Barboursville Viognier Reserve 2011

Winery: Barboursville

Varietal: Viognier

In the Rhone region of France, one of the most ancient and highly esteemed grape varietals is the Viognier, a green-skinned grape famed and admired for its highly aromatic qualities and delicious fruit-forward nature. The wine it produces is remarkably pale, and is a popular choice with those looking for an extremely elegant wine to be enjoyed in hot weather and paired with equally aromatic foods. The Viognier varietal is known for having an extremely floral nose, which gives an impression of summery sweetness over a wine which is usually dry, although it is occasionally given over to noble rot in order to intensify its sugars. Viognier grapes can be successfully blended with several other grape varietals, as they are in certain New World countries, and can also be aged to produce exceptionally crisp and dry white wines.

Country: United States

Of all the New World wine countries, perhaps the one which has demonstrated the most flair for producing high quality wines - using a combination of traditional and forward-thinking contemporary methods - has been the United States of America. For the past couple of centuries, the United States has set about transforming much of its suitable land into vast vineyards, capable of supporting a wide variety of world-class grape varietals which thrive on both the Atlantic and the Pacific coastlines. Of course, we immediately think of sun-drenched California in regards to American wines, with its enormous vineyards responsible for the New World's finest examples of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot based wines, but many other states have taken to viticulture in a big way, with impressive results. Oregon, Washington State and New York have all developed sophisticated and technologically advanced wine cultures of their own, and the output of U.S wineries is increasing each year as more and more people are converted to their produce.