We tried last night w/ dinner:
1. DeRose Viognier CienegaVlly DryFarmed OldVines (15.6%; vines > 100 yrs old; EB; http://www.DeRoseWine.com) 2006: Pale gold color; lovely quava/pear/spicy/ripe classic Viog light minerally nose; tart bit lean/minerally classic pear/guava/Viog flavor; med.long bit lean/tight/minerally pear/Viog finish; a leaner style of Viog that belies its 15.6%; not at all DollyParton in style; can't tell if it's old vines but a very attractive/well-made Viog that actually should age well. $30.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. In a discussion of old Viognier a few weeks ago, Chris Lavin mentioned that DeRose was producing Viognier from 100+ yr old vines. Having followed Calif Viognier from the very start, this claim immediately piqued my interest and I ordered a mixed case of DeRose wines. I'd had a couple of their old vine Zins back in the '90's and liked them quite a lot, but had not tried anything recent from them. The rest of the case is untried, but soon will be.
When I first saw the 15.6% alc on the label, I was certain this was going to be another typical DollyParton Viognier...soft/fat/flabby w/ that powerful peach/pear/floral perfume. Nothing could be further from the truth. There were no signs of overripeness...Dolly was nowhere to be seen. I was struck by the minerality in the wine that you don't often get in Calif Viog. It reminded me of the Peay, the JosephPhelps, the Harlequin, the EdmundsStJohn in style... one of restraint and elegance. The structure leads me to believe that this is a Viognier that will actually get better w/ age, maybe for as long as 10 yrs.
100 yrl old Viognier vines in Calif?? I was immediately suspect of that claim. My understanding was that all the Calif Viognier had been brought in from France in the early '90's. But this DeRose Viognier spoke loud & clear of Viognier. Assuming the Viognier came from 100+ yr old vines. One wonders how the heck Viognier got into Calif back in the late 1800's (Charles LeFranc??) and where the heck it came from.
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2. CienegaVlly: Here's an old-timey grape growing area that gets no respect. One that I would like to know more about. DavidDarlington would be the one to write this story for Wine&Spirits magazine. I know there's a lot of old-vine stuff there that makes for some very interesting vines...like Negrette, CabernetPfeffer, and such. EdFreidrichs made some interesting wines back in the '70's under the CharlesLeFranc label. I've had some wonderful Zins in that era from Enz and LimeKiln wineries. Still have a btl of CongressSprings (Dan Gehrs) Zin LimeKiln Zin from about '76. Almaden encouraged a lot of folks to plant vnyds there in the Hollister area back in the '70's and then finked out on them. Of course, Calera is the wnry that gets all the kudos in that area. But it's a story I'd like to hear more of.
And thanks, Chris, for the head's up on this wine.
Tom