Wine Perspectives

 Old Dominion University Enological Research Facility
Department of Chemistry/Biochemistry
Norfolk, Virginia

 Message in a Bottle

 

These days it takes a truly unusual wine to make me stand up and pontificate about its quality and appeal, but the other day I tasted a new Virginia wine and I fell in love. Over the years as a wine  educator I have heard many people complain endlessly about the quality and lack of depth of Virginia wines. Perhaps this was true ten years ago but not today! This new Virginia wine is the best Virginia white wine I have ever tasted and I believe it is the beginnings of a wave of exciting new varietals which will bring Virginia to the forefront of the American wine market.

What is this new exciting Virginia white wine? Well it's a Viognier (vee-oh-nyay) from a relatively new Virginia winery in Middleburg, Virginia appropriately called Chrysalis. First of all, for those of you who are not familiar with the varietal known as the Viognier, this is one of the most intriguing white grape varietals grown in the Rhone Valley of France. Its history goes back to approximately 281 AD when Emperor Probus brought the Viognier to this area during the Roman occupation. It is a very difficult grape to grow even in the Rhone Valley and its capricious nature has caused many a vigeron or grower to question his sanity for trying to squeeze wine from this stubborn grape. And yet when the Viognier cooperates and gives a good yield of fine quality grapes, there is no other wine like it in the world. The Viognier when properly vinified produces the opulent, majestic and full bodied white wines associated with the Condrieu, Chateau-Grillet and Cote Rotie wines of the Northern Rhone Valley. The Viognier is also approved by French law as a blending wine for some of the top red wines from this same region and is a component in the famous Chateauneuf-du-Pape red wine.

So what makes this varietal so unusual? Well, one has to taste it to answer this question because if it is well made it possess some of the most incredible flavors and sensual qualities that one can imagine. There is often a rush of the smell of peaches and apricots on the nose and the overwhelming softness of ripe pears on the palate. And its color, a golden yellow that exudes brightness and richness that prepares you for a unique sensual awakening when you taste it. Now I know I'm making this sound to good and that you think no wine can taste like this but it can and it does in this new release from Chrysalis.

Chrysalis Vineyards are located on 209 acres of beautiful countryside in Loudoun County on the Hungry Run River. In 1996,  Jennifer McCloud came to Virginia with the objective of establishing a winery and vineyard in Virginia that would ultimately produce some of the finest wines on the East Coast. The first release from Chrysalis was their 1997 Chardonnay and the 1997 Viognier, which is the topic of this article. The 1997 Chrysalis Viognier was created by one of the most talented Virginia winemakers to date, Mr. Alan Kinne. The wine was produced from 100% Viognier grapes grown in the Ivy Creek region of Charlottesville, Virginia. One of the amazing things about this particular wine is that the grapes used in this wine were the first commercial harvest for this vineyard. The grapes were of outstanding quality and were fermented on 100% native yeast sur lie or on the "lees". This technique of fermentation with native yeast and on the dead yeast or "lees" is a tricky business and can often lead to real problems for the winemaker. But the sur lie fermentation of this particular wine gives the wine-added complexity and unique flavors which produced a lush and opulent style of Viognier. The wine was aged in neutral Francois French oak barrels, which allowed the wine to integrate subtle oak nuances and yet not be overpowered by new oak flavors. The real depth and beauty of this wine came from four things. One, the high quality of the harvest; two, the use of native yeast and sur lie fermentation; three, the use of neutral French oak; and four, the touch of genius of Alan Kinne.

My first occasion with this wine was at our wine class where it blew my socks off. I later found another bottle and brought it home so that I could carefully analyze it in the quiet of my kitchen. My first sip of the wine created a robust, whole mouth feel that seemed to go on forever. As the wine warmed in my mouth, more and more flavors emerged. Pear, peach and apricot slowly developed in my mouth. And the finish, well it was long and memorable. The oak was indeed truly well integrated and the wine was very well balanced between the high alcohol level and the complex flavors of the sur lie fermentation. The flavors continued to explode in my mouth with each taste and it was definitely not a wine to spit.

One of the most interesting questions that arose in the wine class about this wine was "what do you serve with such a wine?" When we tasted this wine at dinner we had prepared a pork dish with fresh crushed pepper and had sautéed the pork in the wine to produce a wonderfully fragrant and soft sauce. The wine will go well with a number of light meat dishes including pork, chicken and even some seafood dishes.

Perhaps I have allowed my own personal tastes and preferences to sway me in my evaluation of this wine but it is a truly exciting wine for Virginia. Try it at your next dinner party or in the quiet of your home on a rainy afternoon with someone special. This is a wine that truly has a message in the bottle.