MY TOP 20: VIOGNIER BEYOND THE RHONE

Have you discovered it yet? Its peachy, food-friendly versatility has made Viognier something of a cult-favourite among the Anything-But-Chardonnay circles, but what are the best-value options? Fiona Beckett picks her favourites from beyond its home region

- Fiona Beckett

For many of us, Viognier is inextricably associated with the Rhône – and especially, perhaps, the iconic wines of Condrieu and Château-Grillet. But it is of course produced elsewhere, so we thought it would be intriguing to explore what other countries have to offer.

Records show that Viognier was planted and harvested in the Rhône region back in the late 18th century, though it wasn’t until the 1980s – when it became widely planted in areas that suited Rhône varieties, including the neighbouring Languedoc – that it really took off and gained a foothold.

It’s certainly not a cool-climate variety, and it needs sun and warm Mediterranean-style temperatures to express its heady perfume. The key to success with the grape is not picking too early or too late, agree Louisa Rose of Yalumba and Laurent Miquel, two winemakers who have devoted their winemaking careers to Viognier and whose wines dominated this tasting (we could have justifiably included all of them).

Many of the cheaper wines, mostly under the Pays d’Oc IGP – and produced, I suspect, to add interest to an entry-level range – lacked the grape’s seductive peach and apricot character, while some of the more expensive examples were more about the oak than the fruit. ‘I think the exposure to oxygen you get in oak barrels is beneficial to Viognier, but it is very easy to overdo it,’ says Miquel. ‘We are using larger and larger oak tanks to make sure the wines are not over-oaked.’