Art I'm Making: Imagery Estate Winery 2017 North Coast Viognier Featuring My Art to Launch August 19, 2018

I'll be helping launch Imagery Estate Winery's 2017 North Coast Viognier, which features one of my collages on the label, next Sunday (August 19th) at the winery (14335 Sonoma Hwy, Glen Ellen, CA 95442).

I'll be there between 1:00PM and 3:00PM showing some recent collage work, signing bottles, talking to fans, sipping some wine.... If you're in the neighborhood, come by and say hello. :)

Wines I'm Drinking: 2008 Congress Springs Lodi Viognier

One of a group of wines I recently picked up at my local Grocery Outlet looking for bargains. This is a Viognier from Lodi made by a winery I've never heard of, but Lodi can be good, so I gave it a try. Brief tasting notes follow.

Rather pale for a Viognier. A pale straw color. Not especially forthcoming on the nose, which immediately seemed suspicious given that Viognier is usually a very expressive grape. Most Vioginer wines are distinctively scented and even a small addition of Viognier to a blend often makes it smell like Viognier. This wine didn't really smell like much of anything at all. Sweet on the palate and with some presence--suggesting substantial alcohol--but not a lot of flavor. Some hints of honey, perhaps, or even honeysuckle (or is it beeswax?), but not a lot more. Fairly long finish, but not very distinctively flavored. Not faulty or in any way unpleasant, but seems rather one-dimensional. Oddly bland while at the same time being rather easy to drink. Hmmm..... I let the wine warm up quite a lot and tasted it again and it seemed to have gained some apple pie flavors, but still not compelling. Not a bad deal at only $5.99 at Grocery Outlet, but I don't think I'd buy this again.

(I have no financial connection with any producer or retailer of wine.) 

2008 La Marouette Viognier Vin de Pays d'Oc

In San Francisco yesterday I stopped in at a little grocery on Geary St. that specializes in organic foods. They have an impressive organic wine selection. I bought a bottle of Viognier from the south of France--not so much because it was organic but because I like Viognier when it's not heavy and overdone, as it too often is. The label the store had on the rack next to this offering touted it as precisely the opposite, so I bought a bottle. Tonight I tried the wine. Brief tasting notes follow.

A pretty, medium straw color. Toasted grain on the nose. None of the strong peach scent common in Viognier. Something a little musky. Similar on the palate. Seems quite restrained for a Viognier. Not a lot of overt fruit. Quite dry at first. Low in acidity. From the mid-palate begins to seem a little weightier, with some fruity sweetness, but the fruit remains subdued. Good texture, though. Not at all wimpy. If this wine were a person, it would be a quiet but self-assured intellectual--the sort of person that needs to be drawn out, but that has an affable side, if you can get to it. Hints of passion fruit develop with a little time. Good finish with lingering flavors suggesting vanilla and cherimoya. Although I would have liked a little more acidity to balance things, I enjoyed this wine. $10.99 at Thom's Natural Foods (5843 Geary), San Francisco.

Wines I'm Drinking: 2009 Mas Brunet Coteaux du Languedoc Blanc

I've been home from a 10-week stay in southern France (with side trips to Barcelona, Corsica, Sardinia, and Italy proper) for a month tomorrow. I'm finally getting the last of the suitcases squared away. Among various receipts, brochures, odd bits of change (from this trip and, evidently, others), and the occasional rock labeled with a vineyard or other name in the bottom of one bag, I came across a cork in an envelope covered with tasting notes. I had forgotten about this wine, but it was a good one, so I've decided to belatedly write up the thoughts I jotted down while enjoying it.

I bought  the wine in an excellent little shop in St. Guilhem-le-Desert. I regret not having made a note of the name of the place. There was an excellent selection of high-end local wines, the proprietor spoke English, and he knew his product well.

The 2009 Mas Brunet Coteaux du Languedoc Blanc is a blend of Rousanne, Vermentino, and Vioginer. I chose it mostly because of the Vermentino component, having recently had so many good Vermentino wines in Sardinia--notably the 2007 Funtanaliras Vermentino and the 2008 "Arakèna" Vermentino di Gallura, both from the Cantina del Vermentino, in Monti, in Sardinia's Gallura region (the northeast). Having said that, the assertiveness of the Viognier made this selection rather different from any straight Vermentino wine. Brief tasting notes follow.

A very pale but pretty straw color. The sort of wine that makes its presence known immediately. Floral scents and a telltale peachy, Viognier-scent were evident even before putting my nose to the glass--but there was more than that. There was something like butter cream (or cake icing, perhaps), and there were vanilla scents. Initially seemed astringent, smoky, and a bit woody on the palate, but then it began to give an impression of creamy richness followed by some tannic graininess and then a lingering, fruity sweetness on an extended finish (although the wine is quite dry). With a little time, new scents and flavors emerged. I began to get hints of iron, honey, vanilla yogurt, and finally nutmeg. Complex, assertive, interesting, and delicious. I paid about €12 (or around $15) for the bottle. Recommended (although this wine is unlikely to be available in the US). If you can find it, it's well worth a try, and I suspect this is a producer worth keeping an eye out for.

For more wine reviews, use the Wines I'm Drinking label.