Chateau Ste. Michelle - 2013 Viognier (Washington)

Today's wine comes to us (once again) from Woodinville, WA-based Chateau Ste Michelle winery. It's another special, winery-only selection that I picked up in their tasting room after my sommelier-led private tasting back in August. It's their 2013 Viognier, grown in the Columbia Valley, with a rather interesting backstory.

The grapes are sourced from the Columbia Valley, the largest winemaking region in Washington state. It covers an area of 11 million acres, mostly in southern and central Washington State, with some variety of climate. In 1984 the Columbia Valley was also designated as an AVA, or American Viticultural Area, which means it's been recognized as an official wine-producing region.

The Columbia Valley

Regarding the wine itself - Vigonier is a varietal of white wine grape, grown all across the world. It compares with Chardonnay in terms of its texture and ability to present lush flavors, but contrasts with Chardonnay in some of the flavors present and the overall mineraly-ness of the wine. Viognier is popular in France, where it is presumed to have originated. In Jancis Robinson's The Oxford Companion to Wine, Third Edition, she notes that DNA profiling done at UC Davis in 2004 proved Viognier to be a genetic relative of the Niebbolo grape.

This particular wine is aged in neutral oak barrels, and then fermented in stainless steel tubs. For some context, let's briefly talk oak. Wine guru and author Bill St. John had a really good article last year about the role of oak in wine. Many wines are aged and stored in oak barrels, hearkening back to the days when barrels were the choice way to store large amount of liquids (and transport them safely). When wine (and beer! and whiskey!) are stored in barrels made of wood, and aged, the contact with the wood over time can soften the wine, as well as impart certain flavors and textures to what's inside. This could be vanilla flavors, or smoky flavors if the barrels are charred. As wine ages in a barrel, the wine saps the flavors from the wood. Over a period of years, the barrel loses all ability to impart flavor. Barrels that have lost that ability are called "neutral oak" barrels, and thus any wine stored in one (like today's) will gain the benefits of oak aging, but without any added flavors. The steel tubs of course do not impart any flavor, so I'm expecting the wine to be clean and delicate.

The wine poured a light golden color. I liked the burst of fruit aroma from bottle.

As it opened up, there was a clear and light aroma, those fruit aromas dying out. As you can see from the above photo, I had the wine chilled, but let it sit to open up. When I did try it, I was very impressed. The main flavors here are strong, bright orange fruits, but not in the way you might expect. The flavors aren't like juice - they form a solid baseline of citrus flavors, followed up by a nice undercurrent of fruits and sugar that is well polished. It has a good body but is not overly tannic - wine tasters call this flavor "round." I was particularly impressed with the lack of bite, as well - those citrus flavors came through nicely without any sharp kick. The finish was clean, refreshing and crisp, leaving very delicious flavors on the palette after swallowing.

I'm very happy with this wine. I'm not a fan of overly-oaked whites, and the caustic bite that many of them have really turn me off. But fortunately, today's wine is none of those things. It's a lovely, round, smooth-tasting white wine with a refreshing texture to it. I think I have found my favorite white wine! If I could afford a case of this shipped to me every few months, I'd do it.