During the last class in the series with the Texas Wine School (website) we tried the last wines. The first being Brennan Estate Vineyards Viognier (website).
The tasting notes say:
A blend of 75% Viognier and 25% Semillion from Newburg (estate) Vineyard in Comanche County fermented with a combination of wild and cultured yeasts. Pale gold with aromas of nectarines, limes and pears. Weight on palate yet silky mouthfeel with more stone fruits on the finish. 15.3% ABV. 3.36 pH
My Notes
I didn’t read the tasting notes prior to class (I know, I’m a bad student), so I was surprised it was part Semillon – but that might be why I liked it so much. It is a very light color – if I had to classify it by the chart I’d call it straw. It had a light spice scent, maybe some butter (or margarine – I couldn’t decide) and apple. Turns out – I should have been smelling bitter lime. Once that was said – I could, but my brain didn’t register it at first.
As for taste – a bit of citrus for me – but none of the tropical flavors I should have picked up on. Maybe I had too much mango orange juice for breakfast and my tongue was numb to it. Nor did I pick up on the apricot flavor.
Final Thoughts
This Viognier is not available via Brennan Vineyards website. Which is a shame as I noted it was “very drinkable.”
Todd Webster is the winemaker and apparently he prefers a “riper style” of wine with a higher alcohol content. This would explain the comment from another that it smelled like brie rind.
Truthfully, I liked this better two days later after it had been put back in the ice box. It had more of a buttery flavor like a chardonnay – which is a quite cliché comparison. But I think what I mean is that the flavors had developed more for me as I did pick up more o some of the tropical flavors after the initial butter on the tip of the tongue.
Overall, it was a great Saturday night, dinner (and Hulu) chill at home wine. So, it would probably end up with a true ranking of a Tuesday.
