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V for Very Nice
Viognier seems to be quite a trendy wine but I must say I find local examples to be a little hit and miss – the Misses tending to be clumsy, overly alcoholic and lacking genuine fruit intensity (residual sugar often trying to fill that crucial gap without success). The Hits deliver, to me, the essence of the grape – intense stone fruit laced with spice and floral notes and that lovely slippery palate viscosity. Not often wines for shrinking violets but done well, they are good stuff indeed.
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So I approached Mills Reef’s 2010 Reserve Viognier with some trepidation but pleasingly, it fell firmly into the Hits category. This Gimblett Gravels wine delivered the goods with masses of ripe peach and apricot, jasmine, honeysuckle and spice. Oak use was subtle and judicious (extra pleasing as I sometimes find MR wines a little heavy-handed in this capacity), and carefully judged acidity gave freshness and backbone to the weighty off-dry palate (which rather belied its stated 14% abv). There was that lovely slippery texture one hopes for, and decent length too. Overall, a ripe, inviting and succulent wine - perfect for these slightly cooler autumnal evenings being as it is evocative of a decadent, bountiful harvest. Worth seeking out.