Small Gully The Formula Helen's Harmony Viognier 2008

More Reviews:

Small Gully’s 2008 The Formula Helen’s Harmony Viognier offers a moderate intensity of honey drizzled white peaches, poached pear, white pepper and fennel seed aromas. Medium-bodied, very crisp and dry with evolving flavors going into the toasty, dried apricot spectrum, it gives a long layered finish. Drinking now, it should remain delicious to 2013+. Score: 90 LPB

Serve this wine between 55-60 degrees Farenheit or 12-16 degrees Celsius. Tip: If your bottle is at room temperature, put it in ice water for about 30 minutes or in the fridge for about three hours to chill it.

Viognier

Viognier's home is France, especially in the northern Rhône Valley regions of Condrieu and Château-Grillet (the latter has just ten acres and one owner), where it's the only white grape used and produces magnificently fragrant, voluptuous and expensive wines. It's also grown in Languedoc, Roussillon, Provence, Australia, Brazil, California, Oregon and Washington.

The grape is difficult to grow because its prone to mildew and produces small yields. If left to overripen, it will have a bland, winery taste and high alcohol. Signature aromas include ripe apricots, orange blossoms, peaches, mango, pineapple, guava, kiwi, tangerine, honeysuckle, spring blossoms, musk and acacia. Viognier often has a viscous, opulent, creamy texture, even without oak aging. With oak aging, it also has notes of butter, cream, oak, smoke, tobacco and toast. Late-harvest and dessert styles have deeply ripe tropical fruit aromas.

Viognier is as intensely aromatic as Gewürztraminer and suffers the same problem of being difficult to pronounce. To wit: VEE-ohn-yay. Viognier is often blended with other white grapes, such as Marsanne, Rousanne, Chardonnay, Grenache Blanc and Chenin Blanc. Sometimes, Viognier is blended with Syrah in the Rhône Valley's Côte Rotie or with Shiraz in Australia to soften the red wine and to give it an aromatic lift. This "seasoning" of about five percent of Viognier also helps stablize the wine's color and enrichs its texture.

Viognier is best consumed young, no more than three to four years after its vintage date before its heady, hedonistic fragrance fades. The exceptions are those made in the Condrieu and Château-Grillet, which can age for decades because they're aged in oak for several months before bottling.

Pair Viognier with mild curries, grilled fish, scallops, shrimp glazed ham, grilled chicken, oily nuts such as macadamias and cashews, Emmental cheese, chicken in a ginger or orange sauce, turkey tetrazzini, chicken korma or tika, fried food, sashimi, sushi, lamb tagine with raisins, almonds and honey, butternut squash risotto, pork chops, smoked ham, tarragon, lobster thermidore, carrot soup and roast vegetables.