15 Responses

1. April 12, 2006

   Jose

   Viognier is sooooo yummy. Good episode. I think I’ll go and try all three. Yeah, even the Beringer.

   Actually, I really like that there are some wines you have really disliked in these episodes, and how your reaction to such a wine is natural and unstaged. The idea of you previewing the bottles before hand would take away from the spontaneity and reality of the experience. After all, do we all like every bottle we open?

   Maybe for quality control, one bottle that you are familiar with could be used as a point of reference, but please, keep on using random (and inevitably sometimes bad) wines in the tastings! I really feel it would be educational for many to try some of these selections to determine for themselves in what way the wines are flawed.

   The best part about seeing you taste the wines you don’t like?….. the look on your face right before you spit it out. We can read you like a book. It’s great!

   Excellent work. Keep it up.

2. April 12, 2006

   Cameron

   Another great episode. As a fan of Viognier, it’s nice to see it get some shine on here. More wineries seem to be taking note of Viognier and creating some great wines with it, which is a welcome breath of fresh air.

   I was up on the central coast of Cali over the weekend, and while I didn’t have a chance to sample the Melville, I did have 3 Viogniers from Cold Heaven that absolutely blew me away. I would highly recommend anyone on here seek them out.

3. April 13, 2006

   Thomas

   EXP Viognier (California, Dunnigan Hills) is a must try for the entry level Viognier drinker and the experienced Viognier lover.

4. September 20, 2006

   Brandon M

   Viognier is going in my random case, but I’m gonna have to find a different winery.

   B

5. September 22, 2006

   Arnold

   I was looking to see if Gary had done an episode on Viognier and sure enough, here it is! I had a Viognier at a restaurnat in France and was hooked. I’d like to add that there are some inexpensive Viogniers that are very good: Smooking Loon 2005 is very nice (04 wasn’t as good – but the WineLibrary.com doesn’t list the vintage) and is around $7 and Virginie Viognier 1999 is a beautiful wine.

6. October 2, 2006

   Mike F.

   I tried a Vionier from Argentina recently. Although I liked the flavor profile (peach, apricot, wild flowers, lemon and honey) it was a bit flabby. The one or two Shiraz/Vionier blends that I tried were ok, but I need to try a few more before I can really decide.

7. October 12, 2006

   Russ

   Gary missed something on the Pikes. There is a real bitter taste on the mid-palate, almost a grassy taste gone awry. On the bottle they recommend cellaring the wine, which I hope will mellow out this flaw, although I’m sure it won’t.

   I bought this wine on WL’s recommendation and it was a miss.

8. January 18, 2007

   Eric Opheim

   Viogner was actually the second wine I ever enjoyed, behind moscato, when I first started drinking wines 3 years ago. Thanks for giving it some more exposure.

9. March 10, 2007

   Jennifer

   Medicinal.

10. June 6, 2007

    David Canada

    I am a huge convert to Viogner over the last 6-8 months. It rocks with food and is just so aromatic and good! I had a killer on from the Languedoc last night. Domaine de Salices

11. July 15, 2007

    yowens

    I’ve had a few of the viogner’s and have really been into them. There’s a tropical citrus thing going on that’s tough to beat.

12. August 31, 2007

    WA Ambassador

    Sounds like I need to try some of this out. Thanks.

13. February 9, 2008

    The Fanjestic

    Viognier is awesome with food – that’s what I’ve learned. Curious as to why you didn’t try any French viognier – I bet you will in later episodes.

14. July 9, 2008

    Dan Leavy

    i have not had a viognier before, so much wine to taste, so little time

    word 31 “immigrant”

15. September 13, 2009

    John J.

    Always count you to try to encourage people to try something new and expand their palates Gary. I love viognier, and hope that after people see this, more people will give it a try.
    Another lesser known grape I’d love to see you do an episode on is charbono. Not as easy to find as viognier, but that doesn’t mean people shouldn’t try it if they come across it of course.

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