2016 Donelan Viognier Kobler Family Vineyard

I loved the 2016 Viognier Kobler Family Vineyard and it’s certainly one of the top expressions of Viognier coming out of California. Tangerines, flower oil, honeysuckle and crisp stone fruits, medium body, awesome purity, and a clean, racy finish all make for a smoking good white. Drink it over the coming 2-4 years. This is another brilliant lineup of wines from the Donelan Family, with the wines made by Joe Nielson. While their estate Obsidian Vineyard was lost in the fires last year, they’re already in the process of planning and replanting the site, and I was thrilled to taste through a small retrospective from what’s unquestionably one of the great terroirs in California. Looking at the 2015s, which are by and large the current releases, these are structured, tannic wines that are going to benefit from short term cellaring.