Nose
A nose of peach, exotic melon, honey suckle and a hint of apricot and ginger spice.
Palate
The palate is light and balanced with the fruit confirmed and the integrated acidity giving this wine a lovely lift and a nice clean length.
Growing Conditions
The growing season in 2007 was exceptional with even consistent warmth throughout the vintage and little to no rainfall. Due to the dry warm conditions there was little to no pest or mildew pressures and even the birds stayed away during ripening giving us clean and healthy fruit. Three hot days (>37oC) gave the vines a bit of a hard time in very early March, but the Viognier was near full ripeness and the heat did not affect the grapes at all and possibly brought the flavours we had been waiting for forward. 2007 has been considered a great vintage for the region and will produce many startling wines.
Winemaking
Sharna Kowalczuk and her team of workers made an exemplary wine from our first vintage of Viognier grapes. Treated with “kid gloves” the fruit was lightly pressed, barrel fermented in French oak, lees stirred every day to obtain some creaminess to the wines texture and then carefully settled out and bottled after much fuss. Minimal intervention is the term we like to use and this wine shows the heart of our Viognier due to the light and sensitive wine making skills exhibited by Sharna. It has turned out to be a wonderful effort from the team and they are excited at what they have achieved and are eagerly anticipating the 2008 Viognier fruit.
Appearance
Light straw yellow wine.
Food Pairing
Food matches for this wine include seafood (scallops and fresh WA crayfish suit the wine perfectly), creamy chicken casserole, and rich soups (leek and potato, and pumpkin are wonderful choices).
