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He put the 'bar' in 'barrister'
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Tue Mar 21, 2006 8:31 pm
Vancouver BC
Bruce Hayes wrote:
So, it is just me, or is Viognier growing in popularity?
Peter May wrote:
Lots of inexpensive V now being produced worldwide.
Bruce Hayes wrote:Perhaps it is merely my imagination, or perhaps it is merely in the Ontario wine marketplace, but I have noticed recently an increasing number of Viognier offerings from a wide range of countries.
Sue Courtney wrote:Hi Bruce,
It is catching on here in NZ too. I think it is grown in every region now, perhaps except in Central Otago, and there have been some good to very good wines produced, as well as others than are quite neutral (like some Pinot Gris can be). I am becoming quite enamoured with Viognier but I haven't tasted anything from here yet that could rival the best from France. But it is early days yet.
Syrah/Viognier co-ferments are also becoming quite popular.
Cheers,
Sue
Hoke wrote:Sue Courtney wrote:Hi Bruce,
It is catching on here in NZ too. I think it is grown in every region now, perhaps except in Central Otago, and there have been some good to very good wines produced, as well as others than are quite neutral (like some Pinot Gris can be). I am becoming quite enamoured with Viognier but I haven't tasted anything from here yet that could rival the best from France. But it is early days yet.
Syrah/Viognier co-ferments are also becoming quite popular.
Cheers,
Sue
Had to chime in here, in a nitpicky pedagogical sorta way (isn't that irritating?) and point out that while co-fermenting Syrah and Viognier is gaining in popularity, in order for the Viognier aromatics to give noticeable "lift" to Syrah, it is not quite the same as the original model in the Rhone, where Cote Rotie is the most famous version: basically, the difference is that in Cote Rotie the preferred method is to harvest the Syrah and Viognier as field blend and press and ferment together, rather than to either add the two together later, or to add the finished ferments of the two together...which is what a lot of new world types do.
One is based on traditional practices developed over long periods of time; the other is an experimental, 'what if' approach. Not commenting on whether either is good or bad, mind you, just making the point they are different.
Hoke wrote:Sue:
The field blend method obviously gives you what nature gives you (once you have made the decision of when to harvest of course), so once harvest and press is done, you get what you get.
Sue Courtney wrote:Hoke wrote:Sue:
The field blend method obviously gives you what nature gives you (once you have made the decision of when to harvest of course), so once harvest and press is done, you get what you get.
Ok, what is happening, as I understand it, is that grapes are harvested and go through a crusher/destemmer into a vat/tank for cold soak, pre-ferment maceration until ferment starts either sponaneously or by addition of yeast. There is no pressing until after ferment and post-ferment maceration.
But we are getting a bit off-topic, I think.
Cheers,
Sue
Mark Lipton wrote:Peter May wrote:
Lots of inexpensive V now being produced worldwide.
t so few of the Viogniers that I try have much varietal character without descending into an overt heaviness that I find just tires my palate.
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