Hentley Farm (Barossa) 2012 Viognier

A new friend kindly gave this bottle of wine to Nic for a birthday present recently. The Barossa is strange; everyone is linked in some way. Some people describe it as 'incestuous', but I wouldn't go that far. :) For example, our neighbour across the road was born at Hentley Farm and spent some early years of his life there. He has a family history book with b&w photos and everything. Nowadays it is a successful winery and restaurant. Now our friend's fiance is one of the winemakers (not naming names :P). So, we are all connected in this nice little nest of Barossan love. Aww. (Still get that warm fuzzy feeling when I spot Maggie Beer out doing her grocery shopping at the markets.. hehehehehe nervous awe).

I had expected some classic viognier varietal stuff in this bottle, which we didn't get. Don't get me wrong, it is a lovely wine to drink, however in a blind tasting I would struggle to name its varietal correctly. That might just be my palate, but hey. Because of the viognier I described to the man in the Smelly Cheese stall at Adelaide market, the cheese match (some version of reggiano which is slightly softer and very nice), doesn't quite go.

Hentley Farm
2012 Viognier 
Barossa Valley

Colour:
clear
pale lemon

Nose:
clean
medium intensity
grapefruit
almonds
lemon blossom

Palate:
dry
high acid
medium bodied (:( )
juicy mandarin to begin with
then bitter grapefruits or bitter lemon
nutty
towards the end- a tiny tiny bit of fresh apricot- if I close my eyes and imagine hard enough and click my little red sparkly shoes together...

*there is a weird petrolly flavour usually associated with aged riesling-- curiouser and curiouser...

Overall a nice, easy drinking white, just not the medium-full bodied full on apricot type of drop you might expect. With age? Who knows what might happen in the future? Interesting....


G

2009 Caveau Lerac AOC Vouvray (demi-sec)

Now I've got some time I'm going back through ye olde notes to the wines we had in France while driving around, listening to Nostalgie (though obviously not driving whilst drinking, that would be silly).
haha http://www.nostalgie.fr/

Anyway, Vouvray is a lovely wine, made from Chenin Blanc grapes, from the Loire region where we started our mad old road trip.

2009 Caveau Lerac AOC Vouvray (Demi Sec)

Pale lemon in colour
Long finish, very satisfying wine. I thought it was beautiful and a welcome change from drinking the whites we usually get at home in Oz and Nz. We had some ashed chevre with it, and boy. Mmm.

Nose:
Clean
Pear & citrus

Palate:
Semi-dry
High acid, medium to full body
Lychees
Pineapple
Honey
Lemon rind.

Chenin blanc is naturally high in acid but it keeps longer because of this. I guess it tasted similar to an aged Semillon; you get more of the richer flavours which come with an aged Semillon. Yum yum yummmmm.


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