2023 Viognier

2023 VIOGNIER

Tasting Notes:

This aromatic varietal showcases notes of honey, lavender and lime leading into lush fruit flavors of peach and apricot.  Bright and refreshing, enjoy this with light summer fare.

Winemaking Notes:

Our second release of this varietal after the enthusiastic response of the first one in 2021.  The fruit came from the Mount Angel area across the valley from us and looked beautiful.  Gently destemmed into the press to mimimize stem and skin contact and a gentle pressing, stopped at just over 1 bar, gave us excellent juice.  A long, cool ferment with temperature ranging between 54 and 57F and lasting about five weeks produced this luscious, aromatic wine.  Fermentation was stopped with a little residual sugar to provide weight and to keep the alcohol balanced.  The wine was crossflow filtered and bottled under screwcap in Feb 2024.

Harvest Notes:

2023 started off quiet with a cool spring pushing budbreak out to early May, then a few days of 90°F plus weather and the vines were popping.  10 days later there was almost an inch on growth on the vines and we hit mid bloom in early June.  That’s fast moving for our vines.  A warm summer had us looking at an early harvest but some cooling and light rains in September slowed down ripening and, after a quick and slightly frenetic start, harvest stretched out until mid-October.  The cool weather also helped maintain acid levels in the fruit and the wines are lively and well balanced with good aromatics and good aging potential.

Our estate vineyard, Dunn Forest, is LIVE certified sustainable and Salmon Safe. The vineyard is hand cultivated allowing us to respond to individual vine needs.

A printout of this and the technical data is available under the 'Wine Information' tab above, 'Download Wine Notes'.