WTN: InlandSea Missouri Viognier '08...(short/boring)

Tried this last night w/ my farro al forno:
1. InlandSea Missouri Viognier AmigoniVnyds/ToKati Block (13.9%; www.InlandSeaWines.com) JohnPoston/Kerry&Michael Amigoni/KCMo 2008: Light gold color; attractive pear/Viog/light peach slight earthy/minerally/musky light vanilla/oak/nutmeg/spicy very interesting nose; fairly tart light pear/Viog/peach some tart/tangy bit earthy/minerally/chalky slight metallic flavor; med.short light pear/Viog/peach some tangy/earthy/minerally finish; quite a nice Viog very much like some from WashState w/ its low-key earthiness. Very fairly priced at $16.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Viognier from Missouri?? Who'd a thunk?? My experience w/ Missouri wines have been a bit hit or miss. When I spied this on the shelf at CellarRat in KansasCity; I thought "What the heck?" RyanSciara gave it a strong endorsement. So I opened it with low expectations. Whatta surprise. It spoke strongly of Viognier. Not the effusive fruit/DollyParton rendition of Viognier. but sort of a quiet but distinct expression of the variety. The underlying earthiness reminded me a lot of many of the WashState Viogniers I've had.
The winery is located in the West Industrial Bottoms of KansasCity, Missouri....a district near & dear to my heart. The area used to be wall-to-wall stockyards where cattle were trucked in the feed the meat-packing plants across the river in Kansas. My father (a Kansas farm boy) used to take me down there on the weekends and we'd wander around thru the cattle pens, where he'd point out a particularly fine example of prime beef. That's probably where I got my first exposure to brett.
The stockyards, as well as the packing plants are long gone. Then we'd go up atop nearby QualityHill and watch the TWA planes take off and land at KansasCity Municipal Airport. He'd rattle off the flight number of each plane (he worked for TWA) and where it was headed to/coming from. Good but innocent times.
I'm not sure where the Amigoni vnyds are located in Missouri and their WebSite offers nary a clue. But I was sufficiently impressed by this Viognier to try their other wines. Maybe even a return to the WestBottoms on my next trip back to KC.
Tom

Wow, thanks for note! Being a Kansas City area native myself, I have great interest in the wines of Missouri and Kansas, and know that Missouri in particular can shine when given the chance. But I never would have figured that you could make something like Viognier work - although it should be said that I once had an excellent Cab Sauv, Cab Franc blend from Paola, KS. Next time you're in KC, see if you can't make it to Pirtle Winery in Weston: they make a really lovely Chambourcin, some wonderful meade, and an delightful apple wine aged in McCormick's used whiskey barrels. My step-father shops at the Cellar Rat. Will have to ask him to pick up a bottle of this Viognier.

Next time you're in KC, see if you can't make it to Pirtle Winery in Weston: they make a really lovely Chambourcin, some wonderful meade, and an delightful apple wine aged in McCormick's used whiskey barrels.

We used to visit and buy wine from Weston Winery in Weston quite frequently when we lived in Bellevue, NE (circa '82-'88). I'm pretty sure that is the outfit currently know as Pirtle. I remember the Mead quite well.