“It’s like biting into a giant peach”, I thought to myself after taking a good swig of Viognier. I suppose you could have said this one was a real peach of a wine.

Viognier almost met its end in the mid-1960s. As little as eight hectares of the grape in the tiny Rhône appellation of Condrieu stood between survival and extinction. After a successful revival worldwide, this trendy grape variety is now being praised for its unique characteristics and drinkability.

It’s a lush white from the French Rhone Valley, Syrah’s sister grape in fact, and one of the few white grapes that grows well in warmer climates. Its wines are rich and aromatic with pronounced notes of stone fruit (apricot and peach) often mingling with floral notes of orange blossom and honey. Some will finish with a lick of spice.

Due to its strong aromas, Viognier is able to withstand blending and is a lovely component, not only in blended white wines, but red wines as well. A small amount is often added to Syrah to give it a fragrant lift.

These medium/full bodied wines pair well with dishes that have some richness, such as lobster, crab, smoked fish, sea bass, chicken, duck, and pork. Add a touch of cream or cream cheese to give body and a bit of dried apricot or peach to pull the dish and wine into a tight match.

Viognier is not known for its ability to age, but 3-4 years after vintage it can develop more caramelised dried stone fruit flavours and a distinct savoury nuttiness. The Dignité Viognier from the Languedoc is at that stage now, and I absolutely love it for that extra depth and complexity. If you prefer your wine fresher and more youthful, the Tabalí Viognier might be more your thing.

Viognier should be easily found in most decent wine shops nowadays, and I would encourage anyone to go ahead and take a giant bite out of the apricot. Or peach. Or whatever stone fruit you might find.

It was only a matter of time before New Zealand started being taken seriously for world-class Syrah, and all the experts are now saying that they belong on the same table as Bordeaux. New Zealand’s premium Syrah producing region is Hawkes Bay in the North Island, and more specifically, Gimblett Gravels, which is a tiny 800 hectare appellation considered to be among the country’s best terroir.

John O’Connor, Chairman of the Gimblett Gravels Winegrowers’ Association (GGWA), was in high spirits after another outstanding performance by Gimblett Gravels wines in San Francisco. “This just confirms that the results of our Masterclasses in Taupo and London were not one-off’s – now Gimblett Gravels wines from 3 different vintages (2005-2007) have outranked top Bordeaux wines from 2005/6”.

O’Connor goes on to assure people that “…whilst the top wines are made in relatively small volumes at present, the Gimblett Gravels has the capacity to produce more of these ultra-premium quality wines.” Meanwhile, at Liquorland Top 100, Gimblett Gravels 2007 vintage wines dominated the fuller bodied reds categories, securing 2 trophies and 6 gold medals.

Within the Gimblett Gravels district, one best vineyards is La Collina (pictured), which is planted on a steep, terraced hillside facing Roy’s Hill, to the west of Hastings. Here’s what the experts had to say about Bilancia’s La Collina Syrah:

“Produced from grapes grown on a steep, terraced hillside in the Gimblett Gravels district of Hawke’s Bay. The wine is dense with ripe, spice and berry fruit flavours. Like the wines of the northern Rhone it is more about texture and complexity than intense fruit flavours. Good food wine with great potential. A very sophisticated Syrah.” Bob Campbell MW

“La collina is the greatest Syrah to ever come out of New Zealand, and it single-handedly positions this country, for the first time among the great Shiraz producers of the world.” Matthew Jukes and Tyson Stelzer, Taste Food and Wine 2008

Alternatively, there’s the 2007 Bilancia Syrah, which made using grapes from both Gimblett Gravels (85%) and La Collina (15%).

“The Syrah/Viognier (just 3% of the latter) is simply outstanding. Very focused and pure on the silky finish, this is a complete wine, one that rivals some of the best Northern Rhone”. Robert Parkers Buying Guide: 92 points.

An abbreviation of “God’s Own Country”, Godzone is a phrase popularised by Richard John Seddon, who was Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1893 until his death in 1906.

Could Godzone be the new Rhône? Certainly the Rhône varieties love this place, Syrah and Viognier in particular, especially in Hawke’s Bay.

Syrah, Rhône’s most famous grape variety, has been in New Zealand a long, long time, with the mythical Viognier being introduced in 1992. It was a French clone imported from California, and after coming out of quarantine, it was planted in 1994. These plantings produced New Zealand’s first commercial wine of this variety in the 1997 vintage.

If you read our last blog post, you’ll know that Viognier reached near extinction in the 1960s. Today, there is about 750 hectares of Viognier in the Rhône alone, and it covers around 130 hectares in New Zealand. Over half the plantings are in Hawke’s Bay.

Syrah was also planted in new vineyard sites in 1999 and 2000, with the intention from the outset of combining it with a little Viognier, in the style of a Côte-Rôtie. The two grape varieties must be co-fermented, which means they must be picked at the same time and fermented on skins in the same tank. Trials took place in 2001 with encouraging results and the wine sold at the Hawke’s Bay Winemakers Charity Wine Auction. In 2002, New Zealand’s first Syrah/Viognier wine was made from co-fermented grapes.

With different tanks containing from none to 10% Viognier, the very small number of vineyards producing Viognier (which you could count on one hand) say they have gained a good feeling for the effect of Viognier in Syrah. As well as the colour being deeper, the aroma emphasises the red berry character of the Syrah while adding a perfumed nuance like orange blossom or orange zest. Viognier also alters the palate by making the wine quite juicy or silky. Some say it adds the feminine touch to the masculine muscle of Syrah.

Bilancia of Hawkes Bay is leading the way with Syrah in New Zealand. Michael Cooper of The Listener, handed our Bilancia Syrah/Viognier 2007 an outstanding 4.5 out of 5 – “A classy, serious yet highly approachable Hawkes Bay red with lovely fragrance and depth of ripe, berryish and spicy flavour.”

Bob Campbell (MW) raves about Bilancia’s La Collina: “Produced from grapes grown on a steep, terraced hillside in the Gimblett Gravels district of Hawke’s Bay. The wine is dense with ripe, spice and berryfruit flavours. Like the wines of the northern Rhone it is more about texture and complexity than intense fruit flavours. Good food wine with great potential. A very sophisticated Syrah.”

To describe Viognier as the bridesmaid of the great whites doesn’t just hold a bitter truth, but a serious lesson in the dangers of the global fashioning and commoditisation of wine. As Chardonnay and then Sauvignon Blanc became international flavours of the times during the 1980s and 1990s, with every wine-producing country in the world jumping on board to produce their own versions or imitations of the great French wines, Viognier was on the verge of extinction.

Save for as little as eight hectares of the grape in the tiny Rhône appellation of Condrieu, there was no other Viognier in the world in the mid-1960s. It was the vitis vinifera victim of Darwin’s survival of the fittest – low and unpredictable yields, and an art in terms of picking at the right time, in a global market that was demanding consistent quality, reliable and quickly increasable quantities, and low prices, it just didn’t stand a chance.

Thankfully, as the world became more adventurous and inquisitive, Viognier found it’s gap in the market; somewhere between the universally appealing Chardonnay and Sauvignon, and the spicy, eccentric qualities of more acquired tastes such as Riesling and Gewürztraminer. Some credit California with spotting Viognier’s distinctive appeal and importing vines by the boat-load, but wine-makers in regional France were also planting with fervour throughout the 1980s.

Now Viognier is being grown in all corners of the wine-making world and that’s to our eternal benefit and good fortune, for there’s now fabulous value to be found in this gem of wine. On it’s own the wines are typically full-bodied, at times creamy depending on the level of oak treatment, with heady perfumes and distinctive aromas of dried apricot, honeysuckle, musk and spice. So, despite relatively low natural acidity, Viognier actually makes a great food partner, particularly for mildly spiced dishes, and especially for creamy spiced dishes such as korma or tikka masala.

And to think 20 years ago that this fashion queen was no more famous than vitis vinidodo.

Today, Moillard wines of France are showing us what we could have been missing. Their Lunar Organic Viognier from their Chateau d’Eau range is, as we found out quite recently, fantastic with any fish dish. We currently have €4 off this range when you buy two or more. So is Lunar Organic the next craze? Find out here.

In the second part of our two part series on Dignité, we take a look at the signature white of winemaker Eric Monnin. As discussed in our first post ( Dignité: Langeudoc’s Latent Potential Unleashed ), Eric’s fascinating story revolves around making ‘Garage’ wine – top quality wine in minute quantities.

Fast forward from that 2005 Syrah vintage to 2007, when Eric happened to be tasting Viognier grapes in peak condition at Domaine du Vedilhan. Inspired by his visit the previous day to Condrieu producer Stéphane Montez (of Domaine du Monteillet in the Northern Rhône), Eric excitedly recognised that, with ageing in high quality barrels, he could create a memorable wine from these grapes, and hopefully even rival the Condrieu.

“70% of the wine was aged in 13 new barrels acquired from a top cellar in Burgundy, whilst 20% in three year old Allier oak barrels for three months. The remaining 10% was kept in tank. After ageing, I blended and produced a micro-cuvée of only 5,800 bottles for this vintage.” – Eric monnin.

And a worthy white partner to the Dignité Syrah was born. If you ever thought Vin de Pays d’Oc couldn’t produce wine to rival those of the French appellations, think again.

Tasting notes for Dignité Viognier 2007: Rich, powerful and packed with apricot and peach fruit flavours. The oak aging adds complexity, texture and hints of spice, vanilla and hazelnuts. Beautifully balanced and perfect with food – a mini Condrieu at a Vin de Pays price? Does Churchill sell car insurance…?

Ohhh, Yes!