The nose displays white peach and citrus blossoms. On the palate there are notes of ripe lemon, fresh pear, and almost ripe peach.
This is a clean, bright style of Viognier and a perfect first course wine. The acidity in 2018 is brilliant!
We produced 7 barrels with one new barrel and 6 used barrels. This wine is another pillar in the argument that Bennett Valley should focus on Rhone varieties.
This is a quintessential Viognier and a lovely example of what the grape can do in California when it is well farmed, not over-ripe, and made in a balanced way.
Vineyard Notes
2018 Flanagan Viognier Bennett Valley is our fifth vintage of Viognier. Viognier is not a very widely cultivated grape but it’s popularity is growing. Farmed correctly it makes a beautiful, clean, aromatic wine. The vineyard we are sourcing our grapes from is my favorite Viognier site in California. We have the best section of the vineyard under multi-year contract.
Crop yields in 2018 were higher than previous years (about 3.5 tons on the one acre section we get), so we were able to produce 180 cases. This is good news since we regularly sell out of our
Viognier early each year.
Our Viognier is made in a fresher style with very little new oak.
The fermentation in neutral barrels is more directed at texture development than at an oak flavor profile. The key to making great Viognier is to source from a top site, to farm for balance,
and to time harvest correctly. Viognier has a narrow window for picking where the flavors are developed and the acidity is still vibrant.