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- Chateau des Charmes 2006 St. David’s Bench Viognier
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Chateau des Charmes 2006 St. David’s Bench Viognier
Original Review ... Viognier seems to be the grape of the day everywhere … you look high and you look low and you’ll find yourself a Viognier – they say it’s the perfect substitute for Chardonnay – and furthermore the names of the grapes rhyme, what more could you want.? I think many are picking up this grape in the hopes it becomes the next big thing. Chateau des Charmes can’t be considered bandwagon jumpers on this one, they have been making Viognier for about 13 years or more. This 2006 edition has a wonderfully ripe nose of green apple and peach. The taste follows the nose, but adds traces of citrus and tart pineapple core to this delicate unoaked wine. Best described as steely with a good mouthfilling finish, this wine will see Vintages shelves shortly, if it’s not already there … or you could trek down to the winery and pick yourself up some for summer.
2006
White
Viognier
$25
Canada
Ontario
Niagara Peninsula
at the winery
http://www.chateau-des-charmes.com
2012-08-15
(Re-Tasted August 2012) ... A few weeks ago I popped this wine into the fridge for some guests we had coming over ... sadly we never got around to popping the cork and so there is it sat in the fridge for a few weeks until last night, when I finally spied the bottle and decided that I would pull the cork to pair with some fish we were having for dinner. I remember this wine being more tropical in its youth, but now it has developed more like a Chardonnay ... it's not surprising they call Viognier "the alternative to Chardonnay". The nose is quite appealing with apricot and pear, but seems to have some smoky notes that also appear. The palate still has good acidity and a lovely lingering long finish, but as I said (on the palate) I probably could not differentiate this from an oaked Chardonnay. The taste is buttery and toasty with peach pit and apricot pit notes, it also develops a little poached pear as it sits in the glass. Still very pleasant ... if I want Chardonnay without it saying Chardonnay on the bottle.
