2016 Estate Viognier
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Tasting notes
Brilliant straw-yellow. Sexy, highly perfumed aromas of white peach, pear nectar, honeydew melon and tangerine, along with bright mineral and floral overtones. Juicy, sharply focused and lively on the palate, conveying a suave interplay of richness and vivacity to the intense citrus and orchard fruit and floral flavors. Shows serious power and vibrant mineral cut on a strikingly long finish that echoes the floral and tangerine qualities.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Josh Raynolds
More reviews and scores
Bottled last year, the 2016 Viognier Estate is a deeper, richer wine than the Central Coast release. Beautiful notes of tangerines, green citrus, and loads of floral notes all flow to a medium to full-bodied, layered, concentrated Viognier that’s perfectly balanced. It’s smoking good today and best enjoyed over the coming 2-5 years. This was another brilliant tasting with California Rhône pioneer John Alban. The current releases here are the 2014s, which are from a vintage that reminds me of the 2006s with their incredible richness and depth. These are thrilling wines that are going to age just about forever. The 2015s were mostly tasted out of barrel and at this stage are tight, firm, and focused, with plenty of obvious structure. These are going to continue putting on weight with time in barrel, and it’s certainly another terrific vintage from this reference point estate. These are awesome, world-class wines in every way.
Opening with very pretty, understated honey drizzled apricots, Bosc pears and allspice scents plus a waft of jasmine, the 2016 Viognier estate is medium-bodied with a gorgeous silkiness to the texture and mouth-filling spice and perfumed stone fruit flavors, finishing on a lingering aniseed note.