary fermentation and it is usually lost when we do pump-overs or stir the tank, but with white wine we keep pump-overs to a minimum and less C02 is lost. It is noticeable now, and a certain level of C02 is ideal in the wine to show a little brightness, but if there seems to be too much as we go to bottle the Viognier, we can lose it during filtration.

But before we even get near filtration, the Viognier will head to oak barrels for a little time. How different will it taste? We’ll find out!