Don't start me, fuzzy-buddy.

No, stop!  I am not ready for budbreak.  This promiscuous, young Viognier vine, the only Viognier vine in Vinoland, is trying its hardest to get going for the season.  I made it my job to set the little fellow straight, but not before I finished pruning the Pinot grigio vines. 
A good example of apical dominance in Vitis vinifera, albeit a very subtle one, this stunted lateral shoot was having delusions of grandeur.  The whole unit was removed (as is all the lateral growth of this nature), but not before the prospect of an early start to the growing season gave me, well, a little start.

Home Winemakers Classic 2016.

I have only ever had a wine made from the Sagrantino grape just once before (Jacuzzi Family Vineyards), and I remember quite enjoying it.  So imagine my surprise when I spotted a homemade version at the 33rd annual Home Winemakers Classic which was held yesterday at the Charles Krug Winery.  Made from grapes grown in the Dunnigan Hills AVA, it was very nice wine (I believe it won best of show).  I also like the label.  Well, the 'Friendly Lion' on the label.
There were a couple of other reds I liked; a Nathan Cellars, 2013 'Beth' (Napa Valley AVA) and a Bunnell Family Vineyards, 2013 Cuvée (Atlas Peak AVA).  The white wines were all pretty dreadful.
As is our wont, Vinomaker and I bid on a wine-lot in the silent auction (which is always a feature of the event.  All proceeds go to the Dry Creek-Lokoya VFD).  We limited ourselves to just one lot, and we won it; four 750ml bottles of Pott, 2013 '20M3' Stagecoach Vineyard, Viognier (Napa Valley AVA).  Haven't tried it yet - that's a future post, perhaps.

Pine Ridge in my fridge.

This Chenin blanc-Viognier from Pine Ridge Vineyards is a wine that I have always found to be a pleasant tipple.  Well, nearly always.  I seem to recall that I really didn't care for the 2007 vintage (or, was it the 2008?) as it was simply just too sweet for my liking.  A mere $10.00 at my local supermarket (actually, I paid $9.89) this wine is great value.  As a matter of fact, this wine is cheaper to buy at the supermarket than it is at the winery with my inter-winery discount.
A blend of 80% Chenin blanc and 20% Viognier, the lovely floral-honeyed-citrusy-peach characteristics one would expect from these two grape varieties marry well in the bottle (and even better in my mouth, tee-hee).  A slight hint of residual sugar gives the wine a little bit of oomph in the body department and serves to lengthen a crisper than one would expect finish. The 2014 is a nice, very reasonably priced wine for summer.

Don't dump on Trump.

Don't dump on Trump Winery, that is.
It is no secret that Vinomaker loves Viognier, so I thought I'd try to find something a little out of the ordinary for him to drink.  The Trump Winery, 2015 Viognier (Monticello AVA) fit the bill perfectly.  (Yes, that's correct, I did indeed type T.R.U.M.P.)  Obviously, anything to do with the name Trump is very controversial at the moment, but, please, don't shoot the messenger.
Winemaker Jonathon Wheeler (who, according to his bio, has worked in wineries in Sonoma, CA) has crafted a really pretty Viognier from fruit grown on the Trump Winery estate which is located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Planted to 200 acres of Vitis vinifera varieties, the Trump Winery's vineyard is Virginia's largest vineyard and the largest planting of V. vinifera on the East Coast.  (That's huge.  Huge.)
A fairly typical Viognier, this wine had oodles of orange blossom, honeysuckle and apricot on the nose, and a strange (but strange in a good way) caramel-apple lollipop richness on the palate. The wine was a tiny bit flabby, but was otherwise well-balanced.
I bought this wine on Amazon as it was slightly less expensive to buy the wine through Amazon than directly from the winery.  However, it was still shipped from the winery in Virginia. Vinomaker and I paired this wine with a chicken salad, not Hispanic food (titter, titter).

Vinomaker likes Viognier.

Vinomaker doesn't just like Viognier, he loves this particular grape variety and is always looking for new producers of this not particularly common wine varietal.  Although his current favourite is Miner Family's, 2012 Simpson Vineyard Viognier (Madera County), this tangent (their lower case 't' not mine) Winery's, 2012 Viognier, Edna Valley AVA (a sub-appellation of the Central Coast AVA) was very nice.  And it's always nice to try something that doesn't hail from Napa or Sonoma.

The nose on this wine was fairly typical of this varietal; creamy-peach/apricot floral-ness, yum.  I, myself, would have preferred perhaps a little more acid, but the peachy-cantaloupe taste bud goings-on were very pleasing.  But what made me, and to a slightly lesser extent Vinomaker, really enjoy this wine was tangent's back-story.  This winery only makes white wines; Sauvignon blanc, Albariño, Pinot gris, Grenache blanc and this Viognier - isn't that fab?  And if not absolutely fabulous, isn't it at least very refreshing?  I think so.

Each white wine that tangent produces is 100% stainless steel fermented.  This winery's approach to winemaking, whilst not totally unique, is still rather interesting - which in turn makes for a rather interesting wine-drinking experience.  I must try tangent's other wines.

The wild bunch.

Growing across a few open-topped, gravel-filled steps next to Vinoland's crush-pad is a wild grapevine (and some blackberries).  The vine is not really wild, as it most likely originated from a seed of a cultivated variety that was processed in Vinoland and somehow managed to germinate in an untended corner of the property. 
So what is it?  Well, the berries are spherical, green and tiny - 7mm, 8mm tops - and oh so very tasty.  The vine has had no measurable amount of water since the last proper rain (in the spring), so that could account for the berries being so small.  The clusters are cylindrical with shoulders, but that alone doesn't help to identify this vine.  Looking at the cluster did however narrow the ID down to three varieties; Chenin blanc, Semillon or Viognier - all of which have made at least one appearance in Vinoland (along with Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer, Marsanne, Orange Muscat and Pinot grigio).  No, for that I needed to take a closer look at the vine's leaves.  An ampelography, observations of leaf characteristics, is the only reliable way to properly identify a grapevine, especially one that has been water-stressed all season.  And sure enough, the mystery vine's leaf gave the game away; "...mostly 3-lobed with wide U-shaped petiolar sinus and reduced lateral sinuses; medium-length, sharp teeth; slightly bullate surface; light to moderately tufted hair on lower surface." (Wine Grape Varieties in California, UCANR Publication 3419).  Drum roll...Vinoland now has a volunteer, self-rooted Viognier vine.
No pruning, no sulphur, no water, no love.  This grapevine is just doing it's thing.  I love grapevines.

The Antipodes and South Africa.

Tonight's tour of the wine world takes me Down Under - at least it would if I was still in England - to Australia and New Zealand.  But not before a quick stop off in South Africa.
Despite the illustrious grapegrowing and winemaking traditions behind these three wine regions - wine grapes were planted in South Africa a good 100 years before California - I was a tad disappointed with the wines I tasted.  In fact, I found myself overwhelmingly unimpressed.  It's week 12 of my Wines of the World class and perhaps I'm a little jaded, after all I seem to recollect that I have enjoyed many quaffable Australian wines in the past.  So I am just going to mention one wine from each country that I think I could buy and drink without too much bother or fuss.
From South Africa, in spite of the wince-inducing pun in this wine's name, I quite enjoyed a Goats Do Roam, 2006 Goat-Roti (WO Coastal Region). Similar to a northern Rhône blend, this was an easy drinking wine. Hailing from New Zealand a Sauvignon blanc, of course, a Craggy Range, 2010 (Martinborough).  Heavy on the pyrazines, I could imagine myself drinking this very chilled on a very hot day.  And from Australia, a d'Arenburg, 2008 The Laughing Magpie (McLaren Vale) - a Rhône blend, again.
I photographed the Yalumba Viognier just because I liked the label with it's depiction of rootstocks, but I can add that this particular wine displayed strong varietal characteristics.  Of the 23 wines tasted tonight only one had a cork closure - a Lameka, 2009 The Marschall Shiraz (Barossa Valley) - suggestive of the notion that in the New World wine producers have thoroughly embraced new wine bottle closures.
Next...

Condrieu.

I lied.  I drank something other than a Californian wine last night. Couldn't help myself.  With all this talk of my Wines of the World class I just felt I had to go Français with dinner.  
My favourite winemaker, that'd be Vinomaker, is a huge Viognier fan and had recently procured a single bottle of (long story) a Mathilde et Yves Gangloff, 2010 Condrieu. Vinomaker has been dying to try this wine for a while, but our schedules have been hectic. Finally, last night the stars aligned and the time was ripe for our Condrieu event.  Wow! What a great wine. Luscious, ultimately very drinkable, apricots and creamy-custard loveliness, all in all very typically Viognier.
I can't imagine any of the students in my class turning their noses up at this little fruitily-aromatic marvel, or describing it as too thin or too acidic.  I would think they'd at least recognise the new and slightly excessive cooperage on the bouquet which, in my estimation, is this splendid wine's only (minor) flaw.

Worth the doe?

Without getting into a discussion about the placement of the apostrophe in Stags' Leap, versus Stag's Leap, I'm posting about a fabulous 2010 Viognier from Stags' Leap Winery, formerly owned by Carl Doumani who is known for having had a bit of a punctuation disagreement with Wayne Winiarski (of the 1976 Judgement of Paris tasting fame), who formerly owned Stag's Leap Wine Cellars (now owned by Tuscan producer Piero Antinori). Okay, I think I just gave myself a headache.

I don't particularly care who owns the winery now, or indeed where whoever decides to put their particular apostrophe (although the California Supreme Court may care), I just love this wine. Redolent with the usual Viognier stone-fruity suspects and a big, blossomy nose, it is the ultra bright acidity in this Viognier that makes it a real winner. The finish just goes on and on. The wine retails for about $25 and it is well worth it. A fitting libation for California Wine Month.

The Hermit Crab.

I had high expectations for this wine, but d'Arenburg's 2009 The Hermit Crab failed to impress. In fact, this wine left me feeling decidedly crabby...forgive the pun.

I have enjoyed d'Arenberg wines in the past (mostly reds), with their The Dead Arm once being my go-to Shiraz. Unfortunately, although The Hermit Crab delivered pretty stone fruit on the nose, on the palate it was flabby and waxy. So, to rescue our evening meal, Vinomaker opened a 2009 Saddleback Cellars Viognier. It did the trick...smiles all round.

A bevy of whites.

Optimistically hoping that the weather will one day be warm enough in California to eat out on the deck, Vinomaker and I did a quick white wine tasting - in part to decide what wines we need to stock up on. Generally, we both prefer to drink more white wines over the summer months, but I do know people who will drink nothing but red, no matter what the temperature is. Here are some speed tasting notes;

Mayacamas Vineyards 2001 Chardonnay - as the old adage goes, if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything.

Lamoreaux Landing 2008 Riesling - a delightful, lemony-minerality. Nice acid man!

Artesa 2008 Albariño - peachy, tropical, clean. Nice.

De Rose 2000 Viognier - aging and flabby, though still showing telltale signs of ripe apricots and orange blossom. A passable attempt, but it is no Condrieu.

There you have it. The Lamorueax Landing won hands down, but seeing as it was a gift it would take a bit of an effort to stock up Vinoland's wine fridge with this particular wine. Oh darn, I'll just have to do more research.

Give a dog a Rhone.

Here is the QC queen performing an invaluable task during the pressing off of a batch of Viognier today. Her job was to make sure that Vinomaker wasn't overly pressing the grapes, extracting unwanted green and bitter tannins. She seemed pretty pleased with the results...until she got distracted by a wasp and chased after it, (which isn't in her job description).
And where is Vinodog 1 whilst all this activity is going on? Sunning herself of course...somebody has to supervise the workers.

"I've got a crush on you, Viognier".

Well Francis Albert actually sang "Sweetie Pie" but seeing as Vinomaker was making wine and not a pastry, I took the liberty of changing the lyric. The amount of grapes was pretty meager, thanks to the April 21st frost, but what we got tasted rather splendid. Don't they look pretty?...as they head towards, well, being crushed quite frankly.