Spring Release Wild Mountainside Viognier
2019

Winemaker’s Notes

Our micro-bottling of Viognier has always been an “insider’s wine” and, if truth be told, a bit of a guilty pleasure for us winemakers. As I’ve remarked in the past, great Viognier should be flamboyant, deep, and mouth-filling, without heaviness. By pinpointing the perfect moment to harvest, our expression of these mature vines captures the variety’s impressive natural opulence and concentration, with a lemony-mineral acidity tempering the wine’s extravagance.

After harvesting, we pressed these grapes slowly and patiently for over five hours to extract the crystalline character that ultimately creates such a long, intense arc of flavor and chewy richness in the final wine. Expressive aromatics of tangerine, peach, and apricot intermingle with wonderfully intense white flower, jasmine, and thyme blossom. The wine’s richness and obvious power immediately coat the palate with ripe apricot, oily lime, juicy ginger, and honey flavors. Focused mineral acidity brings all this opulence into balance and extends the wine to a shimmering vibrant finish. As I said, a guilty pleasure.

Drink from summer 2021 to 2023.

Andy Smith