Fragrant and powerful, but restrained to maintain elegance in varietal character. Freshly peeled apricot, lemon zest with an almond meal textural palate developed from its wild fermentation and time maturing on yeast lees” The Yangarra Viognier offers a balance of restraint and intensity and the structure for a long life in the cellar. The grapes are hand-picked early in the season to achieve greater fragrance and finesse.
Contrary to popular myth, good Viognier need not taste overtly of apricot or peach. This is the perfect example: the main hints of stone fruit are faint reflections of the peach kernel. It’s pleasantly waxy, chubby and fluffy in the mouth with references to pale, fleshly, pithy exotic fruits. Our Viognier is planted on an east facing ridge of our single vineyard estate in sandy mixed with ironstone gravels. The climate is cool thanks to a higher elevation and the breezes that waft off the bordering Mount Lofty Ranges. A modified VSP (vertical shoot positioned) system lets us regulate the amount of sunlight to reach the leaves and grapes. A small amount of fruit thinning is also done pre-veraison to minimise bunch crowding and to ensure even ripening.
Yangarra is a single vineyard estate located in the Blewitt Springs foothills on the northeast edge of McLaren Vale – ten miles from the sparkling Gulf St. Vincent. Home is 420 acres of vines, wild pastures, towering gum trees, creeks and natural corridors. A cooler climate coupled with our weathered, sandy soils feed our Rhône varieties unusually intense, lush and soulful flavours
Past Accolades and Awards: 93 points - Jeremy Pringle "Wine Will Eat Itself" "Once again Yangarra trip the light fantastic, producing a Viognier that captures all the personality and intensity of the grape in a refined manner. Layered textures with wax over mealiness and a low-level oily character. The phenolics are more nuanced than we often see with this variety. Fine acidity freshens the palate. Fresh and dried apricots, honeysuckle, vanilla bean, orange peel, cumin, ginger, bitter almonds and hard cheese. They’re all there to smell and to taste. A terrific example of what Viognier can be."
We had a great winter with good rainfall, followed by one of the driest summers on record. The harvest followed much the same pattern, being a very early ripening year. Ripening was progressing fast and we started to worry, but a small rain event and a week of cool nights allowed further flavour development time. This will be a vintage renowned for rich and intense flavours, much the same as the year before.
Wild yeast ferment, 10 months maturation in old French oak, monthly lees stirring, no fining just filtration.
VINEYARD INFORMATION The common style of Viognier in Australia is a very rich one with overt dried apricot characters. The Yangarra Viognier is less common in style, it is much more restrained, and picked earlier with the ambition of fragrance and finesse. The vines are planted on an east-facing ridge in the southeastern parcel of our estate vineyard. The soils are sand mixed with ironstone gravels and a modified VSP (vertical shoot positioned) system lets us regulate the amount of sunlight to reach the leaves and grapes. A small amount of fruit thinning is also done pre-veraison to minimise bunch crowding and to ensure even ripening. REGION: Kangarilla, McLaren Vale VINE AGE: 10 years ELEVATION: 170m above sea level SOIL TYPE: Weathered sands mixed with ironstone gravels VITICULTURALIST: Michael Lane
Don't Pay: $28.00
WBW Rating: 94/100
Closure: Stelvin
Region: McLaren Vale, SA
Winemaker: Peter Fraser/Shelley Torresan
Drink now until: 2019
Alc/Vol: 13 %
