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TN Villa Maria (NZ) Omahu Gravels Viognier

Some while back, a certain antipodean wine associate from this forum recommended this 2006 single vineyard, 100% varietal to me. Mrs Axis recently took a trip down under to visit family, so I placed my order with her to bring one back in her luggage.

She did, and last night we opened the wine with a lovely grilled sockeye salmon filet and some thin, delicious organic asparagus - grilled with a drizzle of olive oil and a touch of salt.

The nose of the wine is heavenly - peaches and honeysuckle, with a touch of some sweet citrus, such as mandarin. The palate is smooth and rich, with a long, lingering finish. As with many Viogniers, there is some heat on the finish - 14.5% alcohol!

For those who like the new world styles of viognier, this is a top quality wine. But unfortunately, the wine is all but impossible to get in this country. I've tried wine searcher, and can come up with other Villa Maria wines, but not this one. It is readily available in NZ, so if you have access to an importer who can get hold of it, it is highly recommended.

INteresting sidebar; just the day before, I crushed a half ton of Viognier (grapes from the Fair Play region) for my own wine --- and the sugar is such that the projected alcohol is 14.5%! I can only hope that the wine is half as good.

Reply to
AxisOfBeagles
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That sounds like a fantastic wine, Ric. Even though I'm leery of Viogniers with 14.5% ABV, I'd be very intereted in trying this one.

Good luck with the vinification! Will you really keep all of that wine for yourself, or do you give it away to friends and such? Half a ton of grapes sounds like a whole lotta wine to me.

Mark Lipton

Reply to
Mark Lipton

It is a fair amount of wine. But actually I mis-spoke in that post - I should have said "a quarter ton" - 500 lbs - which usually ends up being about 125 bottles of wine. Will get a little less this particular load simply because I was pressing on my own with my basket press - a lot less effiecient than a bladder press, which I sometimes borrow for whites but didn't have time to get. Red wine grapes produce considerably more - about a third again as much. That's a function of fermenting on the skin extracts more of the juice - and the pressing is therefore that much more efficient.

We crush and press anywhere from a half ton (1000 pounds) to a ton of grapes each year. We drink most of it and give a lot away to friends. This year, 500 pounds of the Viognier, and 500 each of Merlot and Cab, intending to blend. And nary a grape from my own vineyard this year (boo hoo) - big losses to frost, birds, and mildew this year.

Reply to
AxisOfBeagles

"AxisOfBeagles" wrote ..............

Hi Ric,

Glad you enjoyed this wine: sounds like a great accompaniment to the salmon/asparagus too!

Villa Maria classify/market their wines at four differing levels.

The "Single Vineyard" range (to which this viognier belongs) is their top range; and is made in the smallest volumes, so I do believe that it will be near on impossible to source this wine in the USA

In fact, it does require a hunt, even here in NZ.

Of course, if you live in a State which allows its citizenry to import wines directly, then one 'could' arrange a bottle or two to be purchased here in NZ and shipped via air-express etc to the USA !!!!!

Reply to
st.helier

Thank you again for the recommend - an excellent wine, and I really do wish it was available here. Alas ...

In keeping with the Viognier theme of recent days, last night we opened a bottle of an '05 Domaine des Cantarelles Viognier, from the Languedoc (vin du pays du Gard). An interesting compare and contrast; had an excellent nose, with peach, citrus, and something sweet - like a honeysuckle. But the palate was very different than the Villa Maria

- this wine has seen some oak, and while there wasn't any trace on the nose, the wine was more subdued on the palate, lacking the crispness that the Villa Maria had, but still had the lingering heat of a high alcohol wine. Very nice - and a good value at $15 - but I'd recommend the Villa Maria over this one anytime.

Hope all is well down under - cheers!

Reply to
AxisOfBeagles

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